PZI Teacher Archives
Yamada Koun
Summer Sesshin: Opening Dharma Talk
Great Summer Sesshin, opening eve: Our first in-person sesshin in over 2 years, due to Covid. John Tarrant introduces Shitou’s song, Taking Part in the Gathering, his translation together with Joan Sutherland. In this sutra, Shitou is trying to say what reality actually is. The myriad things are your own self—you look at the world and the world looks back. Whatever appears, enter there! No being for countless eons has ever fallen out of Buddha nature. Recorded June 13th, 2022, at Santa Sabina Center.
Fall Sesshin 2021: Koan Practice or Not? Going Beyond Form
David Weinstein gives a morning dharma talk on being captured by the mystery and the koan, “Things are not as they appear, nor are they otherwise,” and on the metamorphosis of Monarchs on his windowsill. Constant change and the constancy of who you are do not contradict each other. As recorded Wednesday, October 20, 2021, in Fall Sesshin.
Sudden Awakening
In even the simplest life, pain and disappointment accumulate—and at some moment everyone longs to walk through a gate and leave the past behind, perhaps for an earlier time when the colors were bright and the heart carried no weight. The quest for a fresh start is so fundamental that it defines the shape of the stories we tell each other. Article by John Tarrant published in Lion’s Roar magazine on July 1, 2007.
An Invitation to Life – Deshan & His Bowls
PZI Zen Online: An Invitation to Life – Deshan with his bowls coming in at the wrong bell without distress, his complete integration. The universe is always inviting us and it is in that subtle moment ‘before’ the invitation. Koan practice helps us – we are grabbed by a piece of the koan – the universe talking. Play is key, and a willingness to accept that invitation to embrace life. As recorded Aug 3 2020.