PZI Teacher Archives

meditation

Text March 27, 2023

Here

John Tarrant

Like trees and giraffes, delusions appear to be the opposite of emptiness. But when you really settle into being lost and uncertain, that is an open gate. It comes to be called “here.”

766 Words
Video January 17, 2023

Great Silence at the Beginning: Arriving Here! Silence All Around Us

Tess Beasley

Entering into great silence. What is appearing, in this new year? A guided meditation with Tess Beasley from the first Sunday Zen session of the new year. Recorded January 8, 2023. 5 minutes.

6' 2"
Video August 17, 2022

Harmonizing with the Dao – Nothing Has To Be Wrong

John Tarrant

A guided koan meditation from John Tarrant. Allowing the koans to have you when you work with them is the same as opening to your life. There are no steps to the Way. You are already free, and there will be unexpected help on difficult paths. August 7, 2022. 10 minutes.

10' 5"
Video July 13, 2022

Control Is Not Your Friend

John Tarrant

Relax into your meditation like a bird falls into the air. Practice is always here for you. We’re having this dream, now—we can’t hold onto it. Recorded at Summer Sesshin on June 14th, 2022. 4 minutes.

4' 3"
Video June 18, 2022

Points of Practice: Getting Stuck, Getting Free

John Tarrant

In our Zen practice, there comes a time when you can feel stuck. John Tarrant talks about how to navigate this. Recorded June 12, 2022. 3-minute video.

3' 0"
Audio June 9, 2022
7' 54"
Text September 13, 2021
2191 Words

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Article September 10, 2021

A Beautiful Wish (You Are the Sun…)

John Tarrant

The desire for a more beautiful life is ancient and enduring. In medieval times it meant dressing in bright silks and having long and colorful processions; the desire was poured into objects, too, into paintings and cathedrals with stained glass windows. Inside the desire for a more beautiful life is the desire for a more beautiful character.

3376 Words

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Article July 22, 2021

Surprises on the Way: Article by John Tarrant

John Tarrant

Meditation offers a path out of the burning house, without abandoning the promise and good-heartedness of being human. Practice is the last best hope of living up to that good-heartedness, the only thing that never hurts and usually helps. And even at the beginning of the meditation path, on a good day it’s exciting. It actually makes you happy.

3474 Words
Audio March 22, 2021
32' 29"
Text March 1, 2021

One Day, My Child, All This Will Be Yours

John Tarrant

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.

2045 Words
Audio February 10, 2021

Guided Meditation: Mazu’s Current Matter

John Tarrant

Guided meditation with John Tarrant. Who is sitting? Who hears the bell? Always a good start for a meditation. John shares Master Ma’s comment on “the current matter”— this very moment of your life as a most important gate. Audio excerpt recorded Feb. 7 2021, PZI Zen Online. 25 minutes.

24' 19"
Audio February 10, 2021

Guided Meditation with Jon Joseph: Falling into a Well

Jon Joseph

Jon Joseph Roshi gives an overview, then the koan “What is the Way?” leading into meditation with Baling’s “A clearly enlightened person falls into a well.” Or does a well fall into that person? Audio excerpt as recorded Feb. 1 2021, PZI Zen Online. 28 minutes.

29' 4"
Audio February 9, 2021

Guided Koan Meditation with John Tarrant: The Whole Purpose of Your Life

John Tarrant

John Tarrant guides a 9-minute meditation with Master Ma’s koan, “The whole purpose of your life is contained in the current matter.” Audio excerpt as recorded at a Sunday Meditation & Talk on February 9, 2021.

3' 31"
Audio April 8, 2020

Not Knowing Is Most Intimate

Sarah Bender

PZI Zen Online Audio: Sarah Bender Roshi reflects on the intimacy of not knowing, the nearness of all of us in this dreamy emergent time. Wandering and not knowing are allies now. Includes Sarah’s intro & dharma talk, silent meditation segments, and sharing. As recorded April 3 2020.

91' 1"
Video October 24, 2018

Your Life is Right Here

John Tarrant

John’s evening talking is brief, yet poignant. There is a light and a joy and they are here now. It doesn’t wait until you improve yourself, your partner, enemy, or live in a different colored state.

6' 58"
Text November 15, 2017

Hindrances and Gates

John Tarrant

In meditation whatever arises in the mind or in your life is the gate. The hindrances are the gates; when they appear, it might be an indication that meditation is going well.

799 Words
Text November 15, 2017

Meditation as a Basis for Healing

John Tarrant

“What are the essentials of the meditation path as a basis for this healing — healing of both person and culture?” August 2006.

2900 Words
Audio October 9, 2017

The Light Inside the Dark – Part One of Four

John Tarrant

In this landmark guide to the spiritual journey, respected Zen teacher and psychotherapist John Tarrant brings together ancient Eastern traditions and the Western passion for the soul. Using real-life stories, Zen tales, and Greek myths, The Light Inside the Dark shows how our darkest experiences can be the gates to wisdom and joy. Tarrant leads us through the inevitable descents of our journey—from the everyday world of work and family into the treasure cave of the interior life—from which we return with greater love of life’s vivid, common gifts. Written with empathy and a poet’s skill, The Light Inside the Dark is the freshest and most challenging work on the soul to be published in years. Paperback published November 3, 1999.

44' 10"
Audio October 9, 2017

The Light Inside the Dark – Part Two of Four

John Tarrant

In this landmark guide to the spiritual journey, respected Zen teacher and psychotherapist John Tarrant brings together ancient Eastern traditions and the Western passion for the soul. Using real-life stories, Zen tales, and Greek myths, The Light Inside the Dark shows how our darkest experiences can be the gates to wisdom and joy. Tarrant leads us through the inevitable descents of our journey—from the everyday world of work and family into the treasure cave of the interior life—from which we return with greater love of life’s vivid, common gifts. Written with empathy and a poet’s skill, The Light Inside the Dark is the freshest and most challenging work on the soul to be published in years. Paperback published November 3, 1999.

44' 15"
Audio October 9, 2017

The Light Inside the Dark – Part Three of Four

John Tarrant

In this landmark guide to the spiritual journey, respected Zen teacher and psychotherapist John Tarrant brings together ancient Eastern traditions and the Western passion for the soul. Using real-life stories, Zen tales, and Greek myths, The Light Inside the Dark shows how our darkest experiences can be the gates to wisdom and joy. Tarrant leads us through the inevitable descents of our journey—from the everyday world of work and family into the treasure cave of the interior life—from which we return with greater love of life’s vivid, common gifts. Written with empathy and a poet’s skill, The Light Inside the Dark is the freshest and most challenging work on the soul to be published in years. Paperback published November 3, 1999.

45' 4"
Audio October 9, 2017

The Light Inside the Dark – Part Four of Four

John Tarrant

In this landmark guide to the spiritual journey, respected Zen teacher and psychotherapist John Tarrant brings together ancient Eastern traditions and the Western passion for the soul. Using real-life stories, Zen tales, and Greek myths, The Light Inside the Dark shows how our darkest experiences can be the gates to wisdom and joy. Tarrant leads us through the inevitable descents of our journey—from the everyday world of work and family into the treasure cave of the interior life—from which we return with greater love of life’s vivid, common gifts. Written with empathy and a poet’s skill, The Light Inside the Dark is the freshest and most challenging work on the soul to be published in years. Paperback published November 3, 1999.

45' 0"
Video July 11, 2017

16 Bodhisattvas Soaking in a Bath

John Tarrant

Soaking in the meditation bath with other students of the way is the topic of this dharma talk. October 17, 2012.

49' 4"
Video July 6, 2017

Taking Care of Yourself on Retreat

Rachel Boughton

Rachel Boughton, Sensei, talks about working with koans and being kind to yourself at a long meditation retreat. July 14, 2014.

31' 38"
Video June 30, 2017

Radical Transparency and Koans as Frenemies

Rachel Boughton

Rachel Boughton, at the June-July sesshin held at Land of Medicine Buddha, talks hackers, privacy, and zen koans in an age of technology.

19' 36"