Arising to the Interconnectedness of Life? A Buddhist Perspective on the Occupy Movement - Bernie Glassman, 12/22/11 My Brush with Brutality and Love - John Helmiere, 12/14/11 Notes on Economy (Pt. 1) - Joshua Stephens, 12/12/11 Why I'm Involved in the Occupy Movement - Maia Duerr, 12/11/11 Silence in the Occupation -- A Model for Others?- Patrick Groneman, 12/9/11 Generosity Keeps on Giving - Max Airborne, ...

Yesterday evening, I was brutally beaten by my brothers on the Seattle Police force as I stood before an entrance to Pier 18 of the Seattle Port in my clergy garb bellowing, “Keep the Peace! Keep the Peace!”  An officer pulled me down from behind and threw me to the asphalt.  Between my cries of pain and shouts of “I’m a man of peace!” he pressed a knee to my spine and immobilized my arms behind my back, cr ...

Last week the New York City General Assembly, the democratic body through which Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is administered in Lower Manhattan, set a profound precedent by approving a proposal to convert the Screen Printing Working Group to a horizontally-organized workers cooperative. The proposal flew under the radars of virtually everyone, as far as I can tell. For those unfamiliar, the Screen Printing Work ...

We invite you to join a global coalition of transformative practice communities as we converge for transformative change at Occupy. We invite all to converge in Nine Minutes of Silence. We also invite you to read a Dedication of our intentions in doing so here and to organize additional transformative practices before or after the convergence. We chose this format to be inclusive of different practices with ...

On December 3rd, BPF members, chapters, allies came together for Nine Minutes of Silence in support of the Occupy Movement.  Read more here. We used the following dedication as part of our practice on that day. Dedication: By [practicing, praying, meditating, resting in silence] together on this third day of December, 2011, we recognize the basic connection we share with all beings. We understand that a sin ...

On the morning of November 17, I watched the livestream of protestors in NYC being beaten as they attempted to shut down Wall St. I felt the intensity of the togetherness of the crowd, the depth of what seemed to be their commitment to nonviolence — these vast numbers of people surrounded everywhere by militarized police, keeping their eyes on the prize of economic justice and liberation. So many emotions r ...

[caption id="attachment_3141" align="alignright" width="159"] Photo by Carbon NYC[/caption] As the birds make their noises I ask myself questions. Why do we feel most alive when at war? The church sings hallelujah over and over across the empty street. A small blond child is playing harmonica to a cat when I find a scrap of paper on my floor with an invitation to discuss a quote downtown in the plaza that h ...

One of the many things I love about the Occupy movement (also known as the Decolonize movement or (un)Occupy movement, both of which I support) is the vast array of artistic, cultural, philosophical, educational, and practical contributions coming from so many people and communities. I’m seeing so many folks who are really showing up, and masses of people who are acting like it’s possible to create the worl ...

November 2, 2011. When I arrived at Frank Ogawa / Oscar Grant Plaza this morning, the day of the General Strike in my home city, Oakland, I couldn’t find the Interfaith Tent. Various faith leaders had been invited for time slots throughout the day; I was supposed to lead a Buddhist meditation at 11 a.m. Almost immediately, two people came up and introduced themselves as parents of a teacher at the Oakland p ...

11/2/2011 November 2 * Occupy Oakland * General Strike Participate with Other Buddhists, Meditators, and Faith-Based Groups Last Tuesday, with the world watching, police in riot gear shot 2000 protestors at Occupy Oakland with tear gas and rubber bullets. The next day, the protestors could have responded with violence. Instead, people peacefully came together and called for a General Strike on November 2nd. ...