Peace Maker
6 Ways to Become A Muslim Peacebuilder
1. PROMOTE THE BASIC FOUNDATIONAL QUALITIES FOR PEACEMAKING, namely:
a. Faith (there is no god but One God)
b. Holy knowledge and remembrance of the Creator
c. Prayer (obligatory and optional)
d. Realization of the will of the Almighty, complete obedience to Him;
commitment to pleasing Him and serving His purposes.
e. Sublime character
f. Love and fraternity
g, Endeavor to help others build their character.
2. ENCOURAGE FAMILY MEETINGS.
They will help promote better understanding among family members. One should not think this action insignificant. Rather it is such an indispensable step for building individuals that it needs no further explanation. This practice will make peace at home. Family members will surely come to understand each other better. This is the basic peace effort.
3. ORGANIZE THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THE SOCIETY.
Inspire them to learn and practice religion, to speak against injustice, to
act nonviolently, and to see peace near at hand.
4. GO TO THE POOR.
Live with them. Work at the grassroots. Know the problems of the poor, help
them to build their basic life, encourage them, and make them realize what power
is hidden within them. Teach them to be self-reliant, not dependent on external
aid. The Prophet started with illiterate desert people, one by one, and the
result is known to all.
5. ADVOCATE KINDNESS TO OTHERS AND THE APPROACH OF LOVE.
Cultivate a culture of love, for this is a very powerful seed of peace.
6. Teach people religion and they will learn humanity.
HELP THEM SEE RELIGION IN PRACTICE THROUGH YOUR DEEDS and the grassroots
will speak and act for peace. The awakening of the grassroots will move the
intellectuals and the rich of a society.
The Prophet did all this. He taught people to make peace from the family, to the
society, to the vast earth.
Bringing the Pieces Together
In 1996 Bernie Glassman founded Peacemaker Circle International in order to apply his award-winning model outside of Yonkers, New York. He reasoned that the challenges we faceÐ war in the Middle East, AIDS in Africa, environmental depredation Ð are complex and systemic and that piecemeal solutions will not help to solve them. What will?
Comprehensive, cross-issue
solutions calling for partnership and collaboration among activists, businesses,
government, and NGOs. Peacemaker Circle International organizes and connects
these parties around specifi c projects, creating powerful and democratic
coalitions in the process. PCI not only brings the pieces together, it brings
together as many different pieces as possible in order to produce more different
pieces as possible in order to produce more different creative thinking and a
more broad-based and inclusive approach. Members learn to replace isolation and
competition with shared ideas, ideals and experiences, confronting global issues
with integratedÑinstead of fragmentedÑsolutions.
Peacemaker Circle International also links each coalition with its peers in
other part of the world through on-line technology, democratic representations
in regional and global coalitions, and regular gatherings and conferences. As a
result, participants work locally, but quickly experience the regional and
global implications of their efforts.
The name of peace is sweet, and the thing itself is
beneficial, but there is a great difference between peace and servitude. Peace
is freedom in tranquillity, servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted
not only by war, but even by death.
- Cicero
Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth. Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe. - Satish Kuma
The Three Treasures, Three Tenets, the Ten Practices and the Four Commitments serve as the foundation for the Family's work and practice. They underlie our commitment to broad-based inclusivity, service, multi-faith celebrations and communion, and to a lifelong peacemaking path that integrates work, training and practice.
Inviting all creations into the mandala of my practice and vowing to serve them, I take refuge in:
| Oneness: the awakened nature of all beings |
| Diversity: the ocean of wisdom and compassion |
| Harmony: the interdependence of all creations |
Taking refuge and entering the stream of Engaged Spirituality, I vow to live a life of:
| Not-knowing, thereby giving up fixed ideas about ourselves and the universe |
| Bearing witness to the joy and suffering of the world |
| Loving actions towards ourselves and others |
Being Mindful of the interdependence of Oneness and Diversity, and wishing to actualize my vows, I engage in the spiritual practices of:
1. Recognizing that I am not separate from all that is. This is the precept of Non-Killing.
2. Being satisfied with what I have. This is the precept of Non-Stealing.
3. Encountering all creations with respect and dignity. This is the precept of Chaste Conduct.
4. Listening and speaking from the heart. This is the precept of Non-Lying.
5. Cultivating a mind that sees clearly. This is the precept of Not Being Ignorant.
6. Unconditionally accepting what each moment has to offer. This is the precept of Not Talking About Others Errors And Faults.
7. Speaking what I perceive to be the truth without guilt or blame. This is the precept of Not Elevating Oneself And Blaming Others.
8. Using all of the ingredients of my life. This is the precept of Not Being Stingy.
9. Transforming suffering into wisdom. This is the precept of Not Being Angry.
10. Honoring my life as an instrument of peacemaking. This is the precept of Not Thinking Ill of the Three Treasures.
I commit myself to a culture of
1. Nonviolence and reverence for life;
2. Solidarity and a just economic order;
3. Tolerance and a life based on truthfulness
4. Equal rights and partnership between men and women.
|
It is rash to condemn where you are ignorant. |
The Peacemaker Community
The Peacemaker Community is a group of individuals and organizations from different cultures, religions and societies taking action in various areas, including social and economic justice, conflict resolution, AIDS, education, and the environment.
Our vision is one of a global partnership among people around the world working towards social transformation. As part of such a partnership, we continue to do our individual work as part of a family rather than feeling isolated and alone.
Our mission is to experience and manifest the power of diverse people connecting, linking, participating in shared experiences, and working collaboratively on shared goals. Members of the Peacemaker Community recognize the value and challenges of diversity and are open to different opinions and attitudes. They share a willingness to listen to many different voices and then take action. And while this action may address one or more specific social or economic issues, we believe that the process of listening, connecting, and acting creates a more systemic change that can transform society.
Peacemaker Circle International, the Global Hub of the Peacemaker Community, identifies and works with the threads we have in common rather than the elements that keep us apart. Directors and trainers create circles where even those with differing beliefs and ideologies can find common ground and a constructive process leading to partnership.
PCI takes small, isolated components - people, groups and NGOs - which coalesce in a process whose purpose is to implement joint actions and collaboration. PCI not only brings the pieces together, it brings together as many different pieces as possible in order to produce more creative thinking and a more broad-based, inclusive, and holistic approach. Diversity is not to be avoided, but rather celebrated.
Participants learn to replace isolation and competition with shared ideas, ideals and experiences, confronting global issues with integrated - instead of fragmented - solutions.
|
The
Peacemaker Community is a group of individuals and organizations from
different cultures, religions and societies taking action in various areas,
including social and economic justice, conflict resolution, AIDS, education,
and the environment.
If you would like to download a PDF of a leaflet or of a large presentation on our work around the globe, click on the appropiate link below:
© copyright 2004 Peacemaker Circle International |
We seek to bear witness to the joy and suffering of the universe, and to realize
the oneness and interdependence of life through study, practice and
action for personal and social transformation. We seek to connect, train and
empower Zen peacemakers throughout the world. We are committed to nonviolence,
inclusivity, free expression and experimentation.
We envision an enlightened society where suffering is transformed into wisdom
and compassion and all beings live in harmony and are relieved of the
afflictions of hunger, war and disease. Spirituality and service are tools we
use to help all beings find freedom regardless of race, religion, ability,
gender or nationality.
Our purpose is to create a community of peacemakers enacting a vision of peace
through the practice of meditation, the
Rule of the Zen Peacemaker Community and social engagement, and to
nurture an environment for the integration, realization and actualization of
peacemaking as a path of enlightenment.
|
The answer to injustice is not to silence the critic, but
to end the injustice. |
© copyright 2004 Zen Peacemaker Circle
The Three Treasures, Three Tenets, the Ten Practices and the Four Commitments serve as the foundation for the Family's work and practice. They underlie our commitment to broad-based inclusivity, service, multi-faith celebrations and communion, and to a lifelong peacemaking path that integrates work, training and practice.
Inviting all creations into the mandala of my practice and vowing to serve them, I take refuge in:
| Oneness: the awakened nature of all beings |
| Diversity: the ocean of wisdom and compassion |
| Harmony: the interdependence of all creations |
Taking refuge and entering the stream of Engaged Spirituality, I vow to live a life of:
| Not-knowing, thereby giving up fixed ideas about ourselves and the universe |
| Bearing witness to the joy and suffering of the world |
| Loving actions towards ourselves and others |
Being Mindful of the interdependence of Oneness and Diversity, and wishing to actualize my vows, I engage in the spiritual practices of:
1. Recognizing that I am not separate from all that is. This is the precept of Non-Killing.
2. Being satisfied with what I have. This is the precept of Non-Stealing.
3. Encountering all creations with respect and dignity. This is the precept of Chaste Conduct.
4. Listening and speaking from the heart. This is the precept of Non-Lying.
5. Cultivating a mind that sees clearly. This is the precept of Not Being Ignorant.
6. Unconditionally accepting what each moment has to offer. This is the precept of Not Talking About Others Errors And Faults.
7. Speaking what I perceive to be the truth without guilt or blame. This is the precept of Not Elevating Oneself And Blaming Others.
8. Using all of the ingredients of my life. This is the precept of Not Being Stingy.
9. Transforming suffering into wisdom. This is the precept of Not Being Angry.
10. Honoring my life as an instrument of peacemaking. This is the precept of Not Thinking Ill of the Three Treasures.
I commit myself to a culture of
1. Nonviolence and reverence for life;
2. Solidarity and a just economic order;
3. Tolerance and a life based on truthfulness
4. Equal rights and partnership between men and women.
|
Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order
that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of
tolerance in the entire population. |
© copyright 2004 Zen Peacemaker Circle
The Zen
Peacemaker Order, founded by Roshis
Bernie Glassman and
Sandra Jishu Holmes in 1996, is a religious community in the lineage
of Shakyamuni Buddha practicing the Three Tenets of not knowing, bearing witness
to joy and suffering, and healing ourselves and the universe. As a member
organization of the Zen Peacemaker Family, the Order emphasizes both personal
and societal transformation and provides a practice environment that is open to
practitioners of different religious traditions.
Since 1996 the membership of the Order has comprised hundreds of people who have
vowed to take the
Rule into their lives. These members are invited to participate in
retreats, workshops and trainings held by the
Mother House and the
Maezumi Seminary. ZPO's Mother House is starting programs in the
winter of December, 2004.
We have begun to focus on developing a small core of highly dedicated
practitioners who will make a higher level of commitment to the vision of ZPO
and to carrying it out in the world. They will follow a rigorous path of Zen
study combined with spiritually-based social change.
For this purpose ZPO is sponsoring a small pilot program that will begin in
September 2005. Each program cycle will consist of 5 years, starting with a
one-year internship at the Maezumi Seminary. The year's internship will consist
of Zen retreats, study programs, and peacemaker trainings, at our facility in
Montague, alternating with 2-month internships in different peacemaking/social
action environments with which the Peacemaker Community is affiliated. The
studies will follow a curriculum developed by the ZPO faculty together with the
Maezumi Seminary.
This one-year internship program will be followed by 4 years of work in
peacemaking and social action. Participants will work in pairs in whatever place
they decide upon, rather than alone. Their work during this period will
emphasize social action rather than other things such as teaching or
administration. ZPO will be involved in identifying the appropriate work and
workplaces as well as providing supervision and support during the entire four
years, including further trainings, retreats, oversight, opportunity to share
experiences, etc. It is expected that participants will return to the Seminary
frequently for these programs throughout the 4 years.
We plan to repeat this pilot program over the next several years, so that each
year a new group of trainees will do their 1-year internship at the Maezumi
Seminary and then go out to work. The various groups will come together in
gatherings and retreats at the Seminary, thus forming an important core of
committed members of the Zen Peacemaker Order. At all times the Order will be
responsible for providing an ongoing training path to these participants and
look out for their wellbeing. This path will include both study with a teacher
and in a circle. There will be annual requirements for sesshins and study
programs.
In the next few years we are interested in exploring how such a 5 year program
can evolve into a life's path. We hope that participants in this program will
co-create this life path with us.
This program isn't for everyone; in fact, we prefer to work with a small group
of people, especially in the beginning. This program is for people who are ready
to make a major commitment to Zen practice and peacemaking for a 5 year period
and who would like to participate in the co-creation of a small circle of ZPO
members who will be the main carriers of the Order's work and vision, providing
inspiration and leadership to other members of ZPO. Once this small circle of
Zen practitioners and activists is in existence, the Order will work on
integrating them with the other members of ZPO in a multifaceted structure with
diverse constituencies and memberships.
There are lots of questions and few answers.
If you are interested in being part of the pilot project, please contact
Sensei Eve Marko at
[email protected].