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 Emlyn Guiney
F E A T U R E D
September 8 Sunday Zen: With John Tarrant & Friends
September 21 Daylong: With John Tarrant & Tess Beasley
October 22–27 Fall Sesshin: with John Tarrant & PZI Teachers
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TUESDAY ZEN: Who Built This House? with David Weinstein
December 26, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Free – $10
REGISTER
The Flower Garland Sutra says,
Now when I look at all beings everywhere,
I see that each of them possesses the wisdom and virtue of awakening,
but because of their attachments and delusions,
they cannot bear witness to it.
—Book of Serenity Case 67
As I have spent time with this koan, what stands out is how different this quote from the Flower Garland Sutra—attributed to Shakyamuni regarding his awakening—is from what was recorded in the much older Dhammapada.
The Dhammapada was composed in the ancient Indian Pali language, and is considered one of the earliest and most widely read texts in the Buddhist tradition, particularly the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The Flower Garland Sutra, on the other hand, is a Mahayana Buddhist scripture, and its origins are more complex. It evolved over centuries, with different parts composed at different times. The Chinese translation of the Flower Garland Sutra was completed during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420 CE), nearly 500 years after the Dhammapada, which itself was composed about 500 years after Shakyamuni.
So we can’t say that either text reliably records what Shakyamuni said about his awakening. But they do demonstrate two very different styles of practicing that evolved over time. We can look at them as examples of the way the tradition changed and continues to change, and how we and the way we are practicing are part of that evolution.
The account reported in the Dhammapada regarding Sakyamuni’s awakening experience is as follows:
I wandered through the rounds of countless births,
Seeking but not finding the builder of this house.
Sorrowful indeed is birth again and again.
Oh, house builder!
You have now been seen.
You shall build the house no longer.
All your rafters have been broken, your ridgepole shattered.
My mind has attained to unconditional freedom.
Achieved is the end of craving.
That is a very different spirit than what is in the Flower Garland Sutra, don’t you think?
—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
