PZI Teacher Archives
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Allison Atwill -
David Parks -
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John Tarrant -
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Michelle Riddle -
Tess Beasley
not picking and choosing
A Blue Cliff Record Journey of Not Picking & Choosing
It’s remarkable that the Picking & Choosing koan appears four times in the Blue Cliff Record, which contains only one hundred cases. So, what to do with it? Whatever you see is going to be true, it’s going to belong to you.
Not Picking & Choosing
We can fairly easily see that not picking and choosing will help free us from some entanglements. At first you might think it’s about not caring, but actually it’s the opposite. It’s to do with befriending reality, listening to reality with a tender care. Complete dharma talk audio from Sunday, June 26, 2022. 43 minutes.
Summer Sesshin: Shitou’s Teachers
David tells the story of Jiashan’s awakening, after being sent by Daowu to find the Boat Monk. David also guides a revealing exercise in picking and choosing. Complete talk given in Summer Sesshin, June 16, 2022. 37 minutes.
Not Picking & Choosing
We can fairly easily see that not picking and choosing will help free us from some entanglements. At first you might think it’s about not caring, but actually it’s the opposite. It’s to do with befriending reality, listening to reality with a tender care. Complete dharma talk from Sunday, June 26, 2022. 43 minutes.
Sesshin Weeds
Michelle Riddle tells a sesshin story about a band of weed whackers that came to be in concert with everything. From John Tarrant’s Sunday Session on Not Picking & Choosing, recorded June 26, 2022.
Universe in a Utility Bill
In sesshin, our feelings are amplified, and we get to see what it’s like to have them fully. Allison Atwill reports on a utility bill that contained the dread of all space and time. From John Tarrant’s Sunday Talk on Not Picking & Choosing on June 26, 2022.
Everything Is in Concert
Tess Beasley shares stories about encountering unexpected sounds, delayed luggage, and the chaos of moving. Recorded in John Tarrant’s Sunday session on Not Picking & Choosing, June 26, 2022.
A Passionate Entry into Life
John Tarrant’s complete Sunday Talk: The Great Way Is Not Difficult; It Just Avoids Picking & Choosing. Recorded June 26, 2022, in the PZI Online Temple.
Not Picking & Choosing – Solo Flute for Meditation
Michael Wilding’s solo flute during John Tarrant’s Sunday Talk: The Great Way Is Not Difficult; It Just Avoids Picking & Choosing. Recorded on June 26, 2022 in the Online Temple.
1, 2, 3, 4, Rhinoceros
When we are not bound by the story of our lives—the fictions, really—and not bound by the effort of knowing what everything is and where it’s going and what it should be, then a new kind of freedom appears. The body feels that and becomes at ease. You experience the wonder and beauty of just being here in the world of consciousness.
The Great Way Is Not Difficult
“Koans light up a life that may have been dormant in you; they hold out the possibility of transformation even if you are trying to address unclear or apparently insoluble problems.” Originally published in Shambhala Sun Magazine, November 2004.