Events

Zen Peacemakers Open Day of Reflection

‘The Voice of the Heart’

Sun 20th December, 2009   Withington, Manchester


The Great Heart Society and the UK Zen Peacemakers are holding an open Day of Reflection on the theme The Voice of the Heart on Sun 20th Dec from 10.30am till 5pm. Suggested donation £10, at your discretion.

The day will be held in celebration of the great Islamic mystic poet Jelaluddin Rumi, who died on Dec 17th 1273.  Rumi's poetry and spirit are often included in our meetings together, and once a year we mark his anniversary by dedicating a session of practicing together in his honour.  The day will include silent Zen meditation, singing and poetry, some simple Arabic chanting, and a shared vegetarian lunch.  At Rumi's funeral over 700 years ago in Konya, Turkey, his coffin was lifted and carried through the streets by a representative of each of the local religions- Muslim, Christian, Jew and Zoroastrian.  Today his spirit continues to inspire peace and mutual acceptance among different people and different spiritual perspectives, his poetry loved and respected by those as diverse as the conservative Iranian Shi'ite Ayatollahs and the pop singer Madonna!

Anyone is welcome at our Day of Reflection.  In Rumi's words, "Come! Come! Whoever you are!"

 



Peacemaking in an Interconnected World

‘Buddhist Ethics for Healing Self and Society’


A Two-Day Workshop with Swiss Peace Activist and
Zen Buddhist Preceptor, Barbara Salaam Wegmueller

Eco House, Western Park, Leicester- Sat 9th & Sun 10th Jan 2010, 11am-4pm  Suggested donation £35

Buddhist philosophy teaches that everyone and everything is interconnected, that each action we make has infinite consequences that ripple out across the great network of life, bringing happiness and suffering to ourselves and others. From the earliest days of the Buddha in India, up to today’s great teachers, Buddhism has taught ethical guidelines useful for everyone who wants to lead a life of less harm, who want to heal themselves and their environment. This weekend workshop will explore one version of Buddhist ethics- the ‘Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts’ used by the Zen Peacemakers Tradition for socially engaged work around the world.

Barbara Wegmueller is a Preceptor (ethical teacher) in the Zen Peacemakers lineage of Roshi Bernie Glassman. For many years she has helped coordinate an annual multi-faith healing retreat in the grounds of the former prison camp in Auschwitz, she’s taken part in peace initiatives in the Middle East and Europe, and is currently helping to set up a residential house in Switzerland that will serve deprived communities using Zen principles. She’s also a mother of five, a grandmother, and a wife, and is a great example for how Buddhist ethics can be applied in regular family life.