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
April 26: What Is This Light That Everybody Has? – Deep Sit Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Tess Beasley
May 7–10: Say A True Word & I Will Stay The Night – Open Mind Retreat with John Tarrant, Tess Beasley, & Allison Atwill
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: Mazu’s Black and White
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A student asked Mazu, “Without talking about philosophy,
please tell me simply why Bodhidharma came from the West?”
Mazu said, “Today I’m worn out and can’t explain it to you.
Go find Zhizang and ask him.”
The student asked Zhizang, who said, “Why didn’t you ask the teacher?”
“He told me to ask you.”
“I have a headache today and can’t explain it to you.
Go and find Elder Brother Hai and ask him.”
The student asked Hai, who said, “Ever since I came to this place I haven’t been able to explain that.”
The student told Mazu about this.
Mazu said, “Zhizang’s hair is white, Hai’s hair is black.”
—Mazu’s Black and White, Book of Serenity Case 6
As soon as I started spending time with this koan, a similar story involving Mazu came to mind:
Mazu and Baizhang had gone on a walk and seen wild geese fly away, and Mazu asked Baizhang where they had gone. Baizhang responded, “They flew away.” Mazu grabbed and twisted Baizhang’s nose and Baizhang cried out in pain. Mazu said, “They haven’t gone anywhere at all.” Baizhang had an awakening experience.
After that experience, Baizhang returned to the monk’s quarters and sat, quietly weeping. One of his friends asked why he was weeping, and Baizhang said, “Go ask Mazu.” So Baizhang’s friend asked Mazu, who replied, “Go back and asked Baizhang.”
He went back and arrived at the monk’s quarters to find Baizhang laughing. He said to Baizhang, “Just a little while ago you were crying and now you’re laughing. What’s going on?” Baizhang replied, “A little while ago I was crying and now I’m laughing.”
Whose head was white and whose head was black in that situation?
At that point another koan came along to join the conversation.
Mujaku asked her teacher Bukko, “What is Zen?”
And Bukko replied, “The heart of the one who asks. You cannot get it from another’s words.”
My mind throws up the question: If you cannot get it from another’s words, then what’s the point of asking? In response to that, I hear the first teaching I received about koan practice:
“Make your mind a question mark.”
Whether the question is “What is Zen?” or “Why are you weeping?” or “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?” You cannot get the answer from another’s words. When brother Hai said, “Ever since I came to this place I haven’t been able to explain that,” he was not expressing any deficiency on his part.
—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
