PZI Teacher Archives
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Allison Atwill -
David Parks -
David Weinstein -
Eduardo Fuentes -
Jesse Cardin -
John Tarrant -
Jon Joseph -
Michelle Riddle -
Tess Beasley
loss
Losing Things, Finding Things
In meditation things come and go, as in life. In Zen the experience of loss contains a treasure. There is gold inside the loss whether of a person, a country, or a beloved house. Grief dissolves everything. The valleys of life are important for developing empathy. Mazu gives us the path to walk through the demons: Help others cross. Make yourself a raft. An Indigenous saying: Inside the last tear, happiness is hiding.
Losing Things, Finding Things
In meditation things come and go, as in life. In Zen the experience of loss contains a treasure. There is gold inside the loss whether of a person, a country, or a beloved house. Grief dissolves everything. The valleys of life are important for developing empathy. Mazu gives us the path to walk through the demons: Help others cross. Make yourself a raft. An Indigenous saying: Inside the last tear, happiness is hiding.
We’ve Never Lacked for Salt & Sauce
The salt and sauce is the invisible component of practice, of life. It is the place in which we are held when disaster strikes, or there’s chronic illness, or you find yourself at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. You might not need what you think you do to get by. What is salt and sauce for you? We can be at peace in the midst of the madness of events – this is our main work in zen. Music for meditation from Micheal Wilding on flute and then on drum. Complete Sunday Zen session from March 12, 2023.
We’ve Never Lacked for Salt & Sauce
The salt and sauce is the invisible component of practice, of life, the place where we are held when disaster strikes or you find yourself at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. You might not need what you think you do to get by. We can be at peace in the midst of the madness of events—this is our main work in Zen. Complete Sunday Zen session from March 12, 2023.
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.
What Is Most Urgent for Me? What Should I Do?
What next? I am up against it. How can I do what is needed or know which direction to go? The direction is inward. A turning toward everything inside the self is required. Like the Buddha—his urgency amplified his situation. Facing pain, loss, injury, or grief, we want direct and appropriate action to release us. The only way forward is toward the inner world. Tess Beasley Sensei’s Sunday Talk on May 29, 2022.
One Day, My Child, All This Will Be Yours
Australia’s ancient forests were burning in September 2020. In the face of unfathomable loss John Tarrant writes, “It’s too early to despair, it’s always too early to despair. The world itself is a mystery school and teaches us what it needs. It gives us impossible tasks and impossible journeys, and all we can say is that we love the world without knowing outcomes, because it is the only world we have, and because we never do know outcomes.” Article for Lion’s Roar magazine, published September 14, 2020.
Where Are You Coming From?
“Where are you coming from?” What is is like to be you right now in Covid-19 lockdown? Navigating sadness, loss, looming poverty, and loneliness. PZI Zen Online. Audio as recorded May 7, 2020.
Knock on Any Door, Someone Will Answer
PZI Zen Online Audio: Allison sits with the beautiful preface to the Blue Cliff Record, before Bodhidharma’s encounter with Emperor Wu. Noticing our strategies for controlling experience, which shut life out. Issa’s story of love and loss. As recorded April 21 2020.