Who Is Hearing?

Jon Joseph on the sounds of the world as the music of the universe. Summer Sesshin 2019.

We don’t need to turn away from the world and we don’t have to find a place to stand. Our listening and our presence operate below the level at which we usually manage things. So that is the hearing aspect of this koan. Just let hearing have you. This koan can be carried everywhere with you. Comments from teachers & Amanda Boughton sings vows. November 6, 2022.

Just listen! After a difficult battle, a Japanese general hears a bamboo flute in the distance. The sound awakens him to practice and teach Zen, and to allow music in the zendo—the sound itself a gateway into everything. John Tarrant plays a John Cage soundscape: Sound lets us listen to the world—it gives us our own lives. When we step into the here, we step into the infinite and stop being afraid. Jordan McConnell plays guitar in the meditation. Comments from teachers and leaders. September 25, 2022.

John Tarrant’s welcome and introduction to a special program on The Four Boundless Vows and the Bodhisattva path. We are each in the true temple; it’s always happening here, and everyone holds it. Meditation and opening words: the beauty of practice and of the path, the way we teach through stories in Zen, and inclusion of the Daoist view that “the world does fine on its own.” Excerpt from the Sunday session recorded August 1, 2021.

A 17-minute guided meditation with John Tarrant, excerpted from a Sunday Meditation & Talk recorded on March 14th, 2021.

Audio Excerpt: PZI Winter Sesshin: Jon Joseph reads poems and reminds us that even deep in jumbled mountains the cuckoo is calling us home. The cuckoo is the voice of the Dao. 2 minutes.

John Tarrant talks about Chan’s encounter with Daoism and the Zhuangzi, replete with strange characters like “Crooked Carriage” and his friends. Chan took on their difficult times with stories and koans. Upheaval from Covid quarantine, riots over racism—koan meditation is a vessel for our times. Who’s concerned about the world? Who’s sad? We are in it together, so let’s vow to set endless heartache to rest. Koans and stories are ancient vials of light that help us now. PZI Zen Online, as recorded May 31, 2020.