The answer is simple: “No.” No one is ever ready for the challenge that's right there, to bear witness, to teach, to facilitate council. No one is ever ready to be a parent. The trick – the only trick – is to bring your unreadiness to the table, to bring your openness to learning. Not being ready is no reason not to step forward. The only real obstacle is thinking that you are ready, “I got this one.” A bearing witness council rests in the intent to bring into the circle th

Maybe I should blame it on Roshi Bernie. At least in the earliest days, when Bernie began talking to us about a Zen Peacemaker Order, he didn’t want to exclude anyone. Bernie wanted an infinite circle. I worried about the lack of boundaries. What does it mean to be “Zen”? And what does it mean to be part of an Order? I had ideas about mission and especially about obedience. Members of the Zen Peacemaker Order, in my mind, were available to go at a moment’s notice wherever pea

I have been rediscovering Thomas Merton, and I am finding new riches. I am delighted by the light that he shines on the teaching of Zhuang Zhou, theTaoist philosopher who lived in China during the 4th century BCE. Anything we make into an object to strive for becomes a poison. Even Enlightenment as an object to strive for becomes a poison. Zhuang Zhou foresaw the trap into which Zen has fallen so many times, into which many are falling again. When enlightenment becomes the o