PZI Teacher Archives
-
Allison Atwill -
David Parks -
David Weinstein -
Eduardo Fuentes -
Jesse Cardin -
John Tarrant -
Jon Joseph -
Michelle Riddle -
Tess Beasley
Tortoise Mountain Wakes Up
KOAN:
Yantou and Xuefeng were snowed in on Tortoise Mountain.
Day after day, Yantou slept while Xuefeng sat up and meditated.
On the third day, Yantou sat up too and said, “Get some sleep.
What do you think you are, a roadside shrine?”
Xuefeng touched his chest and said, “My heart isn’t at peace. I can’t fool myself.”
Yantou gave a great yell. “HAAA! Don’t you know that the family treasure
doesn’t come in through the gate?” he said.
“Let the teaching flow out from your own breast to cover the sky and the earth.”
Xuefeng was suddenly enlightened and cried out,
“Today Tortoise Mountain has finally awakened!”
—Zen Story
Dharma Theme: Friendships & Meetings – Relationships in the Dao, Then & Now
Zen is about meeting—we make friends with each koan and allow the universe to work with and through us. The sweetness, and even the gnarly bits of friendship are part of the intimacy at the center of meeting. In the field of connectedness we discover things we can’t discover on our own.
Dharma Theme: In the Wild – Mountain Koans & Poems
PZI Teachers
Eventually you come to a place where you can’t go on and you can’t go back. You have arrived at the base of cliffs; you can’t scale them, you can’t get around them, and there’s no handy tunnel through them. It’s a daunting place—that’s the point of it. And when you arrive here your life and your journey can become your own.
Resting in the Great Silence at the Beginning
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. We are always stepping into that emptiness. Complete January Sunday Zen session, Part 2.
Great Silence at the Beginning: Holding It for Each Other
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.
Secret Friendship Along the Way
There is a secret quality of friendship that is very close to enlightenment. Friendship is a state of freedom—you don’t want each other to be different. A tolerance comes out of the heart. Deep friendship has a long arc; Buddha realized that Mara would miss him if he left. Complete session recorded August 14, 2022. Music from Jordan McConnell & Michael Wilding.
Secret Friendship Along the Way
There is a secret quality of friendship that is very close to enlightenment. Friendship is a state of freedom—you don’t want each other to be different. You and everything you touch share the same heart mind. Deep friendship has a long arc. Buddha realized that Mara would miss him if he left. Recorded August 14, 2022.
Winter Sesshin: My Heart Is Not at Rest
Jesse Cardin tells the story of Zen’s favorite odd couple Yantou and Xuefeng holed up snowbound on Tortoise Mountain. Xuefeng’s heart is not at rest, he can not sleep or stop thinking about his heart not being at rest.
Tortoise Mountain Wakes Up! This Very Matter Is It
John Tarrant on friendship and the kindness at the heart of things. Mazu’s “The whole meaning of your life is in the current matter.” This very heart mind is it! The sweetness, and even the gnarly bits of friendship are part of the intimacy at the center of meeting. Zen is about meeting—we make friends with each koan and allow the universe to work with and through us. Jordan McConnell on guitar. Complete Sunday Zen session recorded January 31, 2021.
Two Friends Snowbound on Tortoise Mountain
On friendship—two old friends on Tortoise Mountain are snowed in. One wakes up and so does the Mountain. Audio clip from Sunday Zen, recorded January 31, 2021. 7 minutes.