PZI Teacher Archives

Yunmen's Good Day (BCR6)

KOAN:

The teacher said, “I’m not asking about before the full moon, come and say a word or two about after the full moon.”
He responded to his own request, “Every day is a good day.”

—Blue Cliff Record, Case 6

Text May 15, 2021

Every Day Is a Good Day

John Tarrant

What is the journey for? What is it to have this life? We’re in it—it’s so marvelous, so overwhelming and so incomprehensible. You’ll find, I think, that you can’t stand back from it and answer that question. So the “good day” is just how it is. It’s like the gift of the universe, and you’re in the universe, having received the gift. Transcript of John Tarrant’s dharma talk in Winter Sesshin 2020.

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Article May 6, 2021

Enlightenment Is Something We Do Together

John Tarrant

Conversation is itself a kind of meditation, a way we can accompany each other through life. We can share errors, painful mistakes, dreams, losses, discoveries, or just the ordinary glowing things. That’s a good day. Article by John Tarrant published in Lion’s Roar magazine February 18, 2014.

901 Words
Text October 8, 2020

18 Gratitude, Care And Feeding Of – The Zenosaurus Course In Koans

John Tarrant

Zenosaurus Curriculum 18: Gratitude comes with a feeling of openness, shyness, vulnerability. The person who is grateful can be hurt or rejected, she is taking a risk. With gratitude, there is more at stake, life is not small. 

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Text July 12, 2020

Class 5 Curriculum Notes: The Bright Gate Koan Types

John Tarrant

Class 5 Bright Gates. John Tarrant: Winter Proper – These are often the first koans people work with and throw themselves into. 
While they are often used as initial koans, they are not inquiry koans. 

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