Bernie Glassman at Upaya Roshi Bernie Glassman: Making Peace—The World as One Body 2012 (Part 1 of 8)
Aug 6, 2018
Roshi Bernie Glassman, a Zen teacher who founded the Zen Peacemakers and champions socially engaged Buddhism, shares a family bath story that leads into the three tenets: not-knowing, bearing witness, and compassionate action. He explores nonduality, everyday practice, plunges like street immersions, and how to bring intimate presence into wider social action.
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Newborn Bonding As Bearing Witness
- Bernie Glassman observed his daughter, son-in-law, and newborn Milo bonding in the hospital through feeding, burping, and diapering, experiencing them as one body.
- The automatic, caring actions arising from deep attention illustrated bearing witness in practice, not premeditated technique.
Three Tenets That Shape Socially Engaged Practice
- Glassman defines the Zen Peacemakers' three tenets as not knowing, bearing witness, and loving actions as an interlinked practice.
- Not knowing means deep listening without attachment to ideas; bearing witness (non-duality) produces actions that naturally arise.
Keep On Trucking With Non-Dual Practice
- Treat practice as continuous "keep on trucking" action and also as cultivating non-dual awareness in ordinary activities.
- Apply practice to sitting, work, social action, and chanting so actions arise from interconnectedness rather than fixation.