Welcome to the PZI KALPA Library

KALPA—Koans And Liberation Project Archive—the online Zen koan library of Pacific Zen Institute, was conceived as a way of providing a wider circle for today’s far-flung seekers to sit together, to enter the same timeless questions, and to receive the teachings. 

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2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease
January 31, 2026 Audio Files 0 Words

2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease

What is it to be at ease? Slowing down, letting spare time expand, getting enough rest, and taking care of…
anxiety being at ease
2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease
January 31, 2026 Audio Files 0 Words
anxiety being at ease

2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease

What is it to be at ease? Slowing down, letting spare time expand, getting enough rest, and taking care of yourself … these are good and important things but in…
2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease
January 31, 2026 Videos

2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease

Nanquan said that if we all we see is the survival of the person, the body, then we are in…
anxiety being at ease
2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease
January 31, 2026 Videos
anxiety being at ease

2026 Winter Sesshin: Not So Easy Being at Ease

Nanquan said that if we all we see is the survival of the person, the body, then we are in endless cycling, endless suffering. The seamlessness does not need our…
Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You
December 14, 2025 Audio Files 226 Words

Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You

Koans turn us towards our mysterious connection to all things, and also our own unique way of appearing in the…
Linji transmission
Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You
December 14, 2025 Audio Files 226 Words
Linji transmission

Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You

Koans turn us towards our mysterious connection to all things, and also our own unique way of appearing in the world. The Way in is our own way of seeing…
Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You
December 14, 2025 Videos

Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You

It can be very seductive to convince ourselves that we need something we don’t have—that something about our circumstances, or…
Linji transmission
Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You
December 14, 2025 Videos
Linji transmission

Have Confidence in the Light That Is Always Inside You

It can be very seductive to convince ourselves that we need something we don’t have—that something about our circumstances, or our person, could use a bit of improvement.
2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special
June 20, 2025 Videos 15′ 35″

2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special

Sensei Michelle Riddle gives the morning talk on day five of PZI’s 2025 Summer Sesshin: Mountain Flowers Bloom Like Brocade,…
Changsha Dalong
2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special
June 20, 2025 Videos 15′ 35″
Changsha Dalong

2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special

Sensei Michelle Riddle gives the morning talk on day five of PZI’s 2025 Summer Sesshin: Mountain Flowers Bloom Like Brocade, Valley Streams Are Deepest Indigo. Recorded on June 20, 2025,…
2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special
June 20, 2025 Audio Files

2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special

Sensei Michelle Riddle gives the morning talk on day five of PZI’s 2025 Summer Sesshin: Mountain Flowers Bloom Like Brocade,…
Changsha Dalong
2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special
June 20, 2025 Audio Files
Changsha Dalong

2025 Summer Sesshin: Wanting To Be Special

Sensei Michelle Riddle gives the morning talk on day five of PZI’s 2025 Summer Sesshin: Mountain Flowers Bloom Like Brocade, Valley Streams Are Deepest Indigo. Recorded on June 20, 2025,…
Meeting Just As We Are
January 29, 2025 Audio Files 39′ 31″

Meeting Just As We Are

Even when meditating with a koan that we think we know well, in each encounter it offers something new. Like…
Daodejing Laozi
Meeting Just As We Are
January 29, 2025 Audio Files 39′ 31″
Daodejing Laozi

Meeting Just As We Are

Even when meditating with a koan that we think we know well, in each encounter it offers something new. Like the proverbial river that we can’t enter in the same…
Meeting Just As We Are
January 29, 2025 Videos 39′ 30″

Meeting Just As We Are

In meditation we don’t get things sorted and figured out, we sink into the life we have and we notice…
curiosity Daodejing
Meeting Just As We Are
January 29, 2025 Videos 39′ 30″
curiosity Daodejing

Meeting Just As We Are

In meditation we don’t get things sorted and figured out, we sink into the life we have and we notice what we notice—what it’s like to be here. We enter…