PZI Teacher Archives

Linji

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Dharma Theme May 1, 2023
135 Words
Text November 14, 2022

Peach Blossom Journey

John Tarrant

A guided meditation from John Tarrant: You’re walking along, and you’re kind of in the middle of your life—which you always are, no matter how old you are, you are in the middle of it—and you’re sort of just thinking and noticing, and then you have this idea: Why don’t I treat my whole life as a pilgrimage? That’s it. That’s what I’ll do.

2728 Words
Text September 8, 2022

The Great Collaborators of the Blue Cliff Record

John Tarrant

Deep in Summer Sesshin, we are in the middle of the Blue Cliff Record. We, ourselves, are under the Blue Cliff, with Yunmen and Yunmen’s friends. We are all those people. The Blue Cliff is still being written, and we’re helping out with that project.

4662 Words
Video September 6, 2022

Surprising Happiness in the Midst of It All

John Tarrant

Just having your life, whatever appears—meeting it. Nothing to DO. There is a joy in that, no matter what the universe delivers in the daily mix. Music from Amaryllis Fletcher and vows sung by Todd Geist. Recorded August 28, 2022.

67' 27"
Audio August 28, 2022

Surprising Happiness in the Midst of It All

John Tarrant

Just having your life, whatever appears—meeting it. Nothing to do. There is a joy in that, no matter what the universe delivers in the daily mix. Music from Amaryllis Fletcher & vows sung by Todd Geist. Recorded August 28, 2022.

67' 27"

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Dharma Theme November 4, 2021

Dharma Theme: Zen Luminaries, A Series of Conversations with Jon Joseph Roshi

Jon Joseph

Modern Zen Luminaries: A series of Zen Buddhist scholars, writers, poets, translators, and practitioners join PZI’s Jon Joseph Roshi for lively discussions online, with a focus on our Chan lineage. Includes all recordings beginning with the series’ launch in September 2021.

811 Words
Audio October 31, 2021

Zen & the Art of Meditation Series, Part 3: Befriending Your Own Heart Mind

John Tarrant

Befriending your life, your koan, your own heart mind—not using your meditation for anything: no intention to improve yourself; not getting on board with the mind. Zen & The Art of Meditation, Part lll: October 17, 2021.

75' 12"
Text October 12, 2021

Unexpected Gifts: 10,000 Feet Down, The Stone

John Tarrant

John Tarrant talks about living in an underworld time, in a descent as a culture and as a world, and as a planet. Accepting the descent, and accepting the quality of being lost when it appears, is profoundly important. And there’s a great, strange, and interesting mystery in that.

7566 Words
Text September 23, 2021

Awakenings of Linji & the Great Chan Teachers

John Tarrant

John revisits the awakenings and koans of the great teachers, among them Yunmen and Linji. The love, and attention, and faithfulness at the heart of the stories and teachings of the Chan ancestors is their gift to us. And everything we bring to it is an addition into this great heritage, and is part of the layering. Transcript from a video talk in Fall Sesshin 2019.

4443 Words
Audio July 19, 2021

The Great Collaborators at the Blue Cliff

John Tarrant

John Tarrant introduces us to the great collaborative group of teachers, including Yunmen, who gathered at the Blue Cliff with Yuanwu to develop The Blue Cliff Record.

43' 20"
Audio April 22, 2021

The Valley Spirit Never Dies: Peach Blossoms Appearing

John Tarrant

Peach blossoms can turn up anywhere, and the Valley Spirit appears. Depending on what is larger than us—even the reaching for it has it! PZI Digital Temple. Audio as recorded April 21, 2021.

40' 20"
Audio March 8, 2021

Obstacles & Gates: Refuge & the Bodhisattva Path

John Tarrant

Deshan is determined to prove his scholarly certainty. He encounters two teachers who help him see the light. John talks about refuge; What is it? Why take refuge? What is the rakusu? PZI’s approach—working with refuge vows as koans. Zen ultimately rests in mystery and uncertainty. Linji says, “Have confidence in the light always working inside you.” Music with Jordan McConnell. Sunday talk as recorded Feb. 28th, 2021.

73' 21"
Text October 22, 2020

The Nature of Practice

John Tarrant

Practice. The notion of practice, as something you embody, and you walk through, and you are—rather than something you add, like something added to gasoline. There’s also a sense of moving in the dark, in some way that’s positive. So that in a practice, “not knowing” is on your side.

9236 Words
Text August 25, 2020

Hosting the Life You Have

John Tarrant

Rilke said, “Life is always right.” Whatever I think about that saying, this is the life I have, and I can’t have another life. And really, fundamentally I don’t want another one, because this one is so rich and compelling, no matter what’s going down right now.

5106 Words
Audio July 29, 2020

Solitary Brightness – Nothing to Hang Onto

David Parks

Our lives right now are an exercise in not knowing. Surprising intimacy comes in new forms of communication and meditation. But really, there is nothing to hold onto. And that vastness is filled with light. Sunday Zen session recorded July 16, 2020.

65' 41"
Audio July 26, 2020

Green Glade: Emptiness in the Role of Host

John Tarrant

Green Glade of Meditation: Our culture needs to renew its dreams. We are still held by vastness, and it is good when the bottom falls out: our job is to work in harmony with the universe. Take the role of host for everything that appears. Allow “not knowing.” If you know who you are, you can not take a step! Nothing before us, and only a wake behind. The empathic nature of emptiness, blessings of the goddess. PZI Zen Online, as recorded July 26th, 2020.

96' 49"
Audio June 23, 2020

I Carry Silence & Light – Muses in the Midst of Turmoil

Allison Atwill

The light in us is wholly unharmed even in extremes of suffering, a place for the Muses to meet us. Allison talks about Anna Swir’s poem, There’s a Light in Me. When we hold light and silence everyone can feel it it changes the field. Sunday Zen session recorded June 16th, 2020.

73' 20"
Audio May 20, 2020

Stories from the Interior – Solitude & Loneliness

Allison Atwill

Solitude as resting in vastness: taking the role of host everywhere and abiding nowhere. Loneliness—you may even be in the company of others, but something is missing. Allison revisits childhood’s solitude and the solitude of mountain trails. Abiding “somewhere” keeps us out of vastness.

83' 35"
Text May 8, 2020

No Rank! – Or the Wild Path of Awakening

John Tarrant

So…tonight I want to talk a little bit about the course of the inner work — the dharma work — in terms of this book, the Book of Serenity. And you know, it pretty much is the second case is the one we’re going to mention, about Bodhidharma meets The Emperor Wu.

5769 Words
Video February 19, 2020

Every Day Is a Good Day

John Tarrant

Yunmen said, “Before or after the full moon, every day is a good day!” The light of sesshin infuses us. In a “good day” the light is in you, just how it is—this is not an achievement, you are in the gift of the universe. The tenderness of the good day. Our whole lives opening to now. You can’t bully the Dao, it’s bigger than you! Not getting in the way of life. Also: Dreams, Linji’s death, and more. Video recorded in Winter Sesshin 2020.

50' 7"
Video February 2, 2020

Linji’s Was I at Fault or Not?

Jon Joseph

Revisiting the big koans on his personal path: What is being a teacher? What is succession? Jon talks about Linji’s path to enlightenment – his teachers Huangbo and Dayu conspire to help him. Jon reflects on his recent visit to Japan and the Chan zendo in Kamakura, his warmth and gratitude for Yamada and his teachings. Our ancestors in the Chan lineage.

45' 31"
Audio January 30, 2020

Linji’s Was I at Fault or Not??

Jon Joseph

Revisiting the big koans – What is this? Who is hearing? Who am I ? and others on his personal path: What is being a teacher? What is succession? Jon talks about Linji’s path to enlightenment – His teachers Huangbo and Daiyu conspire to help him. Our ancestors in the Chan lineage. Jon reflects on his recent visit to Japan and the Chan zendo in Kamakura, his warmth and gratitude for Yamada and his teachings.

45' 31"
Video January 11, 2020

All Those Hands and Eyes

John Tarrant

John talks about the warm intimacy of the ‘the dark’ – the uncolonized zone where koans work with us. Intimacy in teachings is used often as an equivalent for enlightenment. Koans open gates and bring us inside that mystery. Some categories of koans: Predicament koans, Heart Changing koans, Inquiry koans and more.

33' 55"
Audio December 4, 2019

The Nature of Practice

John Tarrant

In practice you are traveling, you are on a path. It is different from a plan because you are on uncertain turf. Practice also has more love in it because you are moving in the dark in a positive way. The koan is like the dog that follows you around with a bowl – it foils your serious plans.

72' 21"
Audio December 4, 2019

The Brightness of the Blockage

Allison Atwill

The experience of being blocked, a major or minor imprisonment, and of help arriving from unexpected sources.

54' 30"
Audio December 4, 2019

That Solitary Brightness Is You

John Tarrant

A discovery that all the Linji koans we are working with during the retreat are variants on Linji’s “There’s nothing I dislike.” They all appear from this core. The solitary brightness with no fixed shape or form is yours. If you “only don’t object” or exclude reality, the brightness is there. As recorded in Summer Sesshin 2016.

54' 9"
Text September 17, 2019

The Nature of Practice

John Tarrant

A practice is different from a plan. You know what a plan is; you’ve probably made a few of them. A practice has more love in it, because a practice is something you’re doing without being sure of the outcome..

9232 Words
Text September 17, 2019

10,000 Things

Rachel Boughton

I like having a roomful of things and a roomful of people. So my plan for this talk is to say a little bit of some of the things I’ve
been thinking about as I sit with this koan, and talk a little bit about retreat, and then to have some time for conversation and questions and observations.

7536 Words
Video July 24, 2019
39' 30"
Video January 20, 2018

The Doughnut Maker

David Weinstein, Rachel Boughton

David Weinstein and Rachel Boughton give a talk at the 2016 Summer retreat.

40' 50"

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