Product Code Database
Bernie Glassman (January 18, 1939 – November 4, 2018) was an American Zen Buddhist roshi and founder of the Zen Peacemakers (previously the Zen Community of New York), an organization established in 1980. In 1996, he co-founded the Zen Peacemakers with his late wife, Sandra Jishu Holmes. Glassman was a Dharma heir 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 with homeless people.
According to author James Ishmael Ford, in 2006 he
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 with books by Alan Watts, Christmas Humphreys, and D.T. Suzuki. In the early 1960s, Glassman began meditating, soon thereafter seeking 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, who intended to create an inka shomei ceremony for him in 1995, shortly before Maezumi's death, conferring the influences of his own teachers to Glassman.
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 but 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 became the supplier of brownies for several lines of ice cream.
Through the success of his bakery—which earned $12 million in revenues in 2016—Glassman founded the Greyston Foundation (sometimes called Greyston Mandala) 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 allowed for higher output and more employment opportunities.
In 1996, Glassman founded the Zen Peacemaker Order with his wife, Sandra Jishu Holmes. Professor Christopher S. Queen states, "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 wrote, "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."
In 2012, Glassman founded The Stone Soup Cafe in Greenfield, Massachusetts (originally the "Let All Eat Cafe" in Montague) with Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges, his Zen student. Glassman and Bridges created an environment at the Stone Soup Café that promotes dignified treatment and accessibility for all. They designed the meal experience to ensure patrons felt attended to at a relaxed pace, nourishing the body, mind, and soul. Influenced by the Zen Peacemakers' principles, the café operates on a pay-what-you-can model, fostering a mixed-income dining experience that unites individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Glassman died on November 4, 2018, from complications of a stroke, in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the age of 79.
|
|
