PZI Teacher Archives

Why Can't a Clear-eyed Person Cut the Red Thread? (MK30c)

KOAN:

Why can’t a clear-eyed person cut the red thread?

—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 30c

From Songyuan Chongyue’s Three Turning Words:

a. Why can’t the person of great strength lift up her leg?
b. Say something without moving your lips or tongue.
c. Why can’t a clear-eyed person cut the red thread?

Audio March 29, 2023

Red Thread Music for Meditation

Michael Wilding

Original music inspired by and for meditation, improvised by artist and musician Michael Wilding. Michael plays a wide range of instruments including saxophone, flute, didgeridoo and drums. From the Red Thread Sunday Zen session with guest host Tess Beasley, recorded March 26, 2023.

5' 47"
Audio March 29, 2023

The Red Thread

Tess Beasley

The red thread holds all the great forces, the fraught encounters, and intense relationships with people. Why are we so entangled? Will we find a place of ease and peace that severs the complications of the red thread? Is that even a good idea? Complete Sunday Zen session with Tess Beasley and music for meditation from Michael Wilding. Recorded March 26, 2023.

74' 35"
Audio August 23, 2022

Love, Meditation & the Red Thread

John Tarrant

There is a marvelous living side-by-side when we show each other the greatest possible trust—not trying to rush away the feeling of the eternal, together. John Tarrant’s complete Sunday session audio from July 17, 2022.

78' 53"
Audio April 4, 2022

Zen Luminaries: Following the Red Thread – Hosho Peter Coyote’s Poetry, Life & Teaching

Jon Joseph

A great meandering conversation bookended with Hosho Peter’s poems and reminiscences: It was in the late 1960s when Peter first met poet Gary Snyder, a meeting that forever changed his life. Emulating Snyder, he began a regular Zen meditation practice, later joining the San Francisco Zen Center. A conversation with Jon Joseph. March 28th, 2022.

114' 4"