Audio Library

Do No Harm – the first of the Three Pure Vows. What does “pure” mean in relation to vows? What emerges when the field widens to include what might harm me, or what I would like to separate from? In boundless possibility, we enter the vastness of “the cave where the teachings of all Buddhas have their source.” Talks by all three teachers from The Three Pure Vows as Enduring Koans of Everyday Life – Part 1 of a 3-part series on the vows of our tradition. Complete session, as recorded June 7, 2021.

Roshi Jon Joseph assembled a panel of 4 PZI meditators, who deal with various experiences of chronic and severe pain. Koan meditation has helped all of them to find a way to allow the pain in – not to exclude it, and to see it as a profound teacher and ally. As recorded May 31, 2021.

How does the bodhisattva of compassion use all those hands and eyes? How do I express Guanyin? How is Guanyin showing up in my life? John Tarrant’s afternoon meditation & talk, Part 2 of this two-session Dragons of the Blue Cliff 1-Day Retreat. In the PZI Digital Temple, as recorded June 6, 2021.

How does the bodhisattva of compassion use all those hands and eyes? In some way, through the vastness of hands and eyes, the koan speaks of the vast currents of the universe that carry and hold us. John Tarrant’s morning meditation & talk, Part 1 of this two-session Dragons of the Blue Cliff 1-Day Retreat. In the PZI Digital Temple, as recorded June 6, 2021.

Jordan McConnell on guitar and vocals, playing a variation on PZI’s Four Boundless Vows. From a Sunday Meditation & Talk with Allison Atwill & Tess Beasley, as recorded May 30, 2021. PZI Zen Online.

An excerpt of a longer session with Allison Atwill. Tess tells a story of a transformative moment. As recorded May 31.2021.

An excerpt from the full Sunday session with co-host Tess Beasley. Allison Atwill tells a story of a moment when she knocked on a door and entered the vastness of the universe. As recorded on May 30, 2021

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.

28 minutes as recorded May 23, 2021.

We’ve been in a long monastic retreat during this pandemic. Time has slowed. We are opening up gradually now to the world, as more people are vaccinated. We realize we are not going back to anything. The time is changing. We’re all stepping off into the mysterious. Musician: Jordan McConnell. PZI Zen Online: As recorded May 23, 2021.

Koan meditation and dharma talk with John Tarrant. How is my hand like Buddha’s hand? PZI Zen Online, Sunday program as recorded May 16, 2021.

A guided meditation with John Tarrant. The koan for this meditation was translated by John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland: “What is Jiashan’s state of mind?” 20 minutes as recorded May 9, 2021.

A Mothers’ Day salute to the great mother in all her forms, the Valley Spirit—and to our own mysterious mothers. Wandering free and easy, without judgments or interruptions, the space inside everything is a kind of light that gradually becomes visible. PZI Zen Online. Includes music for meditation from Jordan McConnell. As recorded: 23 minutes, May 9, 2021.

A guided meditation with John Tarrant, recorded Sunday May, 2021. PZI Zen Online. 6 minutes.

John Tarrant begins with a wild Daoist story from the Zhuangzi, about a giant fish named Kun. The freedom is in your own breast and the koan path opens the way. Includes meditation segments, music from Michael Wilding, vows from Jordan McConnell & Amaryllis Fletcher, Cantor. PZI Zen Online. As recorded May 2, 2021.

Jon Joseph Roshi, Director of San Mateo Zen, considers the 8th Ox-herding picture along with a verse from 12th century poet Kuon Shihyuan. What happens if Ox and Self disappear? PZI Zen Online. As recorded May 3, 2021.

David Parks Roshi of Blue Grass Zen in Kentucky enters spring with mowing the grasses and contemplating the weeds. PZI Zen Online. Dharma talk as recorded April 1, 2021.

David Parks Roshi of Blue Grass Zen in Kentucky continues with the koans of Dongshan. Dharma talk: The One Who Is Not Sick, PZI Zen Online. As recorded April 22, 2021.

Jon Joseph guides a meditation on the Ox-herding pictures 4 & 5. PZI Zen Online. As recorded March 22, 2021. 7 minutes.

Jon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen considers the 4th & 5th Ox-herding Pictures and poems. Of itself, the Ox follows along—without devices or chains. PZI Zen Online. Dharma talk as recorded March 22, 2021.

Allison Atwill, Tess Beasley & Jesse Cardin lead us into the heart of PZI practice—what it means to take refuge, and how to work with the vows as koans. Purification Sutra and vows sung and played by musician Jordan McConnell. PZI Digital Temple. As recorded April 25, 2021.

Tess Beasley invites our voices into the room, acknowledging the interwoven yet not-interwoven vessel of sesshin. We are each a unique presence, yet it is when personal identity and ambition recede that feeling and empathy emerge. PZI Digital Temple. As recorded April 11, 2021.

Allison Atwill talks about the experience of direct encounter in the Peach Blossom koan. Even when I am Mara, it is the treasure that is just for me. PZI Digital Temple. As recorded April 10, 2021.

Jon Joseph Roshi gives a dharma talk in Spring Sesshin. PZI Digital Temple. As recorded April 10, 2021.

PZI’s Jesse Cardin, Director of It’s Alive Zen in San Antonio, Texas, reminds us that lostness is part of peach blossoms, and explores how that might appear on the second day of a retreat—or whenever. As recorded April 9, 2021.

Jordan McConnell sings and plays the Four Boundless Vows with Amaryllis Fletcher on bells and violin. As recorded April 7, 2021.

David Weinstein, Director of PZI’s Oakland Zen, delivers the evening words during Spring Sesshin. As recorded April 7, 2021. 5 minutes.

Tess Beasley sends sesshin participants off to dream on April 8, 2021. As recorded x minutes.

John Tarrant’s morning dharma talk on meditation practice and what it is to be in retreat. As recorded April 8, 2021.