meditation practice

John Tarrant, Roshi, Director of PZI and author, talks about the mystery of meditation as he first experienced it in the ancient forests of Queensland; about transformation on the ancient koan path we follow, and the evolution of Pacific Zen Institute as a community, and koan school with a new online resource center, the KALPA (Koans and Liberation Project Archive) Library. Your support helps produce PZI’s ongoing retreats and dharma talks, John’s writing projects, and spreads the teachings. 8 minutes. January 2019

John says birds open the sky for us when we watch them fly—everything just appears, and then is gone, with no trace. If we trust whatever appears, that’s a taste of the bird path. Might it be true that no matter what, you’re not having the wrong moment, that you don’t have to disapprove? When it’s difficult, it’s good to know that it’s for us, it’s ours. Life is blessing us all the time. Our thinking and feeling “This isn’t it,” is what we call loneliness. John talks about how our practice asks us, “What’s it like to be alive, to be me? What’s it like to be a tree? A bird? What if I’m a fire? What if I’m river?” My mind and the universe—not much difference.

Rachel Boughton discusses techniques of meditation during sesshin; darkness, light, curiosity, and learning how to sit attentively with a koan. 2014.

On Friday evening, the last night of the October 2015 sesshin, all the teachers weigh in.

Steven Grant gives a talk on “the sport of meditation” at 2016 Winter Sesshin.