Yunmen said: In the center of the cosmos, inside heaven and earth, there is one treasure, hidden in the body. It picks up a lantern and walks into the meditation hall. It brings the three-tiered entrance gate and puts it on top of the lantern.
—The Blue Cliff Record, Case 62
Happy New Year
Gung Hay Fat Choy! Welcome Water Rabbit 4720
SUNDAY ZEN
with John Tarrant & Friends
February 12th, 10:30 am PST
In Front of the Dead Tree Cliff,
Flowers Are Always in Bloom
John Tarrant Returns
REGISTER
Meditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you, for doors to open by themselves, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead.
Waking up is what we do together in the online Temple.
We love it when you join us.
—John Tarrant
Videos: Great Silence at the Beginning
Clips from January Sunday Zen
Jesse Cardin identifies some properties of great silence: it can not be tarnished or eroded; it can, of course, be obscured. Great silence can show up anywhere. From Jesse’s Sunday Zen talk given on January 15, 2023. 6 minutes.
Tess Beasley welcomes Sunday participants with a 5-minute meditation with the koan, The Great Silence at the Beginning. From Tess’ Sunday Zen talk given on January 8, 2023.
Secret Friendship Along the Way
John Tarrant: There is a secret quality of friendship that is very close to enlightenment. Friendship is a state of freedom—you don’t want each other to be different; a tolerance comes out of the heart.
Deep friendship has a long arc: Buddha realized that Mara would miss him if he left. August 25, 2022.
ZEN LUMINARIES
Author Lewis Hyde Talks with Jon Joseph
REGISTER
Lewis Hyde is a national treasure, one of the true superstars of nonfiction. —David Foster Wallace
Lewis Hyde is a poet, essayist, translator, and cultural critic with a particular interest in the public life of the imagination. Hyde’s most recent book, A Primer for Forgetting, explores the many situations in which forgetfulness is more useful than memory—in myth, personal psychology, politics, art & spiritual life.
Calendar
Upcoming Luminaries
February 20th
Author Lewis Hyde
March 27th
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
April 24th
Author Frank Ostaseski
May 29th
Author Ruth Ozeki
Oct 30th
Essayist Pico Iyer
Explore the Archive of Luminaries Talks
Check out PZI on YouTube
Coins in the River
Audio
That Solitary Brightness Is You
The solitary brightness with no fixed shape or form is yours.
The Linji koans we worked with during this retreat are variants on Linji’s “There’s nothing I dislike.” They all appear from this core. When you only don’t object to or exclude reality, the brightness is there.
—John Tarrant, dharma talk given in Summer Sesshin 2016
Audio
The Well at the Heart of the World
In a well that has not been dug
water ripples from a spring that doesn’t flow. Someone with no shadow or form
is drawing the water.
—Pacific Zen Miscellaneous Koans, Case 22 (from a poem by Ikkyu)
The miscellaneous koans open a path through the heart of the world. The world comes to meet us, and we meet each other. When we know that deeply, it changes everything. There’s a different you that’s seeing things.
—John Tarrant, dharma talk given in Fall Sesshin 2021
Text
The Moon Sets at Midnight
The koan path doesn’t ask you to replace the wrong thought with the right thought. Meditation offers you a choice; you can notice what you are thinking and see if you agree with it.
As the Heart Sutra says, even thoughts are empty, and if we are willing not to know, willing to walk through life without believing every thought that arises, then we’ll find a path out of suffering.
So to you, Friend, I confide my secret: to be a discoverer you hold close whatever you find, and after a while you decide what it is. Then, secure in where you have been, you turn to the open sea and let go.
—John Tarrant, dharma talk given in sesshin at St. Dorothy’s Rest
Door After Door
New to Pacific Zen Institute? – Welcome!
WELCOME! At PZI we’re creating a culture of transformation through meditation, koans, conversation, and the arts. Explore and connect in PZI Zen Online events, our extensive Koans and Liberation Project Archive (KALPA), and more.
Zen Luminaries: Lewis Hyde in Conversation with Jon Joseph
MONDAY FEBRUARY 20th
PZI Zen Online: 6PM PST
The Universe
In Front of the Dead Tree Cliff, Flowers Are Always in Bloom – Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 12th
PZI Online Temple: 10:30AM PST
The Universe
Tracking A Solitary Boat – Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8th
PZI Zen Online: 7PM PST
The Universe
WAITING LIST ONLY: The Fleeting Kiss of Beautiful Things – Open Mind Retreat with John Tarrant & Tess Beasley
MARCH 16th–19th
Commonweal Center
Bolinas, CA