PZI Events Calendar
W E L C O M E to the PZI Events Calendar! Here you will find all upcoming events and registration links for PZI Zen Online retreats, sesshins, and weekly meditations & talks. Search by individual event, day, or month. Save to your Google Calendar or iCal Calendar. No experience required to participate. All event times are Pacific Time. Questions? Contact Lucas at PZI Support.
F E A T U R E D
May 7–10: Say A True Word & I Will Stay The Night – Open Mind Retreat with John Tarrant, Tess Beasley, & Allison Atwill
May 17: Sunday Zen with John Tarrant, Allison Atwill & Tess Beasley
June 8–14: Dragons & Tigers, Oh My! – Our Great Summer Sesshin with John Tarrant & PZI Teachers
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TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Qingyuan’s Price of Rice
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A student asked Qingyuan, “What’s the deep meaning of the Buddha’s teachings?”
Qingyuan said, “What does rice cost in Luling?”
—Book of Serenity Case 5
When I first encountered this koan I thought it was an elaboration on Nanquan’s “Ordinary mind is the way.” As it turned out it was the other way around. Nanquan was born seven years after Qingyuan died, so it’s Nanquan who was elaborating on Qingyuan.
Nanquan’s “Ordinary Mind” leaves it to our imagination to fill in the blanks of what Ordinary Mind is. Qingyuan points directly at it. There isn’t the wiggle room that Nanquan leaves about what exactly Ordinary Mind is, which can lead to a kind of special Ordinary Mind, the one we think it is. There are all kinds of similar directly pointing teachings, like one from Nanquan himself:
A monk asked Nanquan, “What is the way?” Nanquan replied, “This sickle cost $3.”
Then there is also:
A monk asked Dongshan, “What is Buddha?” Dongshan said, “Three pounds of flax.”
A monk asked Yunmen, “What is Buddha?” Yunmen said, “Dried shitstick.”
A monk asked Zhaozhou, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?” Zhaozhou said, “The oak tree in the courtyard.”
Another time Zhaozhou said, “In Zhenzhou they grow giant radishes.
Yunmen said, “A fence of flowers and healing herbs around the latrine.”
Zhaozhou said, “When I was in Qingzhou, I made a cloth robe. It weighed nine pounds.”
Yunmen said, “Five sesame buns and three bowls of tea!”
I say, “Last night someone gave me something called a Cookie Cake, I ate the whole thing.”
—David Weinstein
COME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation, dharma talk and conversation.
Register to participate. All are welcome.
David Weinstein Roshi, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community
