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John Tarrant reads his poem, composed spontaneously in response to a training exercise with a group of Integrative Medicine doctors. Each practitioner was asked to describe healing, and this “is what came out of me.” Excerpt from Zen & Poetry, a Sunday Talk on May 1st, 2022.

John Tarrant reads poems and haiku from Issa, Walt Whitman, Christopher Smart, William Merwyn and others. From Sunday Talk: The Animal Heart Mind. 12 minutes.

John Tarrant’s welcome and introduction to a special program on The Four Boundless Vows and the Bodhisattva path. We are each in the true temple; it’s always happening here, and everyone holds it. Meditation and opening words: the beauty of practice and of the path, the way we teach through stories in Zen, and inclusion of the Daoist view that “the world does fine on its own.” Excerpt from the Sunday session recorded August 1, 2021.

John Tarrant’s morning dharma talk on meditation practice and what it is to be in retreat. As recorded April 8, 2021.

John Tarrant guides a 9-minute meditation with Master Ma’s koan, “The whole purpose of your life is contained in the current matter.” Audio excerpt as recorded at a Sunday Meditation & Talk on February 9, 2021.

PZI Zen Online: Audio excerpt from morning session of PZI One-day Retreat, On the Banks of the Ghost River with John Tarrant & Tess Beasley. John Reads the Ballad of Tam Lin in which a brave girl helps her lover, caught in the Faery Queens’s caterhaugh (boggy fen), transform. As recorded Oct 31 2020. Complete 2-part session also available.

PZI Fall Sesshin: Gathering in the Valley of Our Time – John Tarrant’s evening words. Why did we come here? “Not for anything else.” Huangbo’s response on his arrival. Trusting your own experience in sesshin. Any moment of noticing is oneness with emptiness. The Valley Spirit holds us. Whatever arises in meditation is for you, and not wrong. October 1, 2020.

PZI Fall Sesshin Audio Excerpt: John Tarrant Roshi’s opening talk. As recorded October 1, 2020.

Guided meditation with John Tarrant Roshi reciting Yunmen’s formative Zen koan, which asks the question: “What is your light?” Excerpted from a Sunday Meditation & Talk recorded on September 6, 2020.

Audio excerpt: John Tarrant guides a journey into the Blue Dragon’s Cave, a koan meditation as recorded on Sunday July 5th Meditation & Talk. 25 minutes.

John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland, Tesho Winter Sesshin: 1998.

Meditation on the koan, What Is Jiashan’s State of Mind, is accompanied by Jordan McConnell’s musical improvisation on guitar. Recorded on May 1, 2022, during John Tarrant’s Zen Is Poetry Sunday Talk.

Koans and poetry tumble over each other. Good poetry has an objective quality and is related to koanville in that way. It does not try to persuade or recruit. Not knowing always supports us—you are always in the jeweled net. Music for meditation and the four vows with Jordan McConnell and Amaryllis Fletcher. Participants create poetry from a few momentary observations. Poems by John Tarrant and others.

Michael Wilding plays an evocative saxophone solo for John Tarrant’s Sunday meditation: A Morning of Amnesty. April 17, 2022.

Knock on any door—someone will answer. Letting koans teach you koans is the way. Anything that arises is part of the work. It’s not following instructions. John Tarrant’s Sunday Talk as recorded March 27, 2022.

Michael Wilding’s musical solos during a meditation for getting lost. Recorded during John Tarrant’s Sunday Talk on March 13, 2022.

Jordan McConnell plays a guitar solo for exploring the lost cities during John Tarrant’s Sunday Talk on March 20, 2022.

Michael Wilding plays flute for exploring the lost cities, during John Tarrant’s Sunday Talk on March 20, 2022.

Allison remarks on Bodhidharma’s Setting the Mind to Rest koan. Reality vs Data: Data can’t be wrong, can it? Recorded during Sunday session with John Tarrant & Friends on February 27, 2022. 4 Minutes.

Michael Wilding adds his original music on saxophone to John Tarrant’s meditation session. As recorded live on Sunday March 6, 2022. 6 minutes.

Michael Wilding plays an exquisite solo during meditation. From John Tarrant’s Sunday session, recorded on February 20, 2022.

Solo saxophone music for meditation from Michael Wilding. From John Tarrant’s Sunday session, recorded February 20, 2022.