Bernie Glassman


Bernie Glassman was an American Zen Buddhist roshi and founder of the Zen Peacemakers, an organization established in 1980. In 1996, he co-founded the Zen Peacemaker Order with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes. Glassman was a Dharma successor of the late Taizan Maezumi-roshi, and gave inka and Dharma transmission to several people.
Glassman was known as a pioneer of social enterprise, socially engaged Buddhism and "Bearing Witness Retreats" at Auschwitz and on the streets.
According to author James Ishmael Ford, in 2006 he

Biography

Bernie Glassman was born to Jewish immigrants in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York in 1939. He attended university at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and received a degree in engineering. Following graduation he moved to California to work as an aeronautical engineer at McDonnell-Douglas. He then received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Glassman first encountered Zen when he was assigned Huston Smith's The Religions of Man for an English class in 1958. From there, he continued reading including books by Alan Watts, Christmas Humphreys, and D.T. Suzuki. In the early 1960s, Glassman began meditating and soon after sought a local Zen teacher. He found Taizan Maezumi in Los Angeles, California and Glassman became one of the original founding members of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. He received Dharma transmission in 1976 from Maezumi and then inka in 1995 shortly before Maezumi's death.
In 1980, he founded the Zen Community of New York. In 1982 Glassman opened Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, New York, which initially provided jobs for the Zen students and evolved into an effort to help alleviate the widespread homelessness in the area. The bakery provided jobs for inner city residents who lacked education and skills. Greyston employed low-skilled workers from the neighborhood, many of whom were homeless themselves, and sold baked goods to shops and restaurants in Manhattan. In 1989 Glassman entered an agreement with Ben & Jerry's, and Greyston Bakery has become the supplier of brownies for several lines of ice cream.
Through the success of his bakery–which in 2016 was earning $12 million in revenues–Glassman founded the Greyston Foundation with his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes in 1989. He retired from the Greyston Foundation in 1996 to pursue socially engaged Buddhist projects through the Zen Peacemakers. As of 2004 the Foundation had developed $35 million worth in real estate development projects in Westchester County, New York. The Foundation offers HIV/AIDS programs, provides job training and housing, child care services, educational opportunities, and other endeavors. In 2003 the bakery moved to a new building, which allows for higher output and more employment opportunities.
In 1996 Glassman, with his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes, founded the Zen Peacemaker Order. According to professor Christopher S. Queen, "The order is based on three principles: plunging into the unknown, bearing witness to the pain and joy of the world, and a commitment to heal oneself and the world." Richard Hughes Seager writes, "The Zen Peacemaker Order...has the potential to rival Thich Nhat Hanh's groups and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship as a force in American activism."
Glassman died on November 4, 2018 from complications of a stroke in Springfield, Massachusetts at the age of 79.

Teachings

Glassman taught about what his teacher, the late Taizan Maezumi, called the "unknowing." Not-knowing is the first tenet of the Zen Peacemakers, and Glassman said of it, "In Zen the words source and essence are the equivalent of Unknowing, and they come up again and again. We have the absolute and the relative perspectives about life, and Unknowing is the one source of both of these." Also, Glassman was known for his many "street retreats." Author James Ishmael Ford writes, "...'street retreats,' for instance, moves sesshin into the streets: participants eat in soup kitchens, and, if they know they're not displacing homeless people, sleep in homeless shelters or, otherwise, sleep in public places. Zazen takes place in parks." In the 2000s, Glassman developed an experiment in sociocratic consensus-based zen training and interfaith facilitation, known initially as , and later Zen Peacemaker Circles. Interconnected projects were established globally, replacing the role of 'Zen teacher' with participants learning from each other and sharing ideas between Circles. In his last years, having disrobed from the priesthood, Glassman together with his wife Eve Marko continued the work of his teacher Koryu Osaka Roshi in developing lay forms of Zen practice.

Lineage

Bernie Glassman appointed several "senseis" and "roshis" in traditional zen, and established the non-hierarchical roles of 'Steward' and 'Circle Dharmaholder' as coordinators and visionholders to continue the Zen Peacemaker Circles model. A number of his successors have also given dharma transmission to some of their own students:
  1. Ancheta, Alfred Jitsudo Roshi
  2. # Arbiter, Eric Kishin Sensei
  3. # Bruce-Fritz, Carol Myoshin Sensei
  4. # Elkin, Rick Issan Sensei
  5. # Fritz, Ralph Kendo Sensei
  6. # Helzer, Douglas Red Heart Sensei
  7. # Whalen, Thomas Zenho Sensei
  8. # Walter, Sydney Musai Roshi
  9. Baker, Nancy Mujo
  10. Barragato, Stefano Mui
  11. # Barragato, Margaret Ne-Eka
  12. ## Wohl, Peter Seishin Sensei
  13. # Paquin, Linda-Lee Abhaya
  14. Byalin, Kenneth Tetsuji Sensei
  15. Gauntt, Grover Genro Sensei
  16. Halifax, Joan Jiko Roshi
  17. # Kazniak, Al Genkai Sensei
  18. # Beate Stolte Sensei
  19. # Kaigetsu Irene Bakker Sensei
  20. # José Shinzan Palma Sensei
  21. # Joshin Brian Byrnes Sensei
  22. # Genzan Quennell Sensei
  23. Krajewski, Andrzej Getsugen Roshi
  24. Harkaspi, Helen Kobai Yuho
  25. Hixon, Lex Jikai
  26. Hixon, Sheila Jinen Sensei
  27. Holmes, Sandra Jishu Angyo
  28. Kahn, Paul Kuzan Genki Roshi
  29. Kennedy, Robert E. Jinsen S.J. Roshi
  30. # Abels, Gregory Hosho Sensei
  31. # Abels, Janet Jiryu Roshi
  32. # Bachman, Carl Genjo Sensei
  33. # Birx, Charles Shinkai Sensei
  34. ## Thompson, Scott H. Dharma Holder
  35. # Birx, Ellen Jikai Sensei
  36. # Cicetti, Raymond Ryuzan Sensei
  37. # Eastman, Patrick Kundo Roshi
  38. ## Averbeck, Marcus Hozan Sensei
  39. ## Collingwood, Chris Ryushin Sensei
  40. ## Woodcock, Jeremy Ryokan Sensei
  41. # Hunt, Kevin Jiun, O.C.S.O
  42. # Richardson, Janet Jinne, csjp Roshi
  43. ## Blackman, Bruce Seiryu Sensei
  44. ## Craig, Barbara Shoshin, RSM Sensei
  45. ## Dougherty, Rose Mary Myoan Sensei
  46. ## McQuaide, Rosalie Jishin, csjp Sensei
  47. Lee, Robert Sokan Sensei
  48. Lugovina, Francisco Genkoji "Paco" Sensei
  49. # williams, angel Kyodo Sensei
  50. # Nelson, Craig Daiken Sensei
  51. # Salazar, Joaquin Ryusho Sensei
  52. Matthiessen, Peter Muryo Roshi
  53. # Bastis, Madeline Ko-i Sensei
  54. ## Cantor, Mitchell Doshin Sensei
  55. ### May, Wilbur Mushin Sensei
  56. # Dobbs, Michel Engu Sensei
  57. # Friedman, Dorothy Dai-en Sensei
  58. Marko, Eve Myonen
  59. Maull, Fleet Shinryu Sensei
  60. Nakao, Wendy Lou Egyoku Roshi
  61. # Berge, Raul Ensho, Dharma Holder
  62. # Boyd, Merle Kodo Plum Dragon Sensei
  63. # Hawley, Kipp Ryodo Sensei
  64. # Janka, Gary Myogen Koan Sensei
  65. Nordstrom, Louis Mitsunen Roshi
  66. # Denton, Timothy Issai Sensei
  67. # Hawkins, Roger Sensei
  68. # Thompson, Phil Zenkai Sensei
  69. O'Hara, Pat Enkyo Roshi
  70. # Eiger, Randall Ryotan
  71. # Harris, Jules Shuzen
  72. ## Rapaport, Al Tendo Fusho
  73. ### Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt
  74. # Hondorp, Catherine Anraku Eishun
  75. # O'Hara, Barbara Joshin Sensei
  76. # Terestman, Julie Myoko Kirin Sensei
  77. # Thomson, Sinclair Shinryu
  78. Saunders, Seisen
  79. #Deer, Herb Eko
  80. #Wild, Sara Kokyo
  81. Wegmueller, Barbara Salaam Roshi
  82. Wegmueller, Roland Yakushi Roshi
Circle Zen Dharmaholders:
  1. Margueritte Gregory
  2. # Jeana Moore
  3. Barbara Wegmueller
  4. # Gabriele Blankertz
  5. # Chris Starbuck
  6. ## Geoff Taylor and the Western Massachusetts Circle
  7. ## Frances Collins
  8. # Steve Hart
  9. # Franziska Schneider
  10. # Kathleen Battke
  11. Roland Wegmueller

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Selected honors