PZI Teacher Archives

PZI Zen Online

Video February 14, 2023

Turning Toward What Is Most Oppressive

Tess Beasley

Tess tells a story about the confinements of physical pain and long isolation for a musician during Covid lockdown. What are the gifts of turning into the trouble and the fear? 7-minute excerpt from Sunday Zen on Memorial Day 2022.

7' 31"
Video January 25, 2023

Loving the World That Carries Us

John Tarrant

The body of form changes, but what is everlasting? Q: “What endures?” A: “Mountain flowers bloom like brocade. The valley streams run deepest indigo.” We are on a journey with no fixed destination, and the moment we’ve been looking for is here. What carries us, if not the world around us? With solo flute improv from Micheal Wilding.

62' 52"
Video January 17, 2023

Great Silence at the Beginning: Holding It for Each Other

Jesse Cardin

What are the properties of great silence? It cannot be tarnished or eroded, it can’t be given or taken away, but it can of course be obscured. The whole universe is holding it for you; we hold it for each other and for ourselves. Zen cliches are showing up, with the truth! January Sunday Zen on January 15, 2023. 6 minutes.

6' 40"
Video January 16, 2023

Great Silence at the Beginning: It’s Everywhere

Jesse Cardin

If awakening could come from anywhere, how would that change things for you? Wherever you are, even in the places you are certain the silence is NOT, it is there, enfolding you. Even at Walmart with a toddler, in a flood, or at the doctor’s office—it is there, blooming. From a January Sunday Zen session on January 15, 2023. 10 minutes.

10' 39"
Video November 17, 2022

Zen Luminary: Poet Naomi Shihab Nye

Jon Joseph

Poet, teacher and essayist Naomi Shihab Nye, recorded in conversation with Jon Joseph Roshi in June of 2022.

90' 14"
Video November 2, 2022

Zen Luminaries: Poet & Essayist Jane Hirshfield

Jon Joseph

Jon Joseph Roshi converses with poet and essayist Jane Hirshfield on her many volumes of poetry and essays, her worldview, Buddhist practice, and more. With comments & questions from John Tarrant. Complete session from October 24th, 2022.

88' 45"
Video November 2, 2022

Ancestral Stories: Old Wrongs Can Disappear

John Tarrant

After a relative dies, the ancestral wrongs and difficulty can disappear as we change towards a more expansive view. Dreams tell us not to ignore the great forces of life, even in our turbulent times. Our koan school relates to the shadowy dark materials—including instead of excluding, without being taken over by them. October 30, 2022

6' 27"
Video November 2, 2022

Ancestral Stories: A Balkan Lament

Amanda Boughton

Amanda Boughton sings a Croatian song of connection to the land and flocks of sheep tended there. Recorded during the Ancestral Stories Retreat, October 30, 2022. 4 minutes.

3' 4"
Video November 1, 2022

Ancestral Stories: How the Ancestors Show Up

John Tarrant

We can accumulate things in life that become symbolic after we die. The real inheritance is in our hands and hearts, and is reliable no matter what the surface relationship may have been. When we are challenged, the ancestors show up. Meeting the Lord of Death is one of those challenges, and is part of meeting life. Excerpt from the Ancestral Stories Retreat on October 30, 2022.

5' 36"
Video November 1, 2022

Ancestral Stories: Opening to the Treasures of the Unconscious

John Tarrant

Ancient and indigenous cultures have different models for healing and dreaming, with different points of view often galactic or mythic. Including and opening to vastness when facing any problem allows for a wider range of solutions, and access to the hidden treasures that we have no idea are there for us. Excerpt from the Ancestral Stories Retreat on October 30, 2022.

9' 41"
Video November 1, 2022

Ancestral Stories: Are These Leaves Falling or Are They My Father’s Hands?

John Tarrant

John Tarrant reads his new autumn poem about meeting the vastness of autumn, and meeting his father, the Lord of Death. From the Ancestral Stories Retreat on October 30, 2022. 3 minutes.

2' 35"
Video November 1, 2022

Ancestral Stories: Our Ancestors Are Within Us

Tess Beasley

What is my piece in this patchwork inheritance? We are complicated—we don’t always know what qualities and histories inhabit us. We come into these lineages in mystery…maybe the lineages find us. Our koan lineage is one of moments of awakening, passed down. Excerpt from Ancestral Stories Retreat on October 30, 2022. 19 minutes.

19' 8"
Video October 31, 2022

Ancestral Stories: The Taste of Old Wrongs Can Disappear

John Tarrant

After people die, our point of view about them can shift—it often becomes more vast. Problems with those who’ve gone before can dissolve. In our PZI School, this is why the shadowy dark material is important: when included, it helps it to dissipate so the taste of old wrongs can actually disappear. Excerpted from Ancestral Stories Retreat on October 30, 2022. 7 minutes.

6' 27"
Video June 2, 2022

Losing a Pet & the Ritual of Passing in Every Moment

Allison Atwill

As part of Tess Beasley’s Memorial Day teaching, Allison Atwill comments on the death of Poppet, a difficult but beloved sheep. A ritual to mark the passing of someone you love, and the passing that is happening in every moment, is a vital gift of practice. 5 minutes. May 29, 2022. 5-1/2 minutes.

5' 35"
Video June 1, 2022
1' 30"
Video June 1, 2022

What Is Most Urgent for Me? with Tess Beasley

Tess Beasley

Tess Beasley talks about what it means to turn toward pain and loss by embracing uncertainty. Memorial Day 2022. 5 minutes.

5' 20"