PZI Teacher Archives

The Light Inside the Dark

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Dharma Theme April 25, 2023

Dharma Theme: Descent! Darken Further

PZI Teachers

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.

42 Words
Video September 15, 2022

The Light Inside the Dark, Part 1 – Thinking Allowed – Interview with Jeffrey Mishlove

John Tarrant

Part 1 of a 1999 Jeffrey Mishlove interview of John Tarrant on his first book: Light Inside the Dark. Insight on the Soul and the Spirit. The light is everywhere in our everyday activities – we all suffer and have joy – if we can love our lives in the dark times we become more fully human – we need to love being in the unknown territory. The paradox of zen – the more we know, the more we have to open our hands and let the knowledge flow through. Having a practice is a set of operating instructions for meeting life.

9 Words
Video July 11, 2022

The Mysterious Source of the Bright

John Tarrant

John Tarrant talks about the mysterious source of things at Summer Sesshin. Recorded on June 14, 2022. 3 minutes.

3' 53"
Audio May 7, 2022

Zen Is Poetry

John Tarrant

Koans and poetry tumble over each other. Good poetry has an objective quality and is related to koanville in that way. It does not try to persuade or recruit. Not knowing always supports us—you are always in the jeweled net. Music for meditation and the four vows with Jordan McConnell and Amaryllis Fletcher. Participants create poetry from a few momentary observations. Poems by John Tarrant and others.

71' 18"

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Article September 14, 2021

Spilling Down Through All the Realms: The Light Inside the Dark

John Tarrant

Once you really have a good connection with spirit, it will always be available to you if you turn towards it in a dark time. I’m not saying spirit is a false promise. It’s a true promise, but it doesn’t do our living for us. That living is the part we have to do for ourselves. And when we do that, then the soul comes in.

4508 Words
Audio April 26, 2021

Spring Sesshin: Whatever Appears Is Part of Your Awakening

Allison Atwill

Allison Atwill talks about the experience of direct encounter in the Peach Blossom koan. Even when I am Mara, it is the treasure that is just for me. As recorded in sesshin on April 10, 2021.

46' 5"
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"