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
uncertainty
The Way Things Are Is Mysterious and Hard to See
Allison, Tess and Jesse lead us into the heart of PZI practice—what it means to take refuge, how to work with vows as koans, and how, at its root, our life in itself before we’ve improved it is an expression of the Bodhisattva Way.
Dharma Theme: Great Silence
Have confidence: just go into the silence. The absolute is always there. Inside it all, there’s freedom. There’s no situation where infinity is not there.
Great Silence at the Beginning: Always Home
Part 1 of the January Silence series. What falls away at year’s end? Beginnings and endings are linked to uncertainty. If we can allow it, we learn to rest in that and find beauty in that mystery. In this season there is often a deep internal retreat, followed by the stirring of the new. What is it that is unfolding? Who am I? Can I hold the paradox of emptiness and form as I experience what is unfolding in my life? Where am I in my life? The not-knowing is always available. Dreams, poems and comments. Jordan McConnell plays music for meditation. January 8 2023.
Fall Sesshin 2022: Dahui’s Journey, Bodhidharma’s Response, & the Marvelous Duke
Sesshin is an embrace which allows greater freedom to appear, and it is deeply mysterious. We don’t do it for a particular outcome or we would be constraining ourselves. We are free and easy wandering. In the koan, Emperor Wu wants a method and a first principle of the holy teaching. Bodhidharma answers, There isn’t a principle! You can’t confine it. Chan is trusting uncertainty, it is not something to be believed. Vows from Amanda Boughton, closing words from Tess Beasley. Complete session recorded on October 7, 2022.
Uncertainty & The Mind of Fear
Allison remarks on Bodhidharma’s Setting the Mind to Rest koan. Reality vs Data: Data can’t be wrong, can it? Recorded during Sunday session with John Tarrant & Friends on February 27, 2022. 4 Minutes.
Fall Sesshin 2021: Not Knowing & the Mysterious, Ungraspable World
What is the world? Just this! Eduardo Fuentes talks about the beautiful, mysterious lives we lead, and how “don’t-know mind” is hidden inside and underneath names and symbols. As recorded at Fall Sesshin, Friday, October 22, 2021.
Meet the Blue Dragon
In forty years, the earth itself, beyond our control, and human violence, also beyond our control, will have changed all our assumptions. Even so, what do I want the teachings to be?
Obstacles & Gates: Refuge & the Bodhisattva Path
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.
A Winter Tale with the Guanyins
Four Women Zen Teachers of PZI tell a winter tale, the story of a vast moment that interrupted a battle in the middle of World War I. The Guanyins Allison Atwill, Tess Beasley, Sarah Bender & Michelle Riddle share the telling and teaching with meditation, poetry and reflection. Jordan McConnell on guitar. PZI Zen Online, as recorded Dec. 27, 2020.