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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231226T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231226T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231222T011741Z
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SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Who Built This House? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThe Flower Garland Sutra says\,\n\nNow when I look at all beings everywhere\,\nI see that each of them possesses the wisdom and virtue of awakening\,\nbut because of their attachments and delusions\,\nthey cannot bear witness to it. \n—Book of Serenity Case 67 \nAs I have spent time with this koan\, what stands out is how different this quote from the Flower Garland Sutra—attributed to Shakyamuni regarding his awakening—is from what was recorded in the much older Dhammapada. \nThe Dhammapada was composed in the ancient Indian Pali language\, and is considered one of the earliest and most widely read texts in the Buddhist tradition\, particularly the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The Flower Garland Sutra\, on the other hand\, is a Mahayana Buddhist scripture\, and its origins are more complex. It evolved over centuries\, with different parts composed at different times. The Chinese translation of the Flower Garland Sutra was completed during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420 CE)\, nearly 500 years after the Dhammapada\, which itself was composed about 500 years after Shakyamuni. \nSo we can’t say that either text reliably records what Shakyamuni said about his awakening. But they do demonstrate two very different styles of practicing that evolved over time. We can look at them as examples of the way the tradition changed and continues to change\, and how we and the way we are practicing are part of that evolution. \nThe account reported in the Dhammapada regarding Sakyamuni’s awakening experience is as follows: \nI wandered through the rounds of countless births\,\nSeeking but not finding the builder of this house.\nSorrowful indeed is birth again and again.\nOh\, house builder!\nYou have now been seen.\nYou shall build the house no longer.\nAll your rafters have been broken\, your ridgepole shattered.\nMy mind has attained to unconditional freedom.\nAchieved is the end of craving. \nThat is a very different spirit than what is in the Flower Garland Sutra\, don’t you think? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-8-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/House-building_500x375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231219T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231219T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231213T175938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231215T211636Z
UID:10001603-1703008800-1703014200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Blade of Grass with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThe World-Honored One was walking with his assembly.\nHe pointed to the ground and said\, “This place is good for building a temple.”\nIndra took a stalk of grass and stuck it in the ground. \nShe said\, “The temple has been built.” \nAs I spend more time this koan\, I find myself remembering all the many places the Oakland group has meditated since 1989. Initially it was in a tiny student apartment of the Graduate Theological Seminary\, where we sat in a living room lined with bookcases. We sat facing the wall in those days\, so we sat facing a wall of books\, an interesting something to have in front of the eyes that were not open nor closed.  \nThen there were a couple of Montessori kindergartens\, where we had to move all the little chairs and desks out of the way and sit facing art done by the students or the latest project in a terrarium\, right at eye level. When one of those kindergartens had a fire and we had to find a place with no notice\, we reached out to Jerry Brown. He had been in Kamakura for nine months practicing at the San Un Zendo\, and shared the house in which I was living. We hoped he might have a suggestion for us\, and he did: his living room. We sat for about four years in that living room\, in the American Bag Company building\, while his We the People headquarters was being built on the adjoining lot. To say it was his living room would be an overstatement—it was a cavernous space on the second floor where Jerry had his bedroom. There was another room that we used for conversations. When Jerry moved from there to the We the People building\, we were invited to join the community there.  \nThen there was the Unitarian church where another meditation group used the room below us while we gathered\, complaining that we made too much noise as we meditated. We never got a complaint from Art’s Crab Shack\, our next location\, a bar and restaurant above which we sat for about eight years. I still miss feeling the floorboards vibrating with the sound of the jukebox as we meditated\, and the roar of fans during Monday Night Football.  \nThere was the office of an environmental engineer—a member of the group—where I had conversations with folks in the men’s bathroom. It was quite a nice room with a high ceiling\, nice brick walls and judicious placement of shoji screens so you wouldn’t know it was a bathroom except for the sign on the door.  \nAnd there was the employee lounge of a consulting group which specialized in helping cannabis dispensaries set up business. Due to the nature of their business\, a high percentage of employees used ‘medicine’ and the lounge was the designated place to do it. It was designated the ‘Medication/Meditation Room.’  \nBefore moving to Rockridge\, there was a suite of three offices in the fruit and vegetable district of downtown Oakland. When we met\, early in the morning\, for conversations\, the streets were bustling with trucks and forklifts getting produce out to markets and restaurants. In the evening when we met\, it was deserted and kind of spooky. Several folks didn’t feel comfortable going there.  \nThen\, finally\, there was Rockridge\, our first 24/7 space\, and it was great for another eight years. Interestingly\, the woman who ran the hair salon downstairs also complained that we made too much noise when we meditated.  \nAnd then there was the pandemic and Zoom. \nTo be at home in whatever situation arises is what Linji meant when he said “Take the role of host and you will be in a true place.” That is the place we cultivate with our meditation practice\, wherever we put our blade of grass.  \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-8-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Grass-Temple-2_500x375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231212T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231212T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231206T052331Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231208T165449Z
UID:10001602-1702404000-1702409400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Shadow of the Whip with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nAn outsider asked the Buddha\, “I do not ask for the spoken; I do not ask for the unspoken.”\nThe Buddha just sat still.\nThe outsider praised him\, saying\, “The Buddha with his great compassion and mercy has opened the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter the Way.”\nHe then made bows and took his leave.\nAnanda asked\, “What did that outsider realized to make him praise you?”\nThe World-Honored One said\, “He is like the fine horse who runs even at the shadow of a whip.”  \n—Gateless Barrier Case 32 \nAs I’ve been hanging out with this koan\, more than the shadow of the whip\, it has been Ananda’s shadow that I’ve been noticing\, and my kinship with him. Ananda was the first cousin of the Buddha and one of his principal disciples. He entered the order of monks in the second year of the Buddha’s ministry and in the twenty-fifth year was appointed his personal attendant. He is credited with convincing the Buddha to let women join the order. However\, he was the last of the Buddha’s principal disciples to have an awakening\, despite the fact that Ananda had perfect recall and could remember every teaching the Buddha ever gave. \nIn this story\, Ananda had not yet had an awakening experience\, despite his many years of devoted practice. Yet here is this outsider\, asking a question and getting awakened. Just like that! How would you feel if you were Ananda? I know how I felt as I watched others pass through the gate\, and it wasn’t pretty. But that is my dream of this koan. What is yours? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\,\nDirector of Rockridge Meditation Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-8-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/worstHorse-bojackhorsemanCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231205T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231205T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231129T173343Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231203T212918Z
UID:10001601-1701799200-1701804600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Transfer of Merit with Mrs. Pang – with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOne day Mrs. Pang went into the Deer Gate Temple to make an offering of food. \nThe temple priest asked her the purpose of the offering in order to transfer the merit. \nMrs. Pang took her comb and stuck it in the back of her hair. \n“Transference of merit is completed\,” she said\, and walked out. \nI once complained to Yamada Roshi that I wasn’t meeting him as often as I would like to\, which was an important milestone in my practice\, being able to tell my teacher something I wasn’t happy about in our relationship. His response was\, “You should go slow.” Hearing that\, I knew he was right and felt a great sense of relief at having been seen clearly by someone else. \nI have found that trying to bring the koan on Tuesday evenings that we sit with during the same week is too fast for me. I would still like to have the opportunity for discussion about a koan that we sit with for one week\, and have decided to do that the week after we sit with it: I need to go slow. \nSo next week on Tuesday\, we will be sitting with this story about transferring merit. I learned how to meditate with the Tibetans who talked a lot about transferring merit\, but nothing like the way Mrs. Pang demonstrates it in this koan. \nThe interconnectedness of everything with everything is spoken to in a Chinese proverb that says\, “The flapping of the wings of a butterfly can be felt on the other side of the world.” That is how we wake all the beings of the world. \n–David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-8-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/awakening-butterfly_500x375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231128T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231128T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231121T184840Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231126T173425Z
UID:10001596-1701194400-1701199800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Bathing\, Not Purifying! with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nIn the old days there were sixteen bodhisattvas. They all got into the bath together and realized the cause of water. They called out\, “This subtle touch reveals the light that is in everything.” \n—Blue Cliff Record Case 78 \nI just got back from a couple of weeks in Japan where there was a lot of “entering the bath together” for me. The place where we stay has two communal baths\, one for men and one for women\, that open at six am and close at midnight. Often\, I would see the same people at nine or ten at night and then again at 6:00 the next morning. Though there was a fair bit of scrubbing that went on\, for me and for the others that I spoke with\, getting into the bath wasn’t about getting clean. \nThe same was true for the sixteen bodhisattvas in the version of this story that appears in the Surangama Sutra. In that version of the story\, it goes on to say\, “We did not wash off dirt\, did not wash the body. We achieved peace of mind and obtained the state of no-possession.” \nIf you have ever entered a bath so hot that once you were in you didn’t want to move because each movement renewed the experience of first entering the water\, which was no easy matter\, then I think you have some idea of what obtaining a “state of no-possession” is like. As if to emphasize the point\, Xuedou\, who first collected the one hundred cases of the Blue Cliff Record\, commented about it in his verse about this case\, “If the sixteen ancients said they were enlightened\, let them emerge from the scented water\, and I would spit at them!” \nWe don’t do this practice to purify ourselves\, to rid ourselves of impurities like delusions. If you are\, watch out for Xuedou’s spit. \n–David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\,\nDirector of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-7-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bath-Japan.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231121T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231121T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231005T225226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231117T015003Z
UID:10001595-1700589600-1700595000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:NO TUESDAY ZEN TODAY \nDavid is away\, returning November 28. \nHope to see you then! \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-7-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wooden-bucketCALENDAR500x350.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231114T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231114T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231005T223001Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231114T225809Z
UID:10001594-1699984800-1699990200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: If You Meet a Swordsman with Guest Host Todd Geist
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA monk asked Mazu\, “What is Buddha?”\nMazu said\, “Not mind\, not Buddha.” \n—The Gateless Gate\, Case 33 \nI just returned from our great fall retreat. It was a powerful experience. In some ways\, I feel like I am still there\, surrounded by the silent silhouettes of the whole sangha. Everyone—deep in meditation. \nOn returning\, this koan and its accompanying verse have been following me around.\nThey seem to have something to say to me about the whole matter. \nPresent a sword if you meet a swordsman\,\ndon’t offer a poem\, unless you meet a poet.\nWhen speaking\, say one-third of it\,\ndon’t give the whole thing away at once. \nWhat do they say to you? \n—Todd Geist \n(Note: David Weinstein is away this week) \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\,\nDirector of Rockridge Meditation Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-7-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ToddGeist_500x375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231107T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231107T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231005T222439Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231103T165054Z
UID:10001593-1699380000-1699385400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Wild Places with Guest Host Jan Brogan
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThis Week: Guest Host Jan Brogan \nPeople go to wild places to search for their true nature.\nWhen you do this\, where is your true nature? \n—Going to Wild Places (PZI Misc Koans\, Case 73a: 1st of Doushuai’s 3 Barriers) \nPeople go to wild places looking for their true nature—I have gone to wild places looking for my true nature: backpacking\, hiking\, driving to work\, attending a week-long meditation retreat. John Tarrant often says\, “A question means a journey.” When I do this\, where is my true nature? \nI recently returned from our fall sesshin where I took the role of timekeeper. All my doubts arose about doing it right\, making mistakes\, being in the dark zendo sitting with everyone for hours a day. \nThat’s the wild place where I felt the joy of ringing the bells\, seeing your faces\, all of us together searching for our true nature. \nI’ll ring bells for you on Tuesday as we step into the wild place of our hearts. \n—Jan Brogan \n(David Weinstein is away this week) \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-7-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Jan-Brogan_500x375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231031T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231031T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231019T171054Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231028T022320Z
UID:10001546-1698775200-1698780600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Ordinary Rafts Are the Way with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nWhen Yaoshan expressed doubt about being ready to go off on his own\, Mazu told him\, “One cannot always be traveling without abiding\, nor always be abiding without traveling. To advance from where you can no longer advance\, and to do what can no longer be done\, you must make yourself into a raft or ferryboat for others. It is not for you to abide here forever.” \nYaoshan started out with Shitou as his teacher. But Shitou told Yaoshan that circumstances were not right for him to attain awakening there\, so he referred him to Mazu. Yaoshan served as Mazu’s attendant for three years after his awakening experience. It was at that time that Mazu told Yaoshan he needed to go off and set up shop for himself. \nHaving myself had the experience of being told by a teacher that there were no karmic causes for me to become awakened with them\, and having been referred by one teacher to another teacher\, and having left one teacher and gone to another teacher to explore a different path\, and having had two teachers at the same time are all ways in which this koan has resonated within me. \nYou don’t have to be a Zen teacher for Mazu’s advice to hit home. There are many ways of making yourself a raft. \nHave you ever noticed what happens on a crowded freeway where traffic is entering from an on-ramp? Things can come to a standstill as people refuse to yield space to the merging traffic. But if you make space for someone to enter the stream\, others notice and some do the same. If more folks would do that\, the traffic would not come to a standstill. \nI think that’s one ordinary mind is a kind of way of making yourself a raft. \nWhat are yours? \n\nFurther musings from sesshin\, on Mazu’s Whole Meaning of Life: \nThe whole meaning of your life rests in the current matter.  —Mazu \nThe whole meaning of my life is sitting here writing this copy for the newsletter? I would have hoped for more. Maybe I need to look into what “whole meaning” means. There’s another conversation that involves Mazu that seems to throw some light on it: \nSomeone asked\, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?”\nMazu responded\, “What does this mean\, here and now?” \nOther times\, Mazu answered the same question various ways such as: \n“What is the meaning of your asking at this moment?” \n“I’m not in the mood today. Go and ask Zhizang.” \n“Come a little nearer\, and I’ll tell you.” When the student went over to Mazu\,\nMazu kicked them so hard that they fell over. \nMazu kept silent. \n“Rush flowers\, willow catkins\, bamboo needle\, and hemp thread.” \nPerhaps we can get a better sense of what “meaning” means by appreciating that all of the above responses are not ways of avoiding answering the question or even answers to the question\, they are living\, breathing\, experiences of the answer. \nWhen I think about it that way\, writing this copy for the newsletter being the whole meaning of my life is not such a bad thing. As a matter of fact\, it’s kind of great. \n—David \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\,\nDirector of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-5-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Raft_500x375-1.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231024T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231024T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231005T170708Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231005T215028Z
UID:10001579-1698170400-1698175800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Tuesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:NO TUESDAY ZEN TODAY \nDavid is away in PZI Fall Sesshin\, returning October 31st. \nHope to see you then! \n\n \n  \nCOME JOIN US next week for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wooden-bucketCALENDAR500x350.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231017T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231017T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231011T164902Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231016T223232Z
UID:10001545-1697565600-1697571000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Sun Face = Moon Face with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nMazu was sick. The superintendent of the monastery asked him\,\n“How are you feeling these days?”\nMazu said\, “Sun Face Buddha\, Moon Face Buddha.” \nSun Face Buddhas live for 1800 years\, Moon Face Buddhas live for one day—which would you rather be? This koan isn’t about long or short. I hear echoes of Mazu saying he never lacked for salt or sauce. It is said that the mind is like tofu and takes the shape of any container it is put into\, but the point isn’t the shape that the tofu takes\, neither is it the shape that our minds take. \nMazu had an idea about what practice looked like\, which his teacher likened to trying to polish a roofing tile into a mirror. If you think a Moon Face Buddha is less than a Sun Face Buddha\, you’re polishing a roofing tile also. If you think you can judge your practice by any measure whatsoever\, you are also polishing a roofing tile. \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-5-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sunfacemoonfaceCALENDAR-2.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231010T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231010T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20231004T161753Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231009T221659Z
UID:10001544-1696960800-1696966200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Flavors of Life with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nWhen asked\, “How is it?” Mazu said “For thirty years following confusion\, \nthere has never been a lack of salt and soy sauce.” \nThis koan brought back memories of a two-week retreat I did with Lama Zopa and some other people at his cave in Lawudo\, near Mount Everest. Not much grows at that altitude except potatoes. They never get very big because the growing season is so short. That’s all we had to eat for two weeks. On some days we had salt\, which was quite a special occasion. It transformed the potatoes into a multifaceted banquet. \nI hear Mazu saying something similar about the effect of practice on our life. Just as salt and soy sauce bring out the flavors of what they are put on\, our practice brings out the flavors of our life. \nWhat is salt and soy sauce in your life? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-5-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/saltsauceCALENDAR_500x375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231003T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231003T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230927T163744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231002T232841Z
UID:10001543-1696356000-1696361400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Are You Hiding the Loot? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nDamei asked Mazu\, “What is awakening?”\nMazu said\, “This very mind is awakening.” \nThis koan is Case 30 in the Gateless Barrier collection. In the verse he composed as a response to this koan\, Wumen said: \n“‘What is awakening?’ you ask. Hiding the loot\, you declare your innocence.” \nWumen’s verse reminds me of a time when I was visiting my grandparents. I had snuck into the kitchen to get a cookie\, which was in my grandmother’s ceramic owl cookie jar. After tiptoeing into the kitchen slowly to not make any sound\, I carefully lifted the head off the owl and placed it on the counter\, again careful to not make any sound. I had to stand on my toes to reach up and into the space where the owl’s head had been\, and then down into the bowels of the owl to snag a cookie. Just as my fingers reached a cookie my grandmother came into the kitchen and said “What are you doing?” And I said\, “Nothing.” \nAs I look back on that experience\, I realize that the loot I was hiding was not the cookie. Had I not been hiding the ‘real’ loot\, I would have said\, “I’m getting a cookie.” \nGot any loot you’re hiding? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-5-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HidingLootCALENDAR.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230926T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230926T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230912T175940Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230924T191000Z
UID:10001473-1695751200-1695756600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Wasting Time – with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nShitou came upon Yaoshan meditating and asked him\, “What are you doing?”\nYaoshan said\, “I am not doing anything.”\nShitou asked\, “Why are you sitting here wasting time?”\nYaoshan replied\, “If I was wasting time\, that would be doing something.”\nShitou asked\, “What is this ‘doing nothing’ that you are talking about?”\nYaoshan replied\, “Not even the ten thousand sages know.” \nI often feel like I’m a sloth. They move slowly traveling an average of forty yards a day and snooze about fifteen hours a day. They spend a majority of time in the canopy of trees\, coming down only once a week to relieve themselves … that sounds good\, no waking up multiple times a night. They spend most of their lives hanging upside-down— eating\, sleeping\, and even giving birth. Their curved claws allow them to hang from branches effortlessly. Sometimes they continue hanging from a branch even after they have died. I was surprised and happy to find that sloths are excellent swimmers\, which is another way I feel connected to them. \nWe have an online retreat beginning this week. There are all kinds of activities that go on during a retreat. Meditating\, eating\, sleeping\, having conversations about practice\, going for walks\, and deepening connections with friends. And yet\, it feels very much like what Yaoshan was talking about when he said he was doing nothing. \nThat effortless way sloths hang from branches is like the effortless way my meditation practice keeps me company\, especially when I’m doing not-doing anything. Just hanging around with a koan. \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US us on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n  \n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/wastingTimeCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230919T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230919T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230915T170840Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230916T115441Z
UID:10001472-1695146400-1695151800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: Who Has Bound You? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA monk asked\, “What is liberation?”\nShitou said\, “Who has bound you?”\nAnother monk asked\, “What is the Pure Land?”\nShitou said\, “Who has polluted you?”\nAnother monk asked\, “What is nirvana?”\nShitou said\, “Who has given you birth and death?” \nAs we’ve been spending time with Shitou this week and last\, I’ve been struck by a couple of things. First\, the way he sounds Jewish to me. Asking all those questions\, “What makes you think you have lost it?”; “Why are you asking me?”; and then all these questions about “Who has … ?”—I can hear him speaking with a Yiddish accent\, saying\, “Nu\, who’s bound you?” \nI was raised Jewish and have wondered if that is connected to the way my mind generates so many questions. My parents told me that my first words were “wat dat?”  \nThe Jewish tradition has been about asking questions from the beginning. Abraham asking God questions about his desire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah as he attempted to persuade God not to do it. I can feel a resonance with the Chan spirit of inquiry and questioning of koan practice. I also like the idea of being able to argue with God. In the Jewish tradition some of the highest praise you can receive is to hear someone say to you\, “That’s a good question.” \nThe second thing I was struck by was the way I found Shitou sounding like Socrates—that Socratic method of asking questions in response to questions\, as a way of directing the questioner back to themselves for the answer. The method of answering questions with questions\, in order to let the questioner realize that they can find the answer that was in them all along is called maieutics. It comes from the Greek word that means “to give birth.” \nAgain\, I’m reminded of koan practice. Appreciating that Socrates was practicing his questioning inquiry style of teaching a thousand years before Shitou. Awakening has no time or country. \nWhat does this conversation with Shitou stir up for you? What resonates in your life? \nGo ahead\, you can’t be wrong. \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David Weinstein\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-6/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/bound-ropeCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230912T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230912T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230908T211910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230908T231941Z
UID:10001471-1694541600-1694547000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN: I Don't Understand – with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nNEW DAY & TIME: TUESDAYS\, 6–7:30 PM Pacific Time \n\nA student asked\, ‘What is the meaning of the coming from the west?”\nShitou answered\, “Go and ask a stone pillar.” \nThe student said\, “I’m only a student\, I don’t understand.” \nShitou said\, “I don’t either.” \nI’m with Shitou\, I don’t understand either. Another koan comes to mind. That koan invites me to hide in a stone pillar. But I still don’t understand. Do you? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David Weinstein\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/David-W_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230905T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230905T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230828T210338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230904T021549Z
UID:10001462-1693936800-1693942200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:NEW DAY– TUESDAY ZEN: What's Lost? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nNEW DAY & TIME: TUESDAYS\, 6–7:30 PM Pacific Time \n\nA student asked Shitou\, “What am I supposed to do?”\n“Why are you asking me?”\n“Where else can I find what I’m looking for?”\n“Are you sure you lost it?” \nIn this conversation between Shitou and a student\, I can hear echoes of the conversation he had\, as a student himself\, with Qingyuan—the teacher he went to after studying with Huineng (the six patriarch)\, after Huineng died. \nQingyuan asked\, “Where have you come from?”\nShitou said\, “From Huineng’s in Caoxi.”\nQingyuan asked\, “What did you bring with you?”\nShitou said\, “That which had never been lost even before I went to Caoxi.”\nQingyuan said\, “Then why did you go there at all?”\nShitou said\, “If I hadn’t gone there\, how could I have realized that it had never been lost?” \nIn his conversation with this monk\, Shitou knew very well himself about the experience of thinking that something had been lost\, missing\, or lacking.  \nAs I have been sitting with this koan\, others have come to keep me company\, like this one from Doushuai: \nPeople go to wild places to search for their true nature.\nWhen you do this\, where is your true nature? \nAnd this one from Linji: \nIn your life right now\, what is it you lack\, what is it that practice must mend? \nIt feels a bit like playing dominoes\, or more accurately\, like dominoes playing itself. Each koan is different\, like each domino tile\, but they share something in common\, like we do. \nDoushuai was the head monk at Dahui’s temple when he led a group to visit another teacher named Zhi. Upon arrival at Zhi’s temple\, the conversation between Doushuai and Zhi went something like this: \nZhi said\, “Have you seen Zen master Dongshan Wenhe?”\nDoushuai said\, “His disciples don’t have any brains. If you put on a cotton garment that smells like piss\, what good is it?”\nZhi said\, “You should go and practice at that place that smells like piss.” \nFinding myself in Doushuai’s shoes at that moment\, I can’t help but feel that although I am the head monk at a famous teacher’s temple\, when hearing my own harsh assessment turned back on myself\, in that wild place I don’t know where my true nature is. \nAs I think about Linji\, and how he was literally kicked out of his teacher’s interview room the only three times he went in for a conversation\, how could he not think there was something lacking in him? \nWhat we are drawn to teach reveals what we need to learn. \nWhat do you need to learn? \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David Weinstein\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/David-W_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230830T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230830T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230706T191451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T180046Z
UID:10001403-1693422000-1693427400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today \nDavid is away throughout August. \nNEW DATE & TIME begins September 5th\, 2023:\nTuesdays\, 6–7:30 pm Pacific Time \n\n \n  \nZen with David Weinstein is on break throughout August.\nCome join us for koan meditation and conversation again on Tuesday\, September 5th. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/2023-08-30/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cat-Meditating_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230823T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230823T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230706T191451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T180046Z
UID:10001402-1692817200-1692822600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today \nDavid is away throughout August. \nNEW DATE & TIME begins September 5th\, 2023:\nTuesdays\, 6–7:30 pm Pacific Time \n\n \n  \nZen with David Weinstein is on break throughout August.\nCome join us for koan meditation and conversation again on Tuesday\, September 5th. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/2023-08-23/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cat-Meditating_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230816T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230816T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230706T191451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T180046Z
UID:10001401-1692212400-1692217800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today \nDavid is away throughout August. \nNEW DATE & TIME begins September 5th\, 2023:\nTuesdays\, 6–7:30 pm Pacific Time \n\n \n  \nZen with David Weinstein is on break throughout August.\nCome join us for koan meditation and conversation again on Tuesday\, September 5th. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/2023-08-16/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cat-Meditating_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230809T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230809T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230706T191451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T180046Z
UID:10001400-1691607600-1691613000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today \nDavid is away throughout August. \nNEW DATE & TIME begins September 5th\, 2023:\nTuesdays\, 6–7:30 pm Pacific Time \n\n \n  \nZen with David Weinstein is on break throughout August.\nCome join us for koan meditation and conversation again on Tuesday\, September 5th. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/2023-08-09/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cat-Meditating_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230802T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230802T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230706T191451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T180046Z
UID:10001334-1691002800-1691008200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today \nDavid is away throughout August. \nNEW DATE & TIME begins September 5th\, 2023:\nTuesdays\, 6–7:30 pm Pacific Time \n\n \n  \nZen with David Weinstein is on break throughout August.\nCome join us for koan meditation and conversation again on Tuesday\, September 5th. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/2023-08-02/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cat-Meditating_500X375.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230726T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230726T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230720T180647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T171648Z
UID:10001333-1690398000-1690403400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Taking Care of That One - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nWhen Dongshan was not feeling well\, he was asked\, \n“You are not feeling well. Is there one who doesn’t get sick?”\nDongshan said\, “Yes\, there is.”\nThen he was asked\, “Does the person who doesn’t get sick take care of you?”\nDongshan said\, “The timeless monk is taking care of that one.”\nThen he was asked\, “What happens when you take care of that one?”\nDongshan said\, “At that time\, I don’t see sickness.” \n—Book of Serenity Case 94 \nThough this is not the same Dongshan as the Dongshan from last week’s koan about the place of no grass\, it sounds like the same Dongshan to me. This Dongshan lived about one hundred years after the earlier Dongshan and was a student of Yunmen. We met him in the Gateless Barrier when he said Buddha was three pounds of flax. \nHere\, he is saying that Buddha is not feeling well. That would be from the perspective of grass being everywhere. But from the perspective of no grass for ten thousand miles\, there is no sickness. I hear echoes of his teacher Yunmen’s saying that sickness and medicine exactly correspond and that the whole world is medicine. \nI am reminded of a time that I spent at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal\, where there was a dog with two crippled hind legs named Sasha. She would drag herself around\, and though her tail was also crippled and she couldn’t wag it\, you could see her wagging it in her eyes—those eyes that saw no illness\, no grass for ten thousand miles. \nI am also reminded of Lungtan\, who blew out Deshan’s candle\, plunging him into darkness so he could see the light. When Lungtan died\, he cried out repeatedly\, “It hurts! It hurts!” Grass everywhere. Echoing the earlier Dongshan’s saying\, “When it’s hot let the heat kill you\, when it’s cold let the cold kill you.” Here he might say\, “When you’re sick let the sickness kill you.” \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-taking-care-of-that-one-with-david-weinstein/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/illnessCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230719T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230719T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230713T164407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230715T192115Z
UID:10001332-1689793200-1689798600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: No Inside or Outside the Gate with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nDongshan said to the assembly\,“It’s the beginning of autumn\, the end of summer\, and you brothers will go\, some to the east\, some west: You must go where there’s not an inch of grass for ten thousand miles.” And again he said\, “But where there’s not an inch of grass for ten thousand miles\, how can you go?”\n\nShishuang said\, “When you go out of the gate\, there is grass all over!”\n\nDayang said\, “I would say: Even if you don’t go out of the gate\, the grass is everywhere.” \n—Book of Serenity Case 89 \nDongshan is speaking to people who had gathered for a retreat. The retreat had lasted for ninety days\, encompassing the rainy season during the summer when pilgrimage was not preferable. At the end of a retreat\, whether it be ninety days or seven days\, the question that is often asked is\, “How can I keep this going after I leave?” How can I keep this way of experiencing when I go out of the gate? \nGrass and weeds are often used as images of our ideas and concepts and delusions. Dongshan appears to be encouraging the assembly to go to a place where there are no delusions\, no concepts. Perhaps they have had glimpses of that place during their long retreat. They might hear his encouraging words as a recommendation to hold on to those glimpses tightly as they go out of the gate\, if they are attached to those glimpses. They might feel that inside the gate is such a place but outside the gate is not. \nWhen we began to have retreats online\, via Zoom\, the question about bringing the place of no grass back home was eliminated\, physically\, at least. Sitting at home together with others sitting in their homes leads to that same place of no grass but I’m already home. \nThe whole question about inside and outside of the gate would seem to be eliminated. But rather than eliminated\, it becomes clear that it’s not about my physical location\, or what I am doing. There is no inside or outside of the gate. \n—David \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate.
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-no-inside-or-outside-the-gate-with-david-weinstein/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dongshans-Gate_500X375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230712T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230712T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230707T171349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230710T174657Z
UID:10001331-1689188400-1689193800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Each Stitch Spewing Flames - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nShenshan was mending clothes when Dongshan asked\,\n“What are you doing?”\n“Mending\,” said Shenshan.\n“How is it going?” asked Dongshan.\n“One stitch follows another\,” said Shenshan.\n“We’ve been traveling together for twenty years and that’s all you have to say?” said Dongshan. “How can you be so clueless?”\n“How do you mend\, then?”\n“With each stitch the whole earth is spewing flames.” \nShenshan’s “one stitch follows another” style of practice/mending reminds me of the way I approached my meditation practice at the beginning. There’s another translation that has  Shenshan saying\, “One stitch is like the next\,” and that translation also reflects my attitude at the beginning; I assumed meditation was about stability\, equanimity\, control. Like the beginning of the Ox-herding pictures\, I had to tame and train my mind/ox. The structure of the Tibetan sadhana\, the methodical practice of meditation and the repetition\, one mantra after the other\, each like the next\, gave me a sense of control and groundedness. \nThen I encountered koan practice and my mind spewed flames. The serenity I had been cultivating melted in the heat of the flames spewing forth. Though it was hot and uncomfortable\, the heat loosened everything. Hakuin’s words come to mind\, “Awakening in the midst of chaos is a million times more powerful than awakening in the midst of serenity.” \nWhere Dongshan calls Shenshan “clueless\,” in another translation it is rendered as\, “How can there be such craftiness?” And I find myself appreciating the difference between a craft and an art. Shenshan\, and I\, at the beginning\, were practicing as craftspeople; Dongshan was an artist who let the heat of the flames spewing forth kill him. How about you? \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/new-day-tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/fireSpews01CALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230705T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230705T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230628T221225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230706T024445Z
UID:10001254-1688583600-1688589000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Now It Is Me\, I Now Am Not It - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nJust don’t seek from others or you’ll be far estranged from yourself.\nNow I go on alone\, but everywhere I meet it. It now is me; I now am not it.\nOne must understand in this way to merge with suchness. \n — from the Record of Dongshan \nSo far\, what has grabbed my attention is the irony of Dongshan saying we shouldn’t seek from others\, and then telling us what we must do to understand suchness. Don’t I risk being estranged from myself if I listen to what he tells me? It reminds me of Zhaozhou being accused of picking and choosing by a student when he said\, “The great way is not difficult\, it just avoids picking and choosing.” Zhaozhou’s response was that he did not abide in clarity.  \nHaving a relationship with a koan requires us to find our place in the koan. To become intimate with a koan is to become intimate with everything and everyone in the koan.  \nSo\, in the case of this koan\, as I become more and more intimate with Dongshan\, my feeling of “otherness” in relation to Dongshan diminishes until there is none. There is no other\, and so no possibility of estrangement from myself. One feature of an awakening experience is the sense of remembering something that I didn’t know I had forgotten. It is something we all have\, remember? \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-now-it-is-me-i-now-am-not-it-with-david-weinstein/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Now-It-Is-Me_CALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230628T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230628T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230516T182845Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230626T172223Z
UID:10001234-1687978800-1687984200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Cuckoo! with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nFor whom do you bathe and make yourself beautiful?\nThe voice of the cuckoo is calling you home.\nHundreds of flowers fall\, yet the voice is not stilled;                                            \neven deep in jumbled mountains\, it is calling clearly.  \n—Dongshan \nThe first thing that jumped out to me\, from this koan\, is the cuckoo. The cuckoo is a brood parasite\, meaning it lays its eggs in other birds’ nests. They do not build their own nests\, and instead rely on other birds to raise their chicks. During the breeding season\, a female cuckoo will deposit eggs in up to fifty different nests. A cuckoo can dart into an unattended nest\, snatch up an egg\, lay a close copy and be gone within ten seconds. After hatching cuckoo\, chicks instinctively shove their foster siblings and remaining eggs out of the nest\, to have all the food to themselves. \nNot exactly the kind of example I would aspire to\, and perhaps that is exactly the point. \nThe one that I bathe and make myself beautiful for is the cuckoo. The cuckoo that doesn’t have a home. The cuckoo who is not at home in himself and is concerned about appearances. The cuckoo who pushes the other birds and eggs out of the nest so he can have it all. Though flowers have fallen hundreds of times\, I have been unable to still its calling me home to the jumbled mountains of my mind. \nTrying to still its call doesn’t work. \nDongshan was interested in the question of whether non-sentient beings can teach or not. I imagine asking that question to be something that would arise amidst the awareness of someone who appreciated that all sentient beings are teaching us\, including cuckoos\, and that his choice of cuckoos—brood parasites that they are and were in Dongshan’s time—was not an accident. \nAs the fox koan of our recent retreat showed us\, to be free from the body of a fox we must be the fox that we are. Similarly\, to still the call of the cuckoo\, we must be the cuckoo that we are. \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-25/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cuckooRobinCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230621T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230621T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230516T182728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230620T200539Z
UID:10001233-1687374000-1687379400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: A Well Sees A Donkey - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nXaoshan asked Elder De\, “The body of reality is like space.\nIt responds to things—manifesting its forms the way the moon appears in the water.\nHow do you explain this responsiveness?”\nDe said\, “It’s like a donkey looking into a well.”\n“That’s most of it\, but not the whole thing.”\n“What’s it like for you?”\n“It is like a well looking at a donkey.” \n—Book of Serenity Case 52 \nThis koan about a donkey and a well brought the peach blossom koan to mind\, in which reality is met\, just as it is\, without any of our overlay—nothing but peach blossoms. That sounds like a donkey seeing a well. There’s a me seeing the well but without the overlay—the way the empty sky receives whatever passes through it. \nIn our practice\, we cultivate a mind that reflects what comes in front of it—without putting up filters\, without putting up projections or ideas—like the moon in water. \nThe student’s response is good\, as far as it goes. But it leaves out the other side of the coin. To say that awakening is like a donkey seeing a well speaks to the way something is still being held onto: the donkey. Caoshan’s response of “a well sees a donkey\,” takes away that which is being held onto. \nWhen you experience “a donkey sees a well\,” there is nothing to know. When you experience “a well sees a donkey\,” there is no one who knows. No subject\, no object: your body and mind are like the vast sky. \nThe donkey is the donkey and the well is the well\, and simultaneously the donkey is the well and the well is the donkey\, and all the barriers come down. Life is not something to be observed from a corner. Seeing by being seen\, being seen by seeing. \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-24/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/donkeyWellCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230614T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230614T203000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230516T183410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230610T024808Z
UID:10001235-1686769200-1686774600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Quick\, Don't Get Ready! with Guest Host Jesse Cardin
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nQuick\, don’t get ready. \n—PZI Miscellaneous Koan \nI’d like to continue David Weinstein’s recent tradition of taking up the Open Temple koan of the week\, but I don’t know what it’s going to be yet. “Oh crap\,” I thought to myself\, “I need to write some copy for Karin and Corey today so they can make the posts—what will I do?” You’re reading the result right now. \nAlthough I’ll admit I’m being a bit cheeky\, this is also a great point of practice. There are some things we can prepare for in life (and it would be advisable to do so)\, but much of it is improvised on the spot. And actually\, at least as often as not\, I find my preparation getting in the way. And any moment of true open-heartedness or clarity I’ve ever experienced hasn’t come by my own machinations anyway. \nSo why don’t we meet this week’s koan together\, fresh\, naked (figuratively\, please) and unprepared? We’ll sit a bit\, I’ll talk a bit (maybe)\, and we’ll have a chat about what comes unannounced from our hearts when we’re together. I’m looking forward to meeting you there. \n—Jesse \n\n \nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nCOME JOIN US Wednesday at 7pm Pacific Time \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-quick-dont-get-ready-with-guest-host-jesse-cardin/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dontGetreadyCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230607T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230607T193000
DTSTAMP:20260428T111006
CREATED:20230516T182603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230605T173612Z
UID:10001232-1686160800-1686166200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Poisonous Snakes of the Path - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nA student asked Qinglin\, “When a student goes along the path\, what about that?”\nQinglin said\, “There’s a poisonous snake on the path. I advise the student not to run into it.”\n“What about when the student runs into it?”\n“She must mourn her life.”\n“What about when she doesn’t run into it?”\n“But there is no way to avoid it.”\n“Then how about at that moment?”\n“It completely disappeared.”\n“I wonder where it went.”\n“The grass is so deep that we can’t find it anywhere.”\n“You too should protect yourself against it.”\nQinglin rubbed his palms together and said\, “Both you and I are poisonous snakes.” \n—Book of Serenity Case 59 \nI have been enjoying the various ways this koan has been translated regarding the word “snake.” The title of this piece sums it up. There are two characters in question: one means “dead” or “death\,” and the other means “snake.” In a number of places\, the title is translated as “Dead Snake;” in others\, it is translated as “Snake of Death” or “Death Snake.” \nThe word “poisonous” does not appear; it is an interpretation by the translator. I imagine the thinking was something along the lines of\, “If it is a snake of death\, it must be poisonous.” While my mind played around with these words\, their various permutations and combinations\, I noticed some questions arising: \nWhat is this in my life? \nHave I run into a snake on my path?\nHad I ever been bitten and died? \nWhat came to mind was my first meeting with Yamada Roshi. I went in prepared to die when I told him that I did not practice with koans. Instead\, the one who thought he was going to die died. \nIt was an act of kindness that was the coup de grace: not something harsh\, but no less surprising than getting struck or yelled at. It was Yamada listening to me tell him that I did not practice with koans\, a practice that he was a master of\, and his responding by encouraging me to follow my own path to awakening. At that moment\, the one who felt alone\, unseen\, and misunderstood “completely disappeared” and didn’t go anywhere at all. \nThis brought up the way the “Dead Snake” translation struck me. As I go along the path\, I not infrequently run into dead snakes. The snakes\, that when they were alive\, had hindered my progress. I couldn’t figure out how to get past them. Now\, they are still here\, like the one who felt unseen and misunderstood\, but they’re not alive. All I have to do step over them. Admittedly\, sometimes I step on them and they’re slippery and sometimes I fall. \nMore to come … \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-23/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/snake-melon-hokkei-CALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
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