Welcome to the PZI KALPA Library!

KALPA—Koans And Liberation Project Archive—the online Zen koan library of Pacific Zen Institute, was conceived as a way of providing a wider circle for today’s far-flung seekers to sit together, to enter the same timeless questions, and to receive the teachings. Browse selected posts as a guest, or to access the entire collection, and for downloadable audio of meditations and talks, join us as a PZI Member.

Visit our KALPA Search Guide for an introduction on how to use the library.

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PZI Teacher Archives

New to the Library

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Dharma Theme March 15, 2023

Dharma Theme: Baizhang’s Fox – Cause & Effect in a Fox Life

PZI Teachers

How many lifetimes do we spend in our fox suits? They are not wasted. All forms are part of the lively package of existence. Turning words and sudden awakenings even from long-suffering can appear anywhere and in the most unexpected ways. 

0 Words
Audio March 13, 2023

Everywhere – It’s Everywhere You Look

John Tarrant

“Feeling the time,” is a line from the poet Du Fu—the time is always with us. And it’s always too early to despair. We’re just here. Not wanting anything to be different. Objections are full of knowing! You step out of the way you are perceiving the world, the dream of who you are, you turn the light backward. Recorded February 26, 2023.

63' 5"

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Dharma Theme March 10, 2023

Dharma Theme: Past Midnight – Discoveries in the Dark

PZI Teachers

These dharma talks and texts, like Dongshan’s First Rank, wander in the hours before moonrise when anything can appear. Being lost, or in the dark, is a necessary condition on the Way.

245 Words
Video March 3, 2023

Zen Luminaries: A Primer for Forgetting with Lewis Hyde

Jon Joseph

Author and essayist Lewis Hyde talks with Jon Joseph about his most recent book, A Primer for Forgetting. To be born is thought of as a forgetting in many cultures around the world. Hyde also explores the creative need for the trickster and unconventional gift economy running parallel to Zen.

42' 10"
Video March 3, 2023

What Is This? An Ancient Question

John Tarrant

What is this? is an ancient question—it holds our whole lives. That wondering is the essence of what it is to be human. If you allow wonder into a hard time, it will change it. The attempt to discover something is where the question or problem will change.

65' 30"