To Be a Peacemaker

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Sensei Monshin explores what it means to be a peacemaker in our complicated world. Recalling a creative renaming of the 4th of July as “Interdependence Day,” Monshin identifies the roots of war and aggression as ignorance — “ignorance as in misunderstanding the fact that we’re all connected and dependent on each other.” She encourages listeners to move beyond demonizing those with different views, asking us to genuinely consider: “Who are these people I don’t understand who act in ways I see as really harmful?” Quoting Father Greg Boyle’s Cherished Belonging, she shares his insight: “we’ve all met the broken, the despondent and damaged, the desperate and unwell, the traumatized, the wounded, the injured, but never anybody evil.” This helps us shape conflict as measures of misunderstanding or ignorance rather than an immutable aspect of person or society. Sharing stories from her 40 years as a public school teacher working with challenging students she guides participants through reflective questions about what it would take to be a genuine peacemaker in family, sangha, community, and within ourselves, asking: “What would you need to let go of? What would you need to pay attention to?” Through inspiring stories of Bernie Glassman’s Zen Peacemaker Order, the women of La Patrona helping migrants, and women in Wajir, Kenya creating zones of peace, Monshin illustrates how peacemaking begins with simple responses to immediate need, rather than enactment of lofty ideals. Her talk directs us again and again towards interbeing, challenging us to remember Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching that we are both victim and perpetrator, and calling for the moral imagination to transcend taking sides. We are inspired to recognize that to make real peace is to see that every side is our side.