PZI Teacher Archives
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Allison Atwill -
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John Tarrant -
Jon Joseph -
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Tess Beasley
death
Zen Luminaries: Frank Ostaseski
My primary work continues to focus on issues related to death and dying, to grief and loss, and on supporting mindful and compassionate care. Through these activities I share the precious gifts offered by my teachers, most especially the hundreds who have allowed me to accompany them in the vulnerable and sacred time of their dying. (Frank Ostaseski) Conversation hosted by Jon Joseph from April 24, 2023.
Zen Luminaries: Hospice Pioneer Frank Ostaseski
In conversation with Jon Joseph, Frank says: My primary work and teaching will continue to focus on issues related to death and dying, to grief and loss, and on supporting mindful and compassionate care. Through these activities I will share the precious gifts offered by my teachers, most especially the hundreds who have allowed me to accompany them in the vulnerable and sacred time of their dying. As recorded April 24, 2023, with vows by musician Jordan McConnell.
A Dog’s Life
John tells a story about dogs and Buddha nature upon the death of a beloved dog: Animals have their own large awareness in which we can share. Meditation is one way to do this. It resets the mind to zero and we stop waving our arms about so much, and we enter a communion with the universe.
Sickness & Medicine – Deep Listening
It’s all medicine, really. Everything has Buddha nature, beauty and value. Healing is the big point of view. So the point is not to panic when the big moments come. If you can move out of your own point of view it becomes clearer. Complete Sunday Zen session with John Tarrant & Friends, recorded March 5, 2023. Includes comments from PZI teachers and music from Michael Wilding.
Ikkyu’s Well & The Miscellaneous Koans
Images of water are deep in the meditation tradition. There is the notion that water nourishes us and holds us, and that the Dao flows like water and always finds the Way. Whatever blocks the river, the Dao dissolves it or will move around it. That’s the quality of meditation.
Ancestral Stories: How the Ancestors Show Up
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.
Ancestral Stories: Are These Leaves Falling or Are They My Father’s Hands?
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.
Ancestral Stories: The Taste of Old Wrongs Can Disappear
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.
Losing a Pet & the Ritual of Passing in Every Moment
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.
A Map for Getting Lost
It helps to be on the side of lostness when the world goes to hell in a handbasket (Ukraine). All we have to do is be here and be lost—no usual schemes or regrets. Let the universe teach you. Accomplishing is not the deepest thing. Being lost is a promising beginning. Getting lost is good for finding personal practices.
Fall Sesshin 2021: Dreams of the Ancestors with Jon Joseph
Jon Joseph gives the morning dharma talk about his dreams of the ancestors. A relationship continues beyond death. How is this so? It does not need to be explained, it only asks to be lived. As recorded in Fall Sesshin on Thursday morning, October 21, 2021.
Where Do You Go, Oh Where Do You Go When You Die?
Article by John Tarrant for Lion’s Roar magazine. A traditional Chan way to approach the question of death is to stroll, stumble, hurry, struggle, fall accidentally through the gates of samadhi—the deep concentration of meditation—and look around. When you really enter this moment, it has no end, no beginning; it is older than the universe that seems to contain it. Then it will inevitably occur to you: “I’ve always been here.”
Bodhidharma Comes & Goes
Why did Bodhidharma come from the West, and return to the East? Why are we born, and why do we die? Emperor Wu regretted his interview, but no one could bring Bodhidharma back. We all come and go. Jon’s talk, meditations, and student comments & stories. As recorded August 2, 2021.
Freely I Watch the Tracks of the Flying Birds
Everybody, every time, has its own difficulty and crisis. This is ours. We can trust our own lives that brought us here, and perhaps we have something to do here. And we don’t know what that is but we’ll find it as we keep walking. The thing about the meditation path is, I don’t have to think a lot about what’s mine to do. You just give yourself to the meditation, and it’s produced for you. It’s given to you. The path opens by itself, you know. Transcript of PZI Zen Online Sunday Talk with John Tarrant, recorded March 29 2020.