[3] According to the author James Ishmael Ford, as of 2006 Glassman has "transferred his leadership of the White Plum Asanga to his Dharma brother Merzel Roshi and has formally 'disrobed,' renouncing priesthood in favor of serving as a lay teacher and leader of what is now called the Zen Peacemaker Family."
Activities of the Zen Peacemakers originated in Yonkers, New York with the opening of the Greyston Bakery, its most well-known and prosperous project, in 1982.
[4][5] Its projects eventually united under the auspices of the Greyston Foundation, a network of community development companies and non-profit organizations based in the inner city.
Zen Peacemakers in Poland established 'Nonviolent Communications Training and Practice' in the national public school system and opened an AIDS hospice.
[9] In the United States, Zen Peacemakers have campaigned for prison reform, provided hospice care and worked with the poor in both inner-city and rural areas.
Countries with groups affiliated to Zen Peacemakers include Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK.
In the United States affiliates include the Upaya Institute and Zen Center led by Joan Halifax in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Rami Efal serves as director of the Zen Peacemakers International organisation, acting as a 'hive' to collect and share ideas for the widespread community.
In Europe, Cornelius Collande, Barbara Wegmueller, Michel DuBois, and Frank De Waele are among the elders of the Zen Peacemakers community and the Auschwitz Bearing Witness retreat.
The ZPS is a forum for sharing the diverse methods of practice, service and teaching within the Zen Peacemakers Order for the purpose of education and personal development as practitioners and teachers.
Council circle, Nonviolent Communication, international Bearing Witness retreats, and "plunges" - immersing oneself in unfamiliar situations, often connected with social action, which requires the participant to let go of what they know and responds in new ways - have come to form core elements of the training throughout the network of practitioners.
In his later years, Glassman disrobed from the priesthood to develop lay zen practice, following the tradition of his heart teacher Koryu Osaka Roshi.
Lay and circle forms of liturgy such as the Gate of Sweet Nectar, Glassman's translation, and elaboration of the traditional Japanese Kanromon ceremony of feeding the hungry ghosts, came to be explored and shared with the community.
Decision making used the approach of Sociocracy, and Bernie Glassman created two new community roles of Steward and Circle Dharmaholder to support the model.
The 'circular transmission' experiment was largely abandoned after the loss of the Mother House in 2011, although Zen Peacemaker Circle training continues in the UK,[17] Germany and the US.
[21]'Street retreats', excursions by Bernie Glassman and others into the streets for days at a time to live amongst the homeless, have become a feature of Zen Peacemaker practice.
"[22] As a leader of Socially Engaged Buddhism, the Zen Peacemakers publish Bearing Witness, a free monthly online newsletter.
Socially Engaged Buddhism has frequently led to new models of practice, allowing Buddhists to addressing the needs of individuals and communities in disadvantaged areas.
[23] Religious historian 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".