in clowning as a personal plunge, visiting war zones, and performing for the children. In his later years, Glassman disrobed from the priesthood to develop lay zen practice, following the tradition of his heart teacher Koryu Osaka Roshi. Together with his third wife Eve Marko, he empowered lay zen preceptors, and Eve Marko worked on a new set of "householder koans". 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. At the heart of the Zen Peacemakers approach is the conviction that service and social action are themselves zen practice, together with the challenge to develop new 'upayas' (tools) to meet each new situation. Formulations of spiritual principles specific to the order include "The Sixteen Practices of a Zen Peacemaker", comprising the "Three Refuges", the "Three Tenets" and the "Ten Practices" of a Zen Peacemaker Zen Peacemaker Circles In the early 2000s, Bernie Glassman and his third wife Eve Marko worked with circles of spiritually minded activists around the world to develop a consensus-based model for social action and interfaith spiritual practice. Initially called Peacemaker Circle International, they later became known as Zen Peacemaker Circles. The interfaith strand of the Zen Peacemakers was influenced by Bernie Glassman's friendship with Sufi teacher and radio host Lex Hixon, his appreciation of the Jewish renewal leader Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and his many Christian zen students and successors. Zen Peacemaker Circles were established globally, presenting a model of zen practice that replaced the traditional role of 'Zen teacher' with innovative communities of practitioners learning from each other and sharing ideas between Circles. 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, Germany and the US. In other communities, the tools of Circle practice, especially Council circle have been incorporated into traditional zen training, to give a voice to students, for social action and for governance Street Retreats '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.