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Hereʼs what we have for "death":
Death Poem
Roshi David Weinstein continues with the koan for Summer sesshin, “Where have you been?” “I went out following the scented grass and came back chasing the falling blossoms.” June 26, 2016.
Dharma Theme – Zen Luminaries: A Series of Conversations with Jon Joseph Roshi
Modern Zen Luminaries—a series of Zen Buddhist scholars, writers, poets, translators, and practitioners—join PZI’s Jon Joseph Roshi for lively discussions online, with a focus on our Chan lineage. Recordings from the 2021 September 27th & November 1st Monday Zen Online meetings.
Zen Luminaries: A Conversation with Peter Hershock hosted by Jon Joseph
As recorded Monday, November 1st, 2021, as part of a series of conversations with important Zen (Chan) voices: translators, writers, scholars, and practitioners.
Fall Sesshin 2021: Dreams of the Ancestors with Jon Joseph
Jon Joseph gives the morning dharma talk about his dreams of the ancestors. A relationship continues beyond death. How is this so? It does not need to be explained, it only asks to be lived. As recorded in Fall Sesshin on Thursday morning, October 21, 2021.
Dharma Theme – Metamorphosis: Collected Audio from Fall Sesshin 2021
Here is a curation of our Fall Sesshin dharma talks on a single page, for easy finding and listening. A sesshin is always more than the sum of its parts or its recorded talks. There are morning rituals, greetings, incense passed magically through the screen, the changing light, rich silences, moments of humor, tech gremlins, tears, synchronicities, dogs barking, dreams, and awakenings that we share. It is the timeless play of the universe, with each other. As recorded in the PZI Digital Temple, October 19-24, 2021.
Ceremonies: Long Readings for Afternoon: The Ninth Duino Elegy – Rainer Maria Rilke
The Ninth Duino Elegy —Rainer Maria Rilke Why, if this interval of being can […]
Ceremonies: Long Readings for Afternoon: From The Record of Linji
From The Record of Linji —Linji Followers of the Way, as I look at it, […]
Sutra Book: The Great Heart Sutra – Spoken
The Great Heart Sutra (Sutra follows this description, with words that may be spoken or […]
Sutra Book: The Great Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra – Sung Version
The Great Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra —Sheet music score by Richie Dominge 2007, in separate post […]
Sutra Book: Praise Song for Meditation – Hakuin Ekaku
Praise Song for Meditation —Hakuin Ekaku (spoken) All beings are Buddha by nature, just as […]
Ceremonies: Long Readings for Afternoon: Song Of Enlightenment – Yongjia Xuanjue
Song of Enlightenment —Yongjia Xuanjue There is a leisurely one, walking the Dao, beyond […]
Green Glade of Meditation: 10,000 Feet Down, The Stone
John Tarrant talks about living in an underworld time, in a descent as a culture and as a world, and as a planet. Accepting the descent, and accepting the quality of being lost when it appears, is profoundly important. And there’s a great, strange, and interesting mystery in that.
Where Do You Go, Oh Where Do You Go When You Die?
Article by John Tarrant for Lion’s Roar magazine. A traditional Chan way to approach the question of death is to stroll, stumble, hurry, struggle, fall accidentally through the gates of samadhi—the deep concentration of meditation—and look around. When you really enter this moment, it has no end, no beginning; it is older than the universe that seems to contain it. Then it will inevitably occur to you: “I’ve always been here.”
Gifts, Gods in Disguise, & Freedom
Buddhism is based in reality. When we lose what we thought we had, our panic asks, “What will happen to little me?” and any answer to that question is likely to be overwhelming and shadowed. It is human to panic out of habit, without asking ourselves what is really going on and what our true, deep reaction is. But the gods in disguise show that sudden change can happen in a positive direction. The path out of suffering is closely related to accuracy, to noticing what really is, as opposed to what we first thought.
Carl Jung’s Red Book
Jung’s journey is interesting, harrowing, ridiculous, pompous, incomprehensible, amusing, sad, frightening, wise—the whole range of the human is there. Jung’s point of meeting with Buddhism is that, at a time when darkness seemed and was near, he offered the example of a trust in the deepest possibility of transformation, and in the involuntary processes that we contain, and in the depths of what it is to be human.
A Beautiful Wish (You Are the Sun…)
The desire for a more beautiful life is ancient and enduring. In medieval times it meant dressing in bright silks and having long and colorful processions; the desire was poured into objects, too, into paintings and cathedrals with stained glass windows. Inside the desire for a more beautiful life is the desire for a more beautiful character.
Unexpected Gifts, Unexpected Help Along the Way
What is the gift of the universe? We receive unexpected help when we are “living down a level,” living things before we construct them. Not constantly consulting your “me,” you open to the invitations and gifts that appear; trusting in the Dao.
Surprises on the Way: Article by John Tarrant
Meditation offers a path out of the burning house, without abandoning the promise and good-heartedness of being human. Practice is the last best hope of living up to that good-heartedness, the only thing that never hurts and usually helps. And even at the beginning of the meditation path, on a good day it’s exciting. It actually makes you happy.
Free & Easy Wandering Series: Knock on Any Door
Allison Atwill & Tess Beasley are guest hosts in John Tarrant’s Free & Easy Wandering Series. They each tell a story of being at a threshold—knocking on doors not knowing who would answer, and how the gifts of the universe appeared. PZI Zen Online, as recorded May 30, 2021. Vows with Jordan McConnell. Music for meditation from Michael Wilding archived separately.
Sudden Awakening
“In even the simplest life, pain and disappointment accumulate—and at some moment everyone longs to walk through a gate and leave the past behind, perhaps for an earlier time when the colors were bright and the heart carried no weight. The quest for a fresh start is so fundamental that it defines the shape of the stories we tell each other.” Article by John Tarrant published in Lion’s Roar magazine on July 1, 2007.
It Would Be a Pity to Waste a Good Crisis
It’s important not to discount the idea that in a crisis, you might be having the time of your life. Article by John Tarrant, published in Lion’s Roar magazine on March 23, 2018.
Freely I Watch the Tracks of the Flying Birds
Everybody, every time, has its own difficulty and crisis. This is ours. We can trust our own lives that brought us here, and perhaps we have something to do here. And we don’t know what that is but we’ll find it as we keep walking. The thing about the meditation path is, I don’t have to think a lot about what’s mine to do. You just give yourself to the meditation, and it’s produced for you. It’s given to you. The path opens by itself, you know. Transcript of PZI Zen Online Sunday Talk with John Tarrant, recorded March 29 2020.
A True Person of No Rank, No Color, No Gender: Seeing Through All Distinctions
I was thinking about history and beauty and what an old old thing human suffering is, and how intrinsic it is. And we keep making things better and then they keep getting worse, and we’re making them better and they get worse. I guess I just wanted to say that it’s really good to have a practice at any time. Meditate—it will help. You will come from a position of peace rather than just fighting yourself. Being yourself, the true person, no rank. Transcript of PZI Zen Online Sunday Dharma Talk with John Tarrant Roshi, recorded June 7, 2020.
The Everlasting Body Runs Deepest Indigo: Meditation for Troubled Times
It’s a very strong thing to be human, you can be subjected to all sorts of great forces. And sometimes you can win through, and sometimes you die. But we’re all of us doing that, all the time. So I was thinking about how good it is to love each other, to meet each other, and to make peace in our hearts. Sunday talk with John Tarrant, recorded June 14 2020.
The Nature of Practice
Practice. The notion of practice, as something you embody, and you walk through, and you are—rather than something you add, like something added to gasoline. There’s also a sense of moving in the dark, in some way that’s positive. So that in a practice, “not knowing” is on your side.
Following the Scent of Flowers
So, there’s a spaciousness inside all situations, is what I’m saying. We’re walking through them, and underneath our feet there’s space and light around us—and we’re walking through space and light. And knowing that then is the source, I think, of empathy and love—but we accompany each other. And we don’t have to take ourselves or each other so seriously. We don’t have to advocate for the direness of the human condition, which is something we find a lot of. [laughs]
How Many Times Have I Gone There for You?
Just at this moment, the whole universe is holding us up. It’s nice for it to have a good job like that. That’s the thing that Master Ma said, the great master Mazu, “At a certain stage you have to make yourself a raft and a ferry for others if you want to go forward from the place you cannot go forward from.” This letting yourself feel—feel the moment and how it spreads out. There is no other moment. There is this, this, this, the Blue Dragon moment. It goes out through the galaxies.
The Heart Sutra
Text: The Heart Sutra. Many thanks to Red Pine, author of “The Heart Sutra: Translation and Commentary” (Shoemaker and Hoard, 2004) one of the best sources of insight and information about the Heart Sutra.
Don’t Try to Cage the Blue Dragon
Audio excerpt: Koans are much more than “tools” – they do you! Your very heart mind is it, so have the intimacy of your life even into death. Friday eve in Summer Sesshin 2020.
Fortunate Encounters with Demons, Delusions & Other Unexpected Guests
Audio: PZI Zen Online – Tess unleashes demons. Demons abound in our lockdown and they can be helpful! Our protective Psychic Immune system and what triggers a response. How we protect our ‘self’ image. Demons tend to employ certainty and cultivate a life or death field of response. What are they protecting? As recorded May 12 2020
New at Pacific Zen Institute
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.
Register: Dreams of Awakening – Sunday Meditation & Talk with John Tarrant & Friends
SUNDAY DECEMBER 5th
PZI Digital Temple: 10:30am
PST The Universe
Register: The Way Is Beyond Words – Monday Meditation & Talk with Guest Teacher Eduardo Fuentes
MONDAY DECEMBER 6th
PZI Zen Online: 6pm PST
The Universe
All PZI Members Invited: Morning Meditations in the Open Temple through Year’s End
NOV-DEC 2021
PZI Digital Temple
The Universe
Register: PZI Talk LIVE! Finding Yourself in a Story – Tuesday Eve with Gaffney & Hitchcock
TUESDAY DECEMBER 7th
PZI Zen Online: 5pm PST
The Universe
Register: Buddha’s Life In Your Own Heart – A Two-Day Retreat with John Tarrant, Tess Beasley & Michelle Riddle
DECEMBER 11th & 12th
PZI Digital Temple 10-4
PST The Universe
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