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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230621T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230621T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230516T182728Z
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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:20260430T035657
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:20260430T035657
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
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230531T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230531T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T194210Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230530T185223Z
UID:10001207-1685559600-1685565000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Buffalo Window - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nWuzi (Wuzu) said\, “It is like a buffalo jumping through a window. \nIts head\, horns\, and four legs all pass through. \nWhy can’t its tail pass through?”  \n—Gateless Gate Case 38 \n\nThe koan for this week stopped me in a couple of different ways. First of all I thought the teacher’s name was Wuzu\, not Wuzi. Every translation that I looked at has Wuzu as the name except for Joan Sutherland’s version\, which has Wuzi except in one place where it is Wuzu. “A rose by any other name”… but it was interesting to notice the way it stirred my mind. Interesting to notice the tail that did not pass through whether by jumping or otherwise. \nThe other way the koan stopped me was the word “jumping.” In every other translation that I could find the word that is used is “passing” which led me to sit with the difference that I felt between “passing” and “jumping.” \nThat word “jumping” brought along another koan about taking a step off the hundred-foot pole and how it says “take a step” and not “jump.” How it feels more like I find myself one step off the hundred-foot pole and I don’t know how I got there. Whether taking a step or jumping it seems entirely too much of me involved. \nI suppose it is the same with the buffalo\, though the image that I found to go along with the koan perhaps speaks to another possibility. It is a picture of the running of the bulls in a town in Spain where one of the bulls got so confused and frightened it tried jumping through a window. I suppose that happens for us to\, we get so confused and frightened that we jump\, without even knowing what we’re doing. Ever have that happen? \nSo\, whether it’s Wuzu or Wuzi\, whether it’s passing or jumping\, what about that tail? \n—David \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-21/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/buffalo-CALENDAR.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230524T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230524T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230518T163809Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230522T225524Z
UID:10001249-1684954800-1684960200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Where Will You Find It? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nWhatever confronts you\, don’t believe it.\nWhen something appears shine your light on it.\nHave confidence in the light that is always working inside you.  —Linji \nI am writing this while in Kyoto\, Japan\, which seems appropriate. For me\, traveling has been an opportunity to practice letting go of what I believe. I left the states to travel in Europe for what I believed to be a summer\, but didn’t return for sixteen years. \nI still remember my first night in Europe—in Amsterdam. I went out for a beer. When the bartender presented me with a glass that was one-third foam\, I was about to complain\, when the person standing next to me leaned over and said\, “That’s the way they do it here.” Having just finished a season working as a bartender in a ski resort at Lake Tahoe\, I believed I knew what a correctly poured beer looked like. That experience in that bar in Amsterdam was an opportunity for me to not believe what I believed to be true. \nShortly after beginning my job as an English teacher in Tehran\, I was walking down the street and thought I would try hitchhiking\, so I stuck my thumb out. After a short time\, someone pulled over\, a young Iranian\, who not only gave me a ride\, but also gave me advice. He told me that sticking your thumb out the way I had\, in Iran\, was the equivalent of holding up your middle finger and he encouraged me not to do that again.  \nThe thing is that we are all travelers. And if we can remember that\, we wouldn’t hold on so tightly to what we believe. You don’t have to leave your country to encounter other cultures\, we are each our own culture.  \nWhen I returned to the states I experienced a kind of culture shock\, which was very disorienting. I felt like a foreigner in my own country. Then\, as if a switch had been flipped\, I found that my disorientation became curiosity. The curiosity of being in a foreign country and so feeling like a foreigner in my own country became an opportunity rather than a problem.  \nA couple of other koans came along as I’ve been hanging out with this ‘not believing.’ First\, there was last week’s koan about rank and how believing is a kind of rank. The other was Case 68 in the Book of Serenity\, in which we are told\, “Awakening has no country\, where will you find it?”  \nThat is exactly where we find it. \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-26/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/japanStreetFashionCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230517T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230517T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T191705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230515T223955Z
UID:10001200-1684350000-1684355400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Just Who Do You Think You Are? with Guest Host Jesse Cardin
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nWednesday Zen with Guest Host Jesse Cardin\nThere is a true person of no rank who is always coming and going through the portals of your face.  \nWho is that true person of no rank? \nWe’ve all got an image to uphold. Don’t lie\, you’ve got one too! And oh my\, all the ways I scheme and manipulate and maneuver to keep that image going. The Good Father\, the Good Teacher\, the Good Neighbor (I’m seeing a lot of the word Good in there…think that could mean something?). \nBut there is someone who doesn’t worship at the altar of the self. This person moves freely throughout the world\, unhampered by thought\, emotion\, or even physical form. They can be a God\, a buddha\, a bodhisattva\, an ordinary person\, a demon\, a tree–whatever is needed. \nWhat is the image you are sworn to uphold? \nAt what altar of the self do you worship? \nWhat are the consequences of violating the code of your order? \nAnd what is it like to forget all that\, even for a moment? \nI have questions. \nSee you Wednesday! \nJesse \n\n \nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \n—Jesse Cardin
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-19/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/whoDoUThink-CALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230503T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230503T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T191544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230501T191557Z
UID:10001199-1683140400-1683145800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: A Change of Heart: Muzhou & Linji – with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nLinji asked Huangbo\, “What is the great meaning of the Dharma?”\nHuangbo hit him.\nThis happened three times.\nLinji then took his leave and went to see Dayu.\nDayu asked\, “Where have you come from?”\nLinji said\, “From Huangbo.”\nDayu said\, “What did Huangbo have to say?”\nLinji said\, “I asked him three times\, ‘What is the great meaning of the Dharma?’ and I got his stick three times. I don’t know if I was at fault or not.”\nDayu said\, “Huangbo was overly gentle like an old grandmother; he completely exhausted himself for your sake. Yet you come here and ask if you were at fault or not!”\nWith these words\, Linji came to great enlightenment. \nLinji had been sitting at Huangbo’s place for three years without ever going in to have a conversation with him when this interaction occurred. But it was not the first time they had met. There is another story that takes place early on in Linji’s stay at Huangbo’s. \nIn that story\, Huangbo had come into the meditation hall for the daily morning greeting to walk around the hall passing in front of each person sitting in meditation. Though called “the morning greeting\,” it also had the air of inspecting the troops. As Huangbo progressed down the line of meditators\, he came to Linji\, who was bobbing and weaving\, nearly falling off his cushion as he surfed the edge of being asleep and awake. \nHuangbo walked with a staff of appropriate proportions to his seven-foot frame\, and when he slammed that staff down to the ground in front of Linji\, the sound reverberated through the hall like a great drum. I imagine a number of people jumped off their cushions at hearing that sound. But not Linji. Without missing a bob or a weave\, he looked up from his cushion to Huangbo and said\, “Good morning teacher!” and continued his bobbing and weaving. \nHuangbo’s response was to do an about-face and return to the head of the line where the person in charge\, Muzhou\, was sitting. Huangbo stopped there\, bent down\, and while whispering into Muzhou’s ear\, he pointed down the line to the bobbing and weaving Linji. Muzhou shook his head and said to Huangbo\, “I don’t know what we’re going to do about that one.” Once again\, Huangbo slammed his staff to the ground and not whispering at all said\, “He’s doing good meditation\, why are you sitting here asleep?” \nIn the current koan\, it is Muzhou who notices that since arriving\, Linji had not gone in to speak with Huangbo. Projecting my own small-mindedness onto Muzhou\, it is hard not to think that Muzhou might have been getting a little revenge on Linji by having him upbraided by Huangbo so publicly in the meditation hall. We are told that Muzhou asked Linji why he hadn’t gone in to speak with the teacher. Linji replied that he didn’t know what to ask. Rather than saying\, “Then go in without knowing what to ask\,” Muzhou suggested something that Linji could ask\, and I suspect Muzhou knew very well what Huangbo’s reply would be. \nEach time Linji went in and asked the question\, Huangbo hit him and threw him out. Each time Linji was thrown out\, Muzhou picked him up and encouraged him to go back in until Linji decided to leave\, feeling he had no karmic connection with Huangbo. \nThen something interesting happened. \nMuzhou seemed to have had a change of heart regarding Linji. Perhaps Linji’s willingness to go in again and again with the same question only to be beaten and thrown out again and again touched Muzhou’s heart. He tells Linji that he should go in one last time and say goodbye to the teacher before he leaves. \nMuzhou then went in to speak with Huangbo to arrange Linji’s exit interview\, telling Huangbo that he thought Linji was extraordinary and asking Huangbo to advise him accordingly. Hence Muzhou’s grandmotherly kindness. Huangbo heeded Muzhou’s advice\, perhaps remembering his encounter with Linji’s bobbing and weaving: Huangbo’s grandmotherly kindness. \nDayu’s confronting Linji about not appreciating the grandmotherly kindness he had been shown at Huangbo’s place was Dayu’s grandmotherly kindness. Linji’s realization that there was no fault to be found in his interaction with Huangbo was Linji’s own grandmotherly kindness towards himself\, which can be the hardest to allow. \n—David Weinstein \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-18/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/linji-ChangeOfHeartCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230426T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230426T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T191414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230424T171822Z
UID:10001198-1682535600-1682541000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Falling Flowers - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOne day\, Changsha went wandering in the mountains.\nUpon returning\, when he got to the gate\, he was asked\, “Where are you coming from?”\nChangsha said\, “From wandering in the mountains\,”\n“Where did you go?”\nChangsha said\, “I went pursuing the fragrant grasses; I returned following the falling flowers.” \n—Blue Cliff Record\, Case 36 \nLast week\, my plan to bring this koan was interrupted by my catching a cold—I’d forgotten about colds these last three years and my resultant inability to speak without coughing. Since Chris Gaffney kindly filled in for me and hosted an exploration into this koan\, this week I was planning on continuing to bring the koan of the week from the morning meditation. However\, that plan has been interrupted by a couple of things. \nFirst\, the koan of the week hasn’t been announced yet. Second\, I received a video of the ongoing prayers for the quick return of Lama Zopa that are being offered at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal. \nOnce again\, life has interrupted my plans for life\, and I find myself wanting to bring this koan again as part of my own ongoing prayers\, remembering how the Lamas often spoke about the way meditation and prayer are the same. \nThat’s what meditation practice does\, it interrupts our habitual way\, our plans\, for moving through life. I learned about Lama Zopa’s death during a retreat last weekend. At the time\, we were sitting with this koan about scented grasses and falling flowers\, which are words often quoted to accompany a person as they leave this world. \nIn the past\, when I’ve spoken about my time with the Lamas\, I usually talk about Lama Yeshe. But it was Lama Zopa whom I first saw at my first meditation retreat. He entered the meditation tent to give the first talk on the first morning\, and my immediate impression was\, “This is a holy person.” \nNot the kind of thought I would usually have. But he somehow fit a teacher archetype I didn’t know I had in me. He was slight of build and looked fragile as he walked towards the high seat. I couldn’t tell if the way he looked down came out of being humble or from being careful to not step on insects\, or perhaps both. \nWhat he spoke about was death. And the way he spoke about it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Not in alarm\, though there was something about the matter-of-fact way he spoke about death that was alarming. There was also the thrill of hearing someone talk about something I had often thought about since early childhood\, but had never spoken about: that we’re all going to die. \nWhen I had questions\, I went to Lama Yeshe. Nonetheless\, I felt a great affinity for Lama Zopa. I participated in two three-month meditation retreats with the Lamas in that first year of my practice. I also went on a short trip with Lama Zopa to a lake considered a manifestation of Padmasambhava. I trekked with him and others to his home village of Lawudo to participate in a retreat in his cave. Lama Zopa was considered the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama\, a hermit monk who had lived in that cave. He was also considered a reincarnation of Padmasambhava. \nHearing about Lama Zopa’s death\, together with this koan about scented grasses and falling flowers\, reminded me of all the other fallen flowers: My other first teacher\, Lama Yeshe\, my first Zen teacher\, Shibuya-san\, my first koan teacher\, Kusan\, my second koan teacher\, Aitken Roshi\, and my “three is a charm” koan teacher\, Yamada Roshi. \nI met Lama Zopa when I was “wandering in the mountains” and I “followed the scented grasses” with him and Lama Yeshe. Now I’m returning\, following the fallen and falling flowers\, appreciating their scent. \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-17/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/lamaZopaCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230419T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230419T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T192347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230417T210654Z
UID:10001202-1681930800-1681936200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Flowers Fall - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOne day\, Changsha went wandering in the mountains.\nUpon returning\, when he got to the gate\, he was asked\, “Where are you coming from?”\nChangsha said\, “From wandering in the mountains\,”\n“Where did you go?”\nChangsha said\, “I went pursuing the fragrant grasses; I returned following the falling flowers.” \n—Blue Cliff Record\, Case 36 \nMy plan to bring the Open Temple koan-of-the-week to Wednesday Zen has been interrupted by the recent death of my first teacher\, Lama Zopa. That’s what happens: life interrupts our plans for life. That’s what meditation practice does\, it interrupts our habitual ways of moving through life. \nI learned about Lama Zopa’s death during a retreat this weekend. The koan we were sitting with was this one about scented grasses and falling flowers\, words often quoted to accompany a person as they leave this world. \nIn the past\, when I’ve spoken about my time with the Lamas\, I usually talk about Lama Yeshe. But it was Lama Zopa whom I first saw at my first meditation retreat. He entered the meditation tent to give the first talk on the first morning\, and my immediate impression was\, “This is a holy person.” \nNot the kind of thought I would usually have. But he somehow fit a teacher archetype I didn’t know I had in me. He was slight of build and looked fragile as he walked towards the high seat. I couldn’t tell if the way he looked down came out of being humble or from being careful to not step on insects\, or perhaps both. \nWhat he spoke about was death. And the way he spoke about it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Not in alarm\, though there was something about the matter-of-fact way he spoke about death that was alarming. There was also the thrill of hearing someone talk about something I had often thought about since early childhood\, but had never spoken about: that we’re all going to die. \nWhen I had questions\, I went to Lama Yeshe. Nonetheless\, I felt a great affinity for Lama Zopa. I participated in two three-month meditation retreats with the Lamas in that first year of my practice. I also went on a short trip with Lama Zopa to a lake considered a manifestation of Padmasambhava. I trekked with him and others to his home village of Lawudo to participate in a retreat in his cave. Lama Zopa was considered the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama\, a hermit monk who had lived in that cave. He was also considered a reincarnation of Padmasambhava. \nHearing about Lama Zopa’s death\, together with this koan about scented grasses and falling flowers\, reminded me of all the other fallen flowers: My other first teacher\, Lama Yeshe\, my first Zen teacher\, Shibuya-san\, my first koan teacher\, Kusan\, my second koan teacher\, Aitken Roshi\, and my “three is a charm” koan teacher\, Yamada Roshi. \nI met Lama Zopa when I was “wandering in the mountains” and I “followed the scented grasses” with him and Lama Yeshe. Now I’m returning\, following the fallen and falling flowers\, appreciating their scent. \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-20/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/lamaZopaCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230412T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230412T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T191132Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230411T171017Z
UID:10001197-1681326000-1681331400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: To Bow or Not To Bow - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nHuangbo was at Yanguan’s temple performing rituals. At that time the future emperor Tang Xuan Zong was serving as a novice monk in the temple. The future emperor asked Huangbo\, “Not seeking Buddha\, not seeking Dharma\, not seeking Sangha—when the master bows\, what is it you’re seeking?”\nHuangbo said\, “Not seeking Buddha\, not seeking Dharma\, not seeking Sangha—one always bows in just this manner.”\nThe novice said\, “Then why bow?”\nHuangbo hit him.\nThe novice said\, “You’re really too crude!”\nHuangbo said\, “What place is this we’re in? Is it for idle chatter?”\nHe then hit the novice again. \n(from Transmission of the Lamp) \nThis koan with Huangbo led me to remember when I first encountered bowing during a “meditation course” at the Kopan Monastery outside of Kathmandu. I thought I was heading into a one-month study of what meditation was that would involve lots of talking about meditation and maybe a little meditation. As it turned out\, it involved a lot of meditation\, and not only meditation but a lot of bowing—full-length prostration kind of bowing. I questioned what I had gotten myself into. But my faith in and trust of the friend who recommended I check out the “meditation course” kept me from bolting from what at first sight appeared to me to be some kind of cult. \nIt helped that I was told that there was no obligation to bow. That left me more open to hear the gentle suggestion that I might try it and see what happens. “Make an experiment\,” was a phrase the Lamas often used. So\, I made an experiment. At first\, I found myself holding the prostrations as a kind of warm-up exercise before sitting down and not moving for a couple of hours. Conversely\, they were a welcome way of getting the kinks out after sitting for a couple of hours. Gradually\, I noticed that my meditation was quieting down. It seemed like doing the prostration “warm-ups” helped me settle in. It felt familiar\, like the way I warmed up before playing tennis or working out with weights\, or any of the sports that I participated in. \nThen I made another experiment with a practice called the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas. It involved doing one prostration for each Buddha\, while holding a visualization of the Buddha and saying their name. The combination of physical\, imaginative and cognitive components felt like I was doing a martial art\, linking body and mind in action. \nI had studied Psychology in college. My advisor was a Skinnerian behaviorist. Bowing seemed to me like arranging the contingencies of reinforcement involved in cultivating a meditative mind. I thought of Pavlov’s dog: ring the bell every time the dog gets fed and eventually ringing the bell alone\, without food\, elicits salivation. Do prostrations before and after each meditation and prostrations get linked with the cultivation of the meditative mind and the meditation begins before the meditation begins as I’m doing the prostrations. When I explained to Lama Yeshe that I felt like I was brainwashing myself\, arranging these contingencies of reinforcement\, his response was\, “Very good\, carry on.” I think Huangbo would have hit me. \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-16/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ToBowCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230405T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230405T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230313T191014Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230404T210246Z
UID:10001196-1680721200-1680726600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: You Can't Drink Dregs - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nHuangbo said\, “You’re all gobblers of brewers dregs. If you run around like this\, where will you meet today? Haven’t you figured out that in the whole country there is not a single Chan teacher?” \nSomeone stepped forward and asked\, “But what about all those places where people are guiding students and leading gatherings?” \nHuangbo said\, “I didn’t say no Chan\, only no Chan teachers.”  \n—Blue Cliff Record Case 11 \nHuangbo originated this expression\, “gobblers of brewer’s dregs\,” which became a popular saying in reference to people whose practice imitated what they had read in texts and what they heard from teachers\, but never making it their own by integrating it into their lives. The literal meaning is that you eat what’s left over from making rice wine\, and then think that you have had a taste of the real thing. \nHuangbo’s warning for going on pilgrimage seeking wisdom was something he had learned from experience. Like most young monks\, following his ordination\, Huangbo went looking for a teacher. Finding the right teacher never comes easy\, but he met a woman who suggested the person he was looking for was Mazu. Mazu was the dharma heir of the Sixth Patriarch’s dharma heir\, Huairang\, and was living a thousand kilometers to the southeast. By the time Huangbo got there\, Mazu had died. Although Mazu was gone\, his dharma heir Baizhang was a mere two days’ walk away. This happened in their first meeting: \nBaizhang said to Huangbo\, “Magnificent\, imposing\, where have you come from?”\nHuangbo replied\, “Magnificent\, imposing\, from the mountains.”\nBaizhang asked\, “Magnificent\, imposing\, why have you come?”\nHuangbo replied\, “Magnificent\, imposing\, not for anything else.”\n\nIt is said that Huangbo was seven feet tall\, but I don’t think that’s what Baizhang was referring to when he said\, “Magnificent\, imposing.” When Huangbo replied\, “Magnificent\, imposing\,” I think he was talking about everything. Everything is magnificent and imposing if we get out of the way of our thinking. Especially the thinking that says that we lack something and need to get it from someplace outside ourselves. \nYunmen was born fourteen years after Huangbo’s death\, but the spirit of Huangbo was more than alive in him. He took Huangbo’s “brewer’s dregs” and pushed it beyond the beyond when he said\, \n“You’re making pilgrimages all over the place\, studying Chan and asking about the Dao. Let me ask you: What have you managed to learn in all those places? Try presenting that!”  \nThen he said\, \n“In the meantime\, you cheat the Master in your own house. Is that all right? When you manage to find a little slime on my ass\, you lick it off\, take it to be your own self\, and say: ‘I understand Chan\, I understand the Dao!’ Even if you manage to read the whole Buddhist canon—so what!?”\n\nDeshan\, the expert on Diamond Sutra texts which he pulled around in a cart\, said upon his realization\, \nI will never doubt any more what the old master has said to me. \nHe was not talking about Longtan\, the teacher who blew out Deshan’s candle\, allowing him to see the light. He was talking about the “old master\,” the “Master in your own house” who is reading these words. \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-15/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/brewers-dregsCALENDA.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230329T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230329T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230310T203523Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230329T011505Z
UID:10001195-1680116400-1680121800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Barriers or Gates? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nA student asked Zhaozhou\, “What is Zhaozhou?”\nZhaozhou replied\, “East Gate\, West Gate\, South Gate\, North Gate.”\n\n—Blue Cliff Record Case 9 \nIn this koan\, it is hard to know whether the student is asking about Zhaozhou the teacher\, or about Zhaozhou the town that was the source of the teacher’s name. Xuedou\, the original compiler of the one hundred cases comprising the Blue Cliff Record\, comments on this by saying\, “There are thorns in the soft mud. If it’s not south of the river\, then it’s north of the river.” If Zhaozhou answers about the city\, the “thorn in the mud” is the student saying he was asking about Zhaozhou the teacher\, and vice versa. Zhaozhou is unfazed as he responds to both possibilities with one answer. In a longer version of the same koan\, after Zhaozhou responds\, the student does indeed pursue the question by saying “That’s not the Zhaozhou I was asking about.” To which Zhaozhou replies\, unfazed again\, “Which Zhaozhou were you asking about?” And it ends there. \nCase 52 in the Blue Cliff has a similar flavor to Case 9; it involves Zhaozhou and a different student: \nA student asked Zhaozhou\, “For a long time I’ve heard about the stone bridge of Zhaozhou. But now that I’ve come\, I see only a log across the river.”\nZhaozhou said\, “You just see the log bridge\, you don’t see the stone bridge.”\n“What is the stone bridge?” asked the student.\n“Donkeys cross\, horses cross.” replied Zhaozhou.\n\nAs in Case 9\, it is hard to tell if the student is referring to Zhaozhou the teacher or to the bridge of Zhaozhou. As in Case 9\, Zhaozhou is unfazed as he responds. Again\, Zhaozhou responds by pointing to an activity\, not a thing. Zhaozhou is the four gates in the four directions; you can enter from anywhere. It is about the entering and leaving\, whether it is the town or the teacher. Zhaozhou is the activity of donkeys crossing and horses crossing—anyone can cross freely. \nThe Chinese character used for “gate” can also mean “obstacle” or “barrier.” That is what Zhaozhou is and that is what we are: barriers that are gates. Six hundred years before Zhaozhou and five thousand miles away\, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius\, wrote\, “What stands in the way becomes the way.”  \nWhat is standing in your way? \nimage: painting by Rene Magritte \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-14/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/barrierGateMagritte-CALENDAR_500X375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230322T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230322T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230116T184828Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230322T182948Z
UID:10001191-1679511600-1679517000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Do As the Lady Says - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThere is a fork in the road on the way to Mount Tai\, which is where an old granny had set up her teashop. Whenever a pilgrim came and asked directions\, she would say\, “Go straight.” After they had taken a few steps\, they would hear her muttering under her breath\, “Just another common temple-goer.”  \nThis was reported to Zhaozhou\, and he went to investigate. He asked her the same question and she gave him the same answer and muttered the same comment. When he returned to his community Zhaozhou reported\, “I have seen through the old granny at the fork in the road.” \n—Gateless Gate\, Case 31: Zhaozhou and the Old Woman Investigate Each Other \nMount Tai was\, and still is\, one of the great pilgrimage sites in Chinese Buddhism. Even before Buddhism\, it was a great Daoist site. For Buddhists\, it is a sacred mountain said to be the abode of Manjusri\, the embodiment of wisdom. There is a statue of Manjushri in the temple and it is believed that whoever climbs the mountain and pays homage to the statue will be endowed with wisdom. Even Zen monks would sometimes be found there\, hoping that a miracle would save them the work required to free themselves. \nLike Mount Tai\, “old grannies” have been a feature of Chinese culture since before Buddhism. In China\, this kind of character refers to an old woman and also suggests a person of wit and resourcefulness who is usually marginal\, ambivalent in social status\, and who crosses social boundaries. Sometimes such a person is depicted as a witch or sorceress. Is that what Zhaozhou saw when he “saw through” her? Wumen’s comment about this case in the Gateless Barrier is that both she and Zhaozhou had their faults. \nWhen he was young\, Zhaozhou himself planned a pilgrimage to Mount Tai hoping to reap the benefits of such an undertaking. However\, one of his teachers wrote a poem for him about that: \nAll mountains are equally good.\nBlue ones afar\, and a green one near\,\neach one has a Manjushri enshrined.\nSo why go to Mount Tai in particular?\nThe sutras depict Manjushri riding on a lion.\nYou may see many illusions like that in the mountain clouds.\nIt is not real to the eye of a Zen person; it is not the happiness a Zen person seeks.\n\nIs that what Zhaozhou saw when he saw through the woman at the teashop? \nHer instructions were echoed by an American “old granny” named Yogi Berra who said\, “When you come to a fork in the road\, take it.” \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-12/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/goStraightTEST_16X9.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230315T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230315T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230310T200218Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230313T210013Z
UID:10001194-1678906800-1678912200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Choosing 'Here' with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nZhaozhou said\,  \n“The Great Way is not difficult\, it just refrains from picking and choosing. As soon as these words are spoken\, you might judge that this is picking and choosing\, or that it is clear. I do not dwell in clarity. Can you stand by this and give me a response?” \n—The Blue Cliff Record\, Case 2 \nI have been enjoying morning meditation in the Open Temple\, and have been particularly enjoying staying with one koan for the week. It gives me the chance to sink into the koan and let it sink into me. However\, I do miss the opportunity to have conversations about spending time with the koan. “No conversation about koans equals no Zen\,” was the opinion of the founding teacher (Yasutani) of the Sanbo Zen lineage\, whose DNA runs through our PZI practice. \nDuring the month preceding Winter Sesshin\, I brought the Open Temple koan to our Wednesday gatherings\, and appreciated the opportunity to have conversations with folks about their experience with it. \nBeginning this week\, I will be bringing the Open Temple koan (of the same week) to our Wednesday evening gathering\, and will continue to do so each week until the end of April\, when the Spring Open Temple closes. That way there’s time\, prior to our gathering and also afterwards\, to be with the koan\, noticing what we notice after having conversations with others about their experiences. \nThis koan about picking and choosing comes up four times in The Blue Cliff Record. No koan other than this one appears more than once. Xuedou\, who originally compiled the one hundred koans that later became The Blue Cliff Record\, must have found the message of this koan to be particularly important. I also find this theme prominent in the teaching of Yuanwu\, who took Xuedou’s one hundred koans and commented on them. It is Yuanwu’s compilation that we call The Blue Cliff Record. \nWhen Yuanwu encourages us to “… just let things be …” I hear echoes of “not picking and choosing.” If we are struggling with letting things be\, Yuanwu’s advice is to let that be\, too. It is not a quick fix toward serenity\, but it is the way to finding serenity in the midst of the struggle. This path is sometimes called the Middle Way\, but that is not some midpoint between two extremes. It is a middle way in the sense of being in the middle of it\, in the thick of life\, fully and completely. When Yuanwu points out that walking the Great Way and pursuing the mystery is “… right where you stand\,” any ideas\, any picking and choosing that I have\, about what the Great Way is\, don’t stick. Any ideas about who I am don’t stick\, either. \nZhaozhou expands further on what not picking and choosing looks like when he says he does not “dwell in clarity.” There is nothing wrong with clarity\, it is the dwelling\, the attachment\, that’s the problem. In a way\, this koan about picking and choosing is another version of the koan about not knowing being most intimate\, and I am reminded of the first instruction I received about koan practice\, “Make your mind a question mark.” \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-13/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/pickingChoosingCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230308T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230308T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20230116T184708Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230306T190730Z
UID:10001188-1678302000-1678307400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: One Who Is Not Busy - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOne Who Is Not Busy \nOnce when Yunyan was sweeping the ground\, Daowu said\, “Busy\, busy!”\nYunyan said\, “You should know that there’s someone who isn’t busy.”\n“If that’s the case\, there’s a second moon.”\nYunyan held up his broom and asked\, “Which moon is this?”\nDaowu remained silent and left. \n—Book of Serenity Case 21\n\nWhen I watch myself doing what I know is not in my best interests\, who is watching and who is being watched? Is it the same me as the one who is unskillfully doing whatever he is doing? Or are they different? The opening lines of the Heart Sutra come to mind\,  \nForm is emptiness\, Emptiness is form. Form is exactly emptiness\, Emptiness exactly form. The same is true of feeling and perception. The same is true of memory and consciousness.  \nThe one watching is exactly the one being watched\, the one being watched is exactly the one watching. That doesn’t make sense\, but then neither does life. How do we respond to that? \nWhen Yunyan responds to Daowu’s comment about being busy by saying\, “You should know that there is one who is not busy\,” it sounds as if Yunyan is chiding Daowu for not appreciating that there is one who is not busy—he should know better. In the course of their relationship\, starting with practicing together with Baizhang\, leaving Baizhang together\, then going to practice together with Nanquan\, and then leaving Nanquan together to go practice with Yaoshan; it is Daowu who again and again (and again) proves himself to be the one who knows better. \nFor his part\, Daowu seems to be checking his friend’s understanding about the relationship between the one who is busy and the one who is not\, between the one who is watching and the one who is watched. Yunyan seems to be saying that form and emptiness are separate from each other\, the one who is busy and the one who is not busy are not the same. The me who is watching me is not the same me who is being watched. Responding to this\, Daowu tells Yunyan that if he thinks they are different then that is the same as thinking there is a second moon. \nAre they the same? Are they different? Answering either way leave you hanging on one or the other of the horns of the dilemma. Yunyan cuts through the dilemma\, thrusting his broom into the air and asking\, “Which moon is this?” Tossing the ball back into Daowu’s court. In response Daowu was silent and then leaves. His way of cutting through the dilemma that Yunyan presented to him. \nForm and emptiness\, our phenomenal self and our true self\, are the same and different\, not two\, not one. Responding to that paradox is the integration of our practice into our life. \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-11/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/both-broomsCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230222T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230222T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221213T174643Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230220T222732Z
UID:10001061-1677092400-1677097800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Your Own Radiance with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA monk said to Yunmen\, “The radiance serenely illumines the whole universe…”\nBefore he had finished the line\, Yunmen interrupted him and asked\, “Are those the words of Zhangzhuo?”\nThe monk said\, “Yes\, they are.”\nYunmen said\, “You have misspoken.” \n—Gateless Gate Case 39 \nI was recently asked to help find the origin of a koan involving Bankei\, a 17th Century Japanese Zen teacher. The version of the story I was asked about goes like this: \nBankei was approached by a priest who boasted that his master possessed miraculous powers. This master could take a brush and write Amida in the air and the word would appear on a sheet of paper in the distance. Challenged to equal this\, Bankei replied\, “My miracle is that when I feel hungry I eat\, and when I feel thirsty I drink.”\n\nI checked all the English translations of Bankei that I am aware of\, and found one place where he says something about eating when hungry and sleeping when tired\, but no miracle is mentioned. I also found that Yuanwu in the 11th century\, and both Dazhu Huihai and Linji in the 8th century\, also said something about eating when hungry\, sleeping when tired. \nSo\, the source of the ‘miracle’ of Zen became complicated. Was it Huihai and Linji because they are the earliest record of it? And what about the ‘miracle’ part? It was about then that Yunmen’s ‘You have misspoken’ paid me a visit. \nThis quote from Yunmen reminds me of a quote that is attributed to Picasso\, “Good artists borrow\, great artists steal.” Picasso had an ‘African Period\,’ when he painted in a style strongly influenced by African sculpture\, particularly traditional African masks. I wonder how Picasso would have responded had Yunmen asked him about his art being influenced by African sculpture and masks. I suspect Picasso would have answered in a way that would not have resulted in Yunmen saying\, “You have misspoken.” \nA couple of other koans involving Yunmen came along while keeping company with the ‘misspoken’ koan. One involved the question to Yunmen\, “How about when one makes a hole in the wall in order to steal the neighbor’s light?” to which he responded\, “That’s it!” Another koan that came along was the occasion of Yunmen advising a student\, “Forget about the light\, show me the reaching.” \nThere were also echoes of Yunmen’s teacher Muzhou’s teacher Huangbo\, who likened some students to ‘gobblers of brewer’s dregs’ in the way they practiced. In this koan about misspeaking\, I can hear Yunmen once again encouraging us to reach and even steal. Picasso was encouraging artists to reach beyond themselves\, beyond stealing\, or borrowing\, or even creating. \nThere are unlimited commentaries on koans that we can read—various people saying what they believe a koan is about. Looking to those commentaries as a way to become intimate with the koan is like trying to get to know somebody based only on what other people have written about them. You can’t really get to know somebody that way.  \nHowever\, having met the person\, reading what someone else may have written about them can be interesting\, as we agree or disagree with what someone else has to say\, we become more intimate with what we know to be true for ourselves. When we know what is true for ourselves\, it doesn’t matter where it came from\, it comes from us and then we are not misspeaking. \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-10/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/radiance-CALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230111T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230111T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221213T174206Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T183640Z
UID:10001058-1673463600-1673469000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: A Unifying Brightness with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThere is a solitary brightness without fixed shape or form. \nIt knows how to listen to what is true\, \nit knows how to understand what is true\, \nit knows how to teach what is true. \nThat solitary brightness is you. \n—Linji \nLast week\, each host of the early morning meditation brought this koan from Linji about solitary brightness. I found myself remembering the words of Harada Daiun Sogaku\, one of our ancestors from the early twentieth century\, who said that without dokusan—the conversation with a teacher about your experience with a koan—there is no Zen practice. Times change and practices change\, and now it is not just with teachers that people are having conversations about their experience with koans—we are encouraging everybody to speak with each other about their experience with koans\, in koan salons and cohort groups and on Wednesday evenings when I host a gathering. So I bring this koan so we may have conversations about our experience with it and in doing so “practice Zen.” \nAs we share our field notes about our experience with the koan\, sometimes we recognize part of our own experience in what others say. Sometimes we appreciate what others report as being different\, a different window in on the koan from mine\, which increases my feeling of intimacy with it and with the other person who is sharing their experience. Either way\, we can appreciate that we are not alone. In that way\, the “solitary” part of the brightness is not due to being separate or isolated\, but rather recognizing our unity with everything and everyone—and in that place there is only one. It is reminiscent of the words of the baby Buddha upon birth declaring\, “I alone\, the world honored one.” \nSolitary brightness is the brightness of the moon\, not the sun. It softly penetrates even rocks and stones and illuminates them long after the moon has set. \n—David Weinstein \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-with-david-weinstein-7/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/solitaryBrightness-MoonCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221228T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221228T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221014T175532Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221227T051202Z
UID:10001141-1672254000-1672259400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: What Mask? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nNew Year’s Day: \nYear after year\, \na monkey puts on \na monkey’s mask. \n—Basho \nBasho wrote this poem on New Year’s Day\, 1693. 1692 had been a difficult year for him\, perhaps reflected in his comment that\, “My New Year’s poem on the monkey is a completely bungled poem.” He had been caring for his ill nephew Toin\, who had a wife and three children. Toin had died in April\, and by mid-August\, Basho had shut himself off from all visitors. During this time\, he wrote that\, “Crushed by other people and their needs\, I can find no calmness of mind.” \nThis last year and the two before that have been hard for us too. Amidst the pandemic and accompanying instability\, we could easily find ourselves joining Basho in finding no calmness of mind.  \nNew Year’s can be a time of marking a new beginning\, a time of rededication to aspirations and goals. After a hard year\, marking a new beginning feels particularly attractive. Basho must have felt very much that way at the end of 1692. \nBasho considered his monkey haiku “bungled\,” but I believe his judgment was clouded by the experiences of his difficult year. In his haiku\, Basho notices what he has been doing\, year after year (after year.) Noticing how his resolutions to change\, to break new ground\, not only at the New Year but with each new poem he was writing\, were just like putting a monkey’s mask on a monkey: nothing changes\, nothing new.  \nI can hear Basho’s advice to his students\, as he reminded them of the 9th-century poet and priest Kukai’s words: \nDo not follow the ancient masters\, seek what they sought. \nBasho himself composed a haiku that spoke to this\, “Don’t copy me\, like the second half of a cut melon!” Basho was also speaking to himself\, reminding himself to not copy himself—putting a Basho mask on his Basho face. \nOur meditation practice is like this. With each moment\, we are faced with the possibility of not putting the mask of previous moments on the present moment\, of not putting masks of ourselves on our faces.  \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-6/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/monkeymaskCALENDAR.png
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221214T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221214T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221014T175406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221213T224851Z
UID:10001139-1671044400-1671049800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Who Is Locked In? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOnce a woman raised a goose in a bottle.\nWhen the goose was grown\, she wanted to get it out.\nHow can you get it out without breaking the bottle? \n—PZI Miscellaneous Koans\, Case 63 \nYou go to visit a family crypt. It is a stone mausoleum in the cemetery. You go at night when there is no moon. You decide to open the gate and go in to be nearer your ancestors. It is pitch black. A fierce gust of wind blows your candle out and you hear the heavy gate slam shut behind you. There is no one around. There are no windows and the door is locked from the outside—how will you get out?  \n—PZI Miscellaneous Koans\, Case 20 \nI’ve been in a three-way conversation between me\, the goose in the bottle\, and finding myself locked in a stone crypt. In both koans we are asked\, “How do you get out?” \nThe perspectives seem to be different. In one I am locked in\, and in the other it’s the goose who’s locked in. But who is that goose\, really? And who is the woman who raises the goose in the bottle\, really? As with dreams\, it is helpful to explore the way that I am everything appearing in the koan or dream. \nIn the case of the crypt\, there are no windows\, it is dark\, I can’t see my hand in front of my face. In the case of the goose\, the bottle is clear\, I can see out and the outside can see in. Both situations resonate with places where I can find myself. \nSometimes I’m in the dark about how I’m trapped by my delusions. Sometimes I can see quite clearly how I am trapped. The term “conscious incompetence” comes to mind. Knowing that I am trapped but that knowledge is not helping\, and sometimes it can make it feel worse. Being in the dark is no picnic\, but\, as the koan says\, “I find myself locked in a stone crypt.” I am in the dark about how I got there. \nThe goose koan tells me that it was done intentionally\, this placing of myself into a bottle. Seeing that can help\, so long as I don’t judge myself for being an idiot\, or worse. \nIn some ways they appear to be the same koan\, the same situation: I am confined and trying to get out. Though the koans “Hide in a pillar\,” and “Hide in a bell\,” appear to present the same situation\, still\, we inquire into each as also presenting something unique. In both situations there is something to be discovered about being the same and being different\, like you and me. \nAnd in the cases of the goose and crypt\, in each there is something about getting out of our own way and just being who we are. \n—David Weinstein \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-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/lockedCryptCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221130T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221130T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221014T175158Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221128T204157Z
UID:10001140-1669834800-1669840200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Alive Together in Practice with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nZen teachers say they have received the teaching from Shakyamuni Buddha. \nI say that I practice together with Old Man Shakyamuni and the third son of Xie. \n—Xuansha (Xie was Xuansha’s family name) \nRecently we went down to the beach in Atami\, a seaside city southwest of Tokyo. It has been a resort for centuries due to its numerous natural hot springs and it was where we were visiting my wife’s mother. When we arrived at the beach we saw six people competing in what at first glance appeared to be a triathlon of some kind. They were running in the sand out to a yellow cone one hundred meters away\, rounding it and running back. Then they jumped into the water and swam out and back to a yellow buoy that looked to be two hundred meters away. Then ran the sand course again\, after which they got on surf boards and paddled out to the yellow buoy and returned. Ran another lap in the sand and then got back in the water\, this time with flippers and towing a buoy on a long cord out to the yellow buoy and back\, after which the final lap in the sand. \nOne person was clearly the fastest\, followed ten seconds later by the second fastest person. One person was clearly the slowest. They didn’t even start the flipper and buoy swim until everybody else had already finished the race. What struck me was how everybody was cheering them on. Not only cheering them on\, but the fastest and second fastest competitors got back in the water and swam alongside the slowest person yelling encouragement while swimming along. They then ran the sand course together with the last place finisher\, continuing to yell encouragements as they ran. As I watched I thought\, “You wouldn’t see that in the States.” But I was wrong. \nThe picture accompanying this piece is of Blake Cerveny and Brandon Schutt\, competitors in a 3.1-mile cross country race not long ago. Blake pushed himself too hard and his legs cramped up about three hundred yards from the finish. He went down three times and got up three times getting to within one hundred yards of the finish line when Brandon helped him up supporting Blake as they finished together. Though it does happen in the States\, when it does\, it makes national news. In Japan\, it is the normal way of behaving and I find that to be a nice culture to experience. It reminds me of the culture we are nourishing at PZI. \nThe quote from Xuansha came to mind there on the beach. What I witnessed struck me as the embodiment of compassion and and the spirit of practicing together\, with each other\, as well as with the teachers of the past. So much more alive and inspiring than encasing them\, or the practice itself\, in a kind of reverence that is often accompanied by rigidity. \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nJoin us for a koan\, meditation\, dharma talk\, & conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate.
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/wednesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/alivetogetherCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221116T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221116T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221014T175846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230706T191249Z
UID:10001142-1668625200-1668630600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Zen with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today.  \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nDavid is away today. He returns November 30th\, 2022.\nCome join us then! \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-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:20221102T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221102T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20221014T174901Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221031T200406Z
UID:10001133-1667415600-1667421000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Making Tea with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nMaking Tea\nYunyan was making tea.\nDaowu asked him\, “Who are you making tea for?” \nYunyan said\, “I am making it for another.” \nYunyan said\, “Why don’t you let them make it themselves?” \nYunyan said\, “Fortunately\, I’m here to do it.” \nThis koan paid me a visit as I was making coffee for my sister and brother-in-law one morning when they were visiting recently. I usually have a double expresso in the morning and I’m good\, but I knew my guests to be avid coffee drinkers who drank it by the liter. The prospect of being tied to the espresso machine pushing out double shots of espresso by the liter did not appeal to me. So\, I decided to resurrect my French press technique to make more coffee faster allowing me to enjoy breakfast with my companions in a more relaxed way. \nAs I was trying to remember how many scoops of beans and what setting I used to grind them\, the koan paid me a visit. Initially it struck me as being about my making coffee for my sister and her husband and how I felt fortunate that I was there to do that for them. But as I continued making the coffee\, measuring\, and grinding the beans and heating the water to just the right temperature\, I began to get a sense of something else about my experience with the koan and the coffee. \nThat something else crystallized for me after pouring the water into the press\, fitting the lid onto the top with the plunger up and then resting the inside of my wrist on the plunger. As I felt the weight of my relaxed arm slowly push the plunger down without effort\, I realized that I was doing it for me. I was the “another” for whom I was making “tea.” Just as I am “all the beings of the world” that I vow to wake. \n—David Weinstein \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-with-david-weinstein-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MakingteaCALENDAR500X375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221019T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221019T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20220830T190201Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221016T185148Z
UID:10001110-1666206000-1666211400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Dahui & Doubt with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nWhen faith is a hundred percent\, so too will be doubt. \nWhen doubt is a hundred percent\, so too will be awakening. \n—Dahui \nDoubt played no constructive role in the Indian Buddhist spiritual tradition; it was considered an obstacle that must be overcome. In China\, however\, this “debilitating”mental condition was transformed into the principal force driving one toward enlightenment. \nThat transformation took some time\, and even the 11th Century Chan teacher\, Yuanwu—an important figure in the transformation of the literary study of koans into a meditative system—still treats the sensation of doubt as something harmful to faith; something to be diligently avoided at all times. \nIt was Yuanwu’s disciple Dahui who turned doubt on its head\, re-imagining it as the principal force driving one toward awakening. He considered faith the essence of doubt\, and awakening the function of doubt. So\, to ask what this doubt is about\, we first have to ask\, What is this faith about? \nFor Dahui\, the faith is that we are awakened from the beginning\, innately. He used the tension between faith in our innate awakened nature\, and the reality of being human\, to drive the inquiry of koan practice. \nIt reminds me of tantra\, the transformation of energy: The energy of doubt is used to fuel inquiry and the cultivation of curiosity\, rather than letting that energy become an obstacle. \nCuriosity killed the cat\, but\, satisfaction brought it back. The satisfaction of letting go of—dying to—everything we know\, everything we think we are\, brings a satisfaction not dependent on anything. \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-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DahuiZonggao2.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221005T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221005T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20220830T190733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220830T190733Z
UID:10001111-1664996400-1665001800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Wednesday Meditation with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:No Meditation & Talk today.  \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nDavid is in PZI’s Fall Sesshin. He returns October 19th\, 2022.\nCome join us then! \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-wednesday-meditation-with-david-weinstein-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cavedoor500x350.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220921T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220921T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20220830T185626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220919T181152Z
UID:10001109-1663786800-1663792200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: Step by Step in the Blue Dragon's Cave - with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThe storehouse of treasures opens of itself. You may take them and use them any way you wish. \n—Dogen \nA while back\, we had a retreat that was devoted to “The Cave of the Blue Dragon.” According to the story\, the Blue Dragon\, who is fierce\, is guarding a pearl of great value\, sometimes called the “wish-fulfilling gem\,” or “Mani Jewel.” That is the same mani as in Om Mani Padme Hum\, the national mantra of Tibet: “Praise the Jewel in the Lotus.”Imagine living in a country that has a national mantra. \nThe wish that the Mani Jewel can grant you is awakening. There is an air of danger and difficulty associated with entering the cave\, as there is with become awakened. Of course there’s the dragon\, but there is something else that is also daunting. The area between the entrance of the cave\, and where the Blue Dragon is located\, is filled with all of the strategies and unskillful mind-habits I have employed to protect my ways of creating suffering for myself. In order to get to the Mani Jewel\, I have to pick up each one of those things and set it aside\, so I can pass through. That’s what I do in meditation—I don’t get rid of anything\, I just put it to the side. \nBut those are the things I have been using to navigate my way through life\, and putting them aside is like flying blind\, and that’s scary. At the same time\, those things we pick up and put aside are actually treasures themselves—gates to experiencing the relief of putting them aside\, which is a treasure. The freedom that comes with not relying on anything\, step by step in the dark\, is a treasure. So the Cave of the Blue Dragon and the Storehouse of Treasures got all mixed up for me back then. \nNow\, with the theme of our upcoming retreat being “Door After Door Opening Inside\,” I find myself again thinking about the Storehouse of Treasures. How each of those things that we pick up and set aside is a door taking us deeper and deeper inside the Cave of the Blue Dragon. We have to set each treasure aside\, including the treasure of awakening\, and then even forget that we have set anything aside\, to be truly free. \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-step-by-step-in-the-blue-dragons-cave-with-david-weinstein/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/bluedragonstorehousecave_CALEDAR500x375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220907T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220907T203000
DTSTAMP:20260430T035657
CREATED:20220829T202753Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220926T202616Z
UID:10001101-1662577200-1662582600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:WEDNESDAY ZEN: What Body? What Mind? with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nNanquan said\, “All the buddhas do not know it\, but cats and oxen know it.”  \n—Book of Serenity #69 \nWe adopted two cats a week ago. For six weeks prior to that\, we had been taking care of our friends’ cat while they visited Japan. We had been doing this for our friends for a number of years\, but\, due to the pandemic\, not in these last few years. Our last cat died a year and half ago\, and having a furry friend in the house\, even if only for six weeks\, was a joy and the occasion of our starting to think about sharing our home with a cat again\, as well as the occasion of this koan paying me a visit. \nThe Chinese character translated in the koan as “cats\,” is variously translated as foxes\, badgers\, or raccoon-dogs. I don’t think it really matters so much which animal we’re talking about—what animals know is true of all animals. \nI suppose it could be called anthropomorphizing\, the way I assume animals think the same way I do. It’s hard not to think that way as I watch a jay dealing with a pile of peanuts. Picking up each peanut and dropping it\, and picking up another one and dropping it\, until all the peanuts have been picked up and dropped; none of them found satisfactory. \nI see myself doing that—picking and choosing\, not being satisfied. Then the jay starts all over again\, picking them all up and dropping them again\, until finally it takes the very first peanut that it picked up\, and flies off: I do that\, too. \nAs for the squirrels. . . I’ll save them for Wednesday evening. Not to mention my current cultivation of a relationship with a raven\, or my past working with a chimpanzee who communicated using American Sign Language. \nFor me\, this koan speaks to the dangers of knowing. If I’m caught up in the world of “Buddhas\,” I can’t know what reality is— I am looking at it through the lens of my ideas and concepts. The time I spend with my animal friends doesn’t feel like it’s distorted by anything. My experience settles into something as simple as just having a body and just being here. \n—David Weinstein \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/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/whatBodyCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR