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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240826T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240826T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240814T183607Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240814T183607Z
UID:10001794-1724695200-1724700600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:NO MONDAY ZEN TODAY \nJon Joseph is on break until September 9th. Please join us then! \nWe are not alone in the world. We have each other to turn toward. All we need to do is ask. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-35-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wooden-bucketCALENDAR500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240819T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240819T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240814T183450Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240814T183450Z
UID:10001793-1724090400-1724095800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:NO MONDAY ZEN TODAY \nJon Joseph is on break until September 9th. Please join us then! \nWe are not alone in the world. We have each other to turn toward. All we need to do is ask. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-35-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wooden-bucketCALENDAR500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240812T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240812T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240510T233641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240827T012458Z
UID:10001723-1723485600-1723491000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: Jon Joseph in Conversation with Poet Robert Hass: On His Poetry\, Japanese Haiku\, and Working with Milosz
DESCRIPTION:Join Jon Joseph and acclaimed poet Robert Hass for a conversation about the great Japanese Haiku masters\, Hass’s poetry\, and his twenty-five-year collaboration with the poet Czeslaw Milosz. \n\nRobert Hass\, a Bay Area native\, is one of the most prolific and celebrated American poets of the last half century. He served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 1995–1997\, and has been the recipient of numerous awards\, including a Pulitzer Prize\, National Book Award\, MacArthur Fellowship\, and Wallace Stevens Award. \nAmong the early influences on Hass’s work were the Chan-Zen leanings of Beat poets Gary Snyder\, Allen Ginsberg\, and Lew Welch. Later\, Hass would publish The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho\, Buson\, and Issa (1994). Hass also translated and worked closely with Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz for many years. \nFrom the introduction to Hass’s Essential Haiku: \nWhat is in these poems [haiku] can’t be had elsewhere. About the things of the world\, and the mind looking at the things of the world\, and the moments and the language in which we try to express them\, they have unusual wakefulness and clarity. Perhaps the best way to get to it … is to read them as plainly and literally as possible. In the end\, the best advice to readers of the poems may be the advice Basho gave his writers: “Prefer vegetable broth to duck soup.” \nFrom the great haiku poet Kobayashi Issa (d. 1827): \nDon’t worry\, spiders\nI keep house\ncasually. \nExcept from Hass’s eight-page poem\, “Santa Barbara Road\,” in his book\, Human Wishes: \nHousehold verses:“Who are you?”\nthe rubber duck in my hand asked Kristin\nonce\, while she was bathing\, three years old.\n“Kristin\,” she said\, laughing\, her delicious\nname\, delicious self. “That’s just your name\,”\nthe duck said. “Who are you?” “Kristin\,”\nshe said. “Kristin’s a name. Who are you?”\nthe duck asked. She said\, shrugging\,\n“Mommy\, Daddy\, Leif.” \n\nReading a poem by Robert Hass is like stepping into the ocean when the temperature of the water is not much different from that of the air. You scarcely know\, until you feel the undertow tug at you\, that you have entered into another element. \n—Poet Stanley Kunitz \nRobert Hass was born in San Francisco in 1941 and grew up in San Rafael. In the midst of the 1950s Bay Area poetry scene\, Hass entertained the idea of becoming a beatnik. He graduated from Marin Catholic High School in 1958. When the area became influenced by East Asian literary techniques\, such as haiku\, Hass took many of these influences up in his poetry. \nHass is the author of nine poetry collections\, winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize\, winner of the William Carlos Williams Award\, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award\, and the Pulitzer Prize. He served as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 1995 to 1997\, and as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2001 to 2007. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2002. \nRobert Hass is the Distinguished Professor in Poetry and Poetics at the University of California Berkeley. \nsource: Wikipedia\, Library of Congress \n\n \nJon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen and PZI created this series to support the hardworking innovators and shining voices of modern Zen: scholars\, writers\, poets\, translators\, activists\, artists\, teachers\, and more. \nAll proceeds for each event\, including teacher dana\, go directly to the guest speaker. Event attendees are encouraged to give as generously as you are able\, so we can offer deep thanks to Luminaries guests. \nOur suggested donation is $10 for PZI Members and $12 for Non-Members\, but the scale slides from zero depending on one’s ability to contribute. We also greatly appreciate Patrons\, who help support the program with larger gifts of $50—250. \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-jon-joseph-in-conversation-with-poet-robert-haas/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Rober-Hass_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240805T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240805T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240730T203217Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240801T214503Z
UID:10001790-1722880800-1722886200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Growing Horns on Your Head
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nTrying to explain\, you regretfully grow horns on your head:\nBe wary of the desire to search for the Buddha.\nIn this time of vast emptiness\, there is no one who can know\,\nso why head south in search of the many sages?\n \n     –Dongshan’s second set of Five Ranks\, fifth verse. \nThis is the final poem in the second set of Dongshan’s Five Ranks\, a series of poems that we use as a final stage in our formal koan curriculum. For me\, this poem is an admonition on how to pursue our practice and lives at whatever stage we find ourselves. \nIn koan study\, we say “show rather than tell.” That merely means in addressing a koan we accept its singular invitation to join in the play of everyday life. It is an invitation to open our hearts. \nIn Dongshan’s verse\, there is no need to explain (and grow horns)\, there is no need to search for the Buddha\, who after all\, is right here. The time of vast emptiness is our time\, and it is a world of not knowing. Moment by moment\, we and the universe appear fresh and new. So why go seeking all those sages who have nothing to add? \nJoin us. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-35-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ox_500W.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240729T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240729T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240723T172549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240725T232401Z
UID:10001760-1722276000-1722281400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Ordinary Beings and Buddhas Don't Mingle
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nOrdinary beings and Buddhas don’t mingle together.\nMountains by nature are high\, and waters by nature are deep.\nThe infinite distinctions\, the endless differences reveal—\nwhere partridges sing\, the myriad flowers bloom. \n—Dongshan’s Five Ranks\, Fourth Verse of Second Set \nIn this verse by one of the great Chan-Zen masters and poets of the Tang era\, the ordinariness of the world is revealed as the natural way of things. Buddhas and ordinary beings don’t mingle because we can’t distinguish them. \nNaturally\, mountains are high and waters deep. Even the endless ways in which we separate ourselves from the world—the ten thousand differences and thousand distinctions—are not wrong\, not a problem. It is that very delusion and dark matter that makes a place for partridges to sing and flowers to bloom. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-34-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/buddha-statue.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240722T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240722T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240716T164421Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240718T233734Z
UID:10001759-1721671200-1721676600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Riding Backward on the Jade Elephant
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nA flower blooms on a dead tree; a spring outside of time.\nRiding backward on a jade elephant\, we chase a dragon-deer with wings.\nNow hidden beyond endless mountains\, the moon is white and the breeze clear as a pleasant day breaks. \nIn this third verse of the second grouping of Dongshan’s Five Ranks we visit a fantastical\, dreamlike landscape that stands outside of time. The tree that was once old and dead is now freshly revived with spring flowers. The powerful jade elephant serves as our mount\, as we sit backward\, chasing the mythical kirin: part horse\, dragon\, and deer. She is a gentle messenger of good luck\, peace and prestige. Hidden deep in the mountains\, we are fortunate enough to see the moon bright\, the air clear\, and a beautiful dawn breaking. \nThis is not a dream\, Dongshan is saying. This is our life. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-34-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/elephant.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240715T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240715T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240709T232738Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240712T173533Z
UID:10001758-1721066400-1721071800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Who Calls You Home from the Rough Mountains?
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nFor whom do you bathe and make yourself beautiful?\nThe sound of the cuckoo calls me home.\nA hundred flower blossoms fall\, but the call is not stilled.\nI go deeply into the rough mountains\, and the call is there.   \nThese arrestingly beautiful lines\, the seventh verse in the two five-verse collection called Dongshan’s Five Ranks\, are some of the most lovely and poignant poetry in all of Chan-Zen. Why do we make ourselves beautiful by bathing and putting on makeup?  \nThe hauntingly gorgeous call of the cuckoo is our constant companion. It follows us home\, it watches as we witness the hundred flower blossoms fall. It accompanies us as we trek deeply into the rough and broken peaks. This poem tells us\, in a gorgeous and gracious way\, that wherever we find ourselves\, we are not alone\, either among the flowers or in the rough and broken mountains. \nJoin us. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-34-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Cuckoo-Bird.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240708T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240708T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240627T204845Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240705T191511Z
UID:10001757-1720461600-1720467000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Finding the Sacred Dynasty
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nThe way of the sage king of Yao came from the Dharma\,\nHe bowed respectfully as he ruled the people.\nWhen he passed through the marketplace from end to end\,\nHe found the sacred dynasty there. \nThis is the second cycle of five poems from The Record of Dongshan\, which appear soon after the Five Ranks. While less formal in structure\, these five\, called “Paying Homage and Enlightenment”\, are equally rich in their poetic expression. This second grouping was added to our curriculum a century ago by Harada Sogaku\, our ancestral teacher. \nAs we enter into the dharma with humility\, we give reverence to all things. If we can visit the marketplace of our lives ~ with all of its dust\, crowds\, opinions\, and noises ~ with openness\, we\, as the sage kings of Yao\, may discover our own sacred dynasty \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-34-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Marketplace-in-Constatinople.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240701T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240701T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240510T225234Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240807T183729Z
UID:10001722-1719856800-1719862200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: No-Gate Gateway and The Blue Cliff Record: Jon Joseph in Conversation with Poet & Translator David Hinton
DESCRIPTION:Boundless wind and moon are the eye within the eye\,\nlimitless heaven and earth the lamp beyond the lamp.\nA million homes amid dark willows and lit blossoms:\nknock on any gate anywhere\, and someone will answer.\n\n—Preface to The Blue-Cliff Record \nDavid Hinton writes in his introduction to his newly published translation of The Blue Cliff Record: \nThere are no answers\, only depths … But the depths—oh my\, the depths are wondrous indeed! For those depths are beyond the words and explanations and understanding that answers normally entail—and there\, anything and anywhere is the answer: willow seed fluff swarming sunlit through afternoon skies\, hummingbird probing blue-violet iris blossoms veined gold\, someone answering a knock at the courtyard gate … \nA commentary on Hinton’s translation of the Wumenguan: \nNo-Gate Gateway is one of the masterpieces of Chinese literature … No-Gate (i.e.\, the author) continually criticizes and ridicules the masters\, undermining their teaching. He acknowledges their mastery and insight\, chooses a tale that illustrates that insight at the deepest possible level\, and right there\, he’s created the perfect place to dismantle their teaching\, thereby redoubling the original sangha-case’s (koan’s) deconstruction of logical thought and explanation. \nNo-Gate Gateway’s native philosophical context extends back over two millennia prior to its composition. And yet it remains remarkably contemporary to us\, for as we will see it is an empirically grounded spirituality that weaves human consciousness into landscape and cosmos at profound levels. \n\nDavid Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays\, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy that create contemporary works of compelling literary power\, while also conveying the actual texture and density of the originals. These books are all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking\, in exploring the weave of consciousness and landscape. \nThis work has earned wide acclaim and many national awards\, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently\, Hinton received a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. \nI’ve been translating classical Chinese poetry for many years\, and slowly over those years I’ve come to realize that in translation I’ve stumbled upon a way to think outside the limitations not just of the mainstream Western intellectual tradition\, but also of my own identity\, a way to speak in the voice of ancient China’s sage-masters\, and for them to speak in mine.\n\n—from Hunger Mountain \n\n \nJon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen and PZI created this series to support the hardworking innovators and shining voices of modern Zen: scholars\, writers\, poets\, translators\, activists\, artists\, teachers\, and more. \nAll proceeds for each event\, including teacher dana\, go directly to the guest speaker. Event attendees are encouraged to give as generously as you are able\, so we can offer deep thanks to Luminaries guests. \nOur suggested donation is $10 for PZI Members and $12 for Non-Members\, but the scale slides from zero depending on one’s ability to contribute. We also greatly appreciate Patrons\, who help support the program with larger gifts of $50—250. \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-the-no-gate-gate-and-the-blue-cliff-record-jon-joseph-in-conversation-with-poet-translator-david-hinton/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/David-Hinton_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240624T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240624T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240620T164633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240626T172919Z
UID:10001730-1719252000-1719257400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Returning Home – The Fifth of Dongshan’s Five Ranks
DESCRIPTION:Not deciding it is or it isn’t; do you have the courage to be at peace with this?\nEveryone wants to leave the endless changes\,\nbut when we’ve finished bending and fitting our lives\,\nwe come back to sit by the charcoal fire. \nThe last of Dongshan’s Five Ranks includes a theme older than humanity itself: return after a long and arduous journey\, to settle down by the warmth and security of home. I recently finished one of the great modern translations of Homer’s The Odyssey by Emily Wilson. \nFor ten years Odysseus fought against and finally sacked the city of Troy\, and for another ten years he struggled on his long and winding path back home. When he got there\, Odysseus found his home to be both profoundly changed and essentially unchanged. \nThus is the inconceivable challenge and beauty of our lives. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-33-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/traveling-home_500W-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240617T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240617T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240603T213933Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240617T185407Z
UID:10001729-1718647200-1718652600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Heaven in This Natural Realm
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nWhen two swords cross\, retreat is no longer possible.The skillful master is like a lotus in the fire.Naturally\, without a reason\, we desire to ascend to the heavens. \n—The Record of Dongshan\, 114This is the fourth of the Five Ranks credited to Dongshan Liangjie (d. 869)\, one of the great masters of the Tang Dynasty and cofounder of the Caodong (Soto) school of Chan/Zen. This fourth verse is titled “Going within the Phenomena.” \nThe Five Ranks are gorgeous in their poetic complexity yet utterly simple in their basis: form and emptiness weave and unweave in the tapestry of the present. For over two centuries\, these five stanzas have served as the final koans of the Linji/Rinzai koan curriculum first established by Hakuin Ekaku (d. 1798)\, a curriculum Pacific Zen still uses extensively today. \nThe poems\, rich in their imagery\, are said to describe our progression along the path to awakening. In the first poem it is midnight and there is no moonlight. In the second we realize that the face of the old woman is nothing other than our own. In the third we walk the path of emperors\, one without dust and garbage. In the fourth we actively take up a sword\, burning like a lotus on fire\, and find ourselves naturally desiring an ascent to the heavens. \nWhen we read any koan\, poem\, or myth\, we often encounter bits that stand out and speak to us\, shiny objects that say\, “Come closer\, look at me\, play with me.” Sometimes they hook us and refuse to let go. The third line was just such an ornament with my latest reading: Who doesn’t want to ascend to heaven? And yet in the most natural way\, our current circumstances are already that which we seek. \nLet’s look at the constituent Chinese characters: \n宛 just like /  然 as such /  自oneself /  有is /  衝 important point/ 天 heaven/ 気 breath\, desire \nThese characters highlight the subtle or obscure qualities prized in classic Chinese and Japanese. Where are the subjects? Is that an object or an adjective? Is the verb merely “is”? To better understand the time-honored associations and meanings\, I translated the commentary by Hakuun Yasutani (Dokugo: Goi-Sanki-Sanju-Jukai\, 1977)\, our ancestral teacher. \nThe first two characters\, “just like” and “as such\,” add a natural quality to that which follows. David Hinton (who is visiting our Pacific Zen Luminaries Series on July 1st)\, often discusses 自然\, the simple characters for “nature.” Both appear—though transposed—in the above poem line. The word “nature” refers to both the natural world and “the nature”—Buddha nature—which animates the universe. \nWithout loss or gain\, struggle or effort\, we see that ascending to heaven is realizing that from the very first we are already there: “This very place is the Lotus Land\, this body the Buddha\,” to quote Hakuin. \nIn recent weeks the facts of aging and illness have come home to me. A friend’s partner died of a heart attack climbing off a treadmill following a stress test. A friend’s brother suffered life-threatening arrhythmia while driving home. I myself got a skin cancer carved out of my head. \nDongshan\, in this final line\, is saying that this is how things should be. This is the natural way of things; even the hard bits are pieces of heaven. \nYasutani writes\, “If you become a politician\, just be a politician\, if a merchant\, just a merchant. If you are a sick person\, just be sick. We can’t escape our ascension to heaven by somehow looking to change our circumstances.” \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. Jon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-33-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/skylanterns_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240610T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240610T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240520T230749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240520T230749Z
UID:10001739-1718042400-1718047800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Monday Zen with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:NO MONDAY ZEN MEETING TODAY \nJon Joseph is in sesshin today\, returning to Monday Zen on June 17th. \nHope to see you then! \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-11/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wooden-bucketCALENDAR500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240603T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240603T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240404T000152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240807T180120Z
UID:10001700-1717437600-1717443000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: Jon Joseph & Friends in Conversation with Poet Marie Howe
DESCRIPTION:Marie Howe’s poetry shines with a kind of clear and beautiful light of the ordinary. She somehow captures the simple yet eternal and graceful moment: Sitting with a dying brother\, rushing on errands with a daughter\, letting in the whining dog late at night. In Howe’s poetry these are opportunities for us to awaken to our true humanity. \nJoin us this Monday night. \nThe Singularity (fragment) \n … would that we could wake up to what we were\nwhen we were ocean\, and before that\nto when sky was earth\, and animal was energy\, and rock was\nliquid\, and stars were space\, and space was not\nat all—nothing\,\nbefore we came to believe humans were so important\nbefore this awful loneliness.\nCan molecules recall it?\nWhat once was? Before anything happened?\nNo I\, no we\, no one\, no was\nno verb     no noun\nonly a tiny tiny dot brimming with\nis is is is is \nAll everything home. \nThe Gate\n\nI had no idea that the gate I would step through\nto finally enter this world\nwould be the space my brother’s body made. He was\na little taller than me: a young man\nbut grown\, himself by then\,\ndone at twenty-eight\, having folded every sheet\,\nrinsed every glass he would ever rinse under the cold\nand running water.\nThis is what you have been waiting for\, he used to say to me.\nAnd I’d say\, What?\nAnd he’d say\, This—holding up my cheese and mustard sandwich.\nAnd I’d say\, What?\nAnd he’d say\, This\, sort of looking around. \n\nOfficial Short Bio \nMarie Howe is the author of five volumes of poetry\, New and Selected Poems; Magdalene: Poems; The Kingdom of Ordinary Time; The Good Thief; and What the Living Do\, and she is the co-editor of a book of essays\, In the Company of My Solitude: American Writing from the AIDS Pandemic. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker\, The Atlantic\, Poetry\, Agni\, Ploughshares\, Harvard Review\, and The Partisan Review\, among others. \nMarie Howe has been a fellow at the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College and a recipient of NEA and Guggenheim fellowships\, and Stanley Kunitz selected Howe for a Lavan Younger Poets Prize from the American Academy of Poets. In 2015\, she received the Academy of American Poets Poetry Fellowship which recognizes distinguished poetic achievement. \nShe lives in New York City and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College\, New York University\, and has taught at Columbia University. From 2012-2014\, Howe served as the Poet Laureate of New York State. \n\nMarie Howe’s poetry is luminous\, intense\, and eloquent\, rooted in an abundant inner life. Her long\, deep-breathing lines address the mysteries of flesh and spirit\, in terms accessible only to a woman who is very much of our time and yet still in touch with the sacred. \n—Stanley Kunitz \n\n\n \nJon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen and PZI created this series to support the hardworking innovators and shining voices of modern Zen: scholars\, writers\, poets\, translators\, activists\, artists\, teachers\, and more. \nAll proceeds for each event\, including teacher dana\, go directly to the guest speaker. Event attendees are encouraged to give as generously as you are able\, so we can offer deep thanks to Luminaries guests. \nOur suggested donation is $10 for PZI Members and $12 for Non-Members\, but the scale slides from zero depending on one’s ability to contribute. We also greatly appreciate Patrons\, who help support the program with larger gifts of $50—250. \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-jon-joseph-friends-in-conversation-with-poet-marie-howe/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marie-Howe_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240527T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240527T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240521T174043Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240528T223256Z
UID:10001713-1716832800-1716838200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Something from Nothing – The Poetry of Marie Howe
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a preview of the poet’s work in advance of her Zen Luminaries visit on June 3rd. \nCapturing the spiritual dimensions of everyday life \nIn Adam Moss’ new book\, The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing\, poet Marie Howe discusses several of her poems\, including the popular “Hurry\,” which features her daughter Inan when she was little. Below are snippets from her interview with Moss: \n“Everything I do is so simple\,” says Howe\, “That’s what I’m embarrassed about … It’s wild. It’s encouraging because I’m really struggling\, but here it is. When I slow down enough to feel—“ She stops herself. “The challenge of my whole life has been to slow down. I find it very difficult to be still—to endure it.” \n“If I think about [readers]\, I can’t write anything. When I write a poem\, I have to pretend no one will see it.’ \nHer best writing comes when\, says Howe\, “I am in my nightgown for days\, not thinking about anyone else. It takes a couple of days just thrashing through the brambles to get to any type of clearing\, and it’s very painful. It’s frustrating\, you see all your limitations\, but a lot of what is happening is the unconscious is just waiting to see if you mean it. I like it once I settle in\, but the borders are tough.” \nOnce she passes into the other state\, “that’s the best feeling in the world—we’re utterly ourselves and we’re nobody.” \nHurry\nby Marie Howe \nWe stop at the dry cleaners and the grocery store   \nand the gas station and the green market and   \nHurry up honey\, I say\, hurry\,   \nas she runs along two or three steps behind me   \nher blue jacket unzipped and her socks rolled down.    \nWhere do I want her to hurry to? To her grave?   \nTo mine? Where one day she might stand all grown?   \nToday\, when all the errands are finally done\, I say to her\,   \nHoney I’m sorry I keep saying Hurry—   \nyou walk ahead of me. You be the mother.    \nAnd\, Hurry up\, she says\, over her shoulder\, looking    \nback at me\, laughing. Hurry up now darling\, she says\,   \nhurry\, hurry\, taking the house keys from my hands. \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-10/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mother-daugther-walk_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240520T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240520T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240514T173238Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240517T184859Z
UID:10001708-1716228000-1716233400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Speaking and Not Speaking
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nIn the middle of nothing\, there is a road that is free of all dust.\nIf you just refrain from mentioning the emperor’s true name\,\nYou’ll be more eloquent than those of previous eras.  \n—Third of Dongshan’s Five Ranks \nThus far with the Five Ranks—which are a kind of roadmap for the process of awakening—we’ve sat in the utter darkness with all its potential (First Rank)\, seen our true face in the mirror (Second Rank)\, and now in this Third Rank begin to emerge from the world of emptiness into the world of form. This rank is called “Coming from Within the Real\,” and we are learning to embody\, to become intimate\, with that emptiness. We make it our own. \nIn the Third Rank\, the Japanese character meaning “nothing” is the same wu-mu 無 we met when a monk asked Zhaozhou\, “Does a dog have buddha nature\, or not?” Taking in that “No!” we find that the road of buddha nature—the Way—is pure\, utterly without garbage or dust.  \nYasutani Hakuun writes in his commentary\,  \nOriginally there is no self. There is no need to explain the Dharma. There are no beings to save. \nAnd what is the garbage and dust? \nEnlightenment and delusion\, sacred and profane\, gain and loss\, taking and giving\, love and hate\, belief and doubt\, and all the rest of it. \nThis path is nothing other than the path of our lives. \nIn the second line there is something important about speaking\, or not speaking\, the emperor’s true name.  \nA couple weeks ago my partner and I attended a benefit dinner. One of our guests was a longtime family friend. She looked well though she had recently spent two weeks in the hospital dealing with cancer. We got caught up on family and travels. Then she said\, “You know\, I was in the hospital recently.” I did know\, I told her. I said something benign and we moved on to other topics. Later I realized she may have been inviting me to better understand what she was feeling and going through: an invitation to go deeper. It was one I did not accept. \nGrowing up\, my family was not big on exploring or discussing our feelings. “Boys don’t cry\,” my father would say. “Shut up or I’ll give you something to really cry about!” was another line we heard when the six kids (all of us in eight years) joined in a symphony of screaming and fighting. \nAt my 50th birthday party\, I was feeling particularly grateful to the many friends and family who showed up. As I stood to give a short thank-you speech\, I began to choke up. From out in the crowd\, my mother yelled\, “Oh suck it up\, Joseph!” It’s not that emotions were forbidden in my family—they just often went uncommunicated. We did not mention the name of the emperor\, we did not accept the invitation. \nBut that is not a wrong thing. It is just a thing\, Dongshan is saying in the third line. There is an eloquence in the humanity of being imperfect: bungled invitations\, muffled communications\, unexpressed emotions.  \nYasutani writes that this line makes reference to a story about the 7th century orator Li\, who was so skilled in debate that he could vanquish his opponent in just a couple of phrases. That is us: in some way\, no matter what we say\, it has a kind of light and beauty in it. Boys do cry. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-9/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Speaking_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240513T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240513T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240507T165223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240510T184700Z
UID:10001707-1715623200-1715628600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: You Come Upon an Ancient Mirror – with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nAn old grandmother sleeps in late\,\nAnd awakens to find an ancient mirror.\nClearly\, she sees her own face.\nIn the future she will refrain from losing herself \nin the shadows of her mind. \n—Second of Dongshan’s Five Ranks \nThis second rank is called “The Real within the Apparent\,” written in the 9th century by Dongshan\, the founder of the Caodong (Soto) Chan-Zen School. His Five Ranks present a kind of lyrical roadmap of the process of awakening. \nIn my translation I use the term “old grandmother” for 老婆 (J. ro-ba) rather than “old crone” or “old woman\,” because to me it sounds more intimate. My children used to call their grandmother (my mother) “Mima\,” while some of their cousins called her “Baba.” \nYasutani Hakuun (White Cloud)\, our ancestral teacher\, writes in his 1986 posthumously-published book The Five Ranks that the old grandmother represents our phenomenal world (apparent) while the mirror is our essential nature (real). Yasutani warns us\, however\, against holding onto this dualism. “Subject and object\, self and other\, just don’t exist once our eyes are open. Always and everywhere\, there is a grace that is completely showing itself. And in that showing there is no awakening or delusion.” \nHe compares the last line to the Buddhist tale of Endayatta\, in which a woman wakes up one morning and looks in the mirror\, and for some reason does not see her own image. She runs about crazed\, looking for her head\, and it is only when friends restrain her and give her a knock to the head does she realize she had it all along. \nOccasionally I dream of Mima in that liminal space between waking and sleeping. Once\, she snuck into a family gathering to be with her children and grandchildren again. Another time I saw her smiling brightly\, along with my father\, while we were visiting colleges back east\, as if to say her granddaughters would do just fine when they left home. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-8/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/meetingTrueSelf-MirrorCALENDAR.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240506T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240506T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240423T232147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T225708Z
UID:10001706-1715018400-1715023800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: What Is Hidden in Deep Midnight? with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:In deepest midnight before the light of moonrise\, we meet someone\,\nand though we do not recognize them\, we need not be concerned.\nHidden\, deeply hidden\, we long for the beauty of olden times. \n—First of Dongshan’s Five Ranks \nDongshan’s Five Ranks form the final collection of koans in Pacific Zen’s curriculum. The first rank recognizes darkness and shadow in our lives: the dirt\, the mud\, the smelly garbage. It is this dark matter that of necessity accompanies us in our search for light in the universe. \nIn our koan it is the time of the third watch\, around midnight\, the time of deepest night. The moon promises to rise\, but even the least bit of light has yet to appear. In that darkest night we meet our most painful self though we do not yet recognize that person. We should not draw away—we must attend. In our witnessing we feel the recesses of our heart and an unfathomable longing for the beauty of olden times. \nIn many cultures and faiths\, the rotting\, decayed earth of the soul is appreciated as vital ground for spiritual and emotional growth. Rather than avoiding it\, we feel the darkness and allow it to touch us. \nIn the world of alchemy\, the nigredo (blackness) is the initial state of the materia prima\, primordial matter\, having been cooked and purified in a first step toward reaching the “philosopher’s stone” of illumination. \nChristian mysticism deems “the dark night of the soul” a similarly necessary step\, as outlined in the The Cloud of Unknowing\, a 14th-century work written by an unknown monk”\n\nFrom the first time you lift your heart to God with stirrings of love\, you will find only a darkness\, a cloud of unknowing … Whatever you do\, this darkness and the cloud are between you and your god\, and hold you back from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing him in the sweetness of love in your feelings … And so prepare to remain in this darkness as long as you can\, always begging for he who you love; for if you are ever to feel or see him … it must always be in this cloud and this darkness.” \n(translation: A.C. Spearing) \nTwo centuries later the Spanish mystic John of the Cross published a poem entitled Dark Night of the Soul (La Noche Oscura del Alma) that begins in darkness and ends with two lovers—we might assume one of them was God—asleep together in the light-filled embrace of Lover and Beloved. \nOn a dark night\,\nKindled in love with yearnings\n–oh\, happy chance!–\nI went forth without being observed\,\nMy house being now at rest. \nIn darkness and secure\,\nBy the secret ladder\, disguised\n–oh\, happy chance!–\nIn darkness and in concealment\,\nMy house being now at rest. \nIn the happy night\,\nIn secret\, when none saw me\,\nNor I beheld aught\,\nWithout light or guide\, save that which burned in my\nheart. \nThis light guided me\nMore surely than the light of noonday\nTo the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me–\nA place where none appeared. \nOh\, night that guided me\,\nOh\, night more lovely than the dawn\,\nOh\, night that joined Beloved with lover\,\nLover transformed in the Beloved! \nUpon my flowery breast\,\nKept wholly for himself alone\,\nThere he stayed sleeping\, and I caressed him\,\nAnd the fanning of the cedars made a breeze. \nThe breeze blew from the turret\nAs I parted his locks;\nWith his gentle hand he wounded my neck\nAnd caused all my senses to be suspended. \nI remained\, lost in oblivion;\nMy face I reclined on the Beloved.\nAll ceased and I abandoned myself\,\nLeaving my cares forgotten among the lilies. \n(translation: Edgar Allison Peers) \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-7/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nightscape_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240429T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240429T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240409T005401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240501T174750Z
UID:10001701-1714413600-1714419000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: Saving the Earth\, Helping the People: A Spiritual and Political Journey – Jon Joseph\, John Tarrant & David Weinstein Co-host a Conversation with Governor Jerry Brown
DESCRIPTION:Official Short Bio\n \nEdmund G. Brown Jr. was born in San Francisco on April 7\, 1938. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1955 and entered Sacred Heart Novitiate\, a Jesuit seminary. He later attended the University of California\, Berkeley\, graduating in 1961 before earning a J.D. at Yale Law School in 1964. \nIn 1998\, Brown was elected Mayor of Oakland and California Attorney General in 2006. He was elected to a third gubernatorial term in 2010 and to a historic fourth term in 2014. While Brown was Governor\, California also established nation-leading targets to protect the environment and fight climate change and by 2045\, the state will generate 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and achieve carbon neutrality. \nHe currently serves as chair of the California-China Climate Institute housed at UC Berkeley\, executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Brown lives in Colusa County with his wife Anne Gust Brown and two dogs. \nsource: https://www.jerrybrown.org/about \n\nWe’re in an increasingly Manichaean thought world. We’re not thinking of different policies\, but good and evil. There’s a lot of talk about good and evil. And that makes it very hard to talk to people who are under the rubric of evil. How do you justify talking to them? And yet not talking to them is unthinkable from a global management point of view. \n\n\n \nJon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen and PZI created this series to support the hardworking innovators and shining voices of modern Zen: scholars\, writers\, poets\, translators\, activists\, artists\, teachers\, and more. \nAll proceeds for each event\, including teacher dana\, go directly to the guest speaker. Event attendees are encouraged to give as generously as you are able\, so we can offer deep thanks to Luminaries guests. \nOur suggested donation is $10 for PZI Members and $12 for Non-Members\, but the scale slides from zero depending on one’s ability to contribute. We also greatly appreciate Patrons\, who help support the program with larger gifts of $50—250. \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-jon-joseph-john-tarrant-david-weinstein-co-host-a-conversation-with-former-governor-jerry-brown/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Jerry-Brown-ranch_500x375-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240422T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240422T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240417T005140Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240423T234424Z
UID:10001685-1713808800-1713814200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: The Who of Jerry Brown with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a preview of Governor Jerry Brown’s Monday April 29 Luminaries visit.  \nWe will sit with and share about the koan\, Who Am I? \n\n‘Who am I?’ is one of the iconic inquiry koans of Zen. Who is Jerry Brown? Jesuit novitiate. California Secretary of State\, Attorney General\, and four-term Governor. Zen aspirant\, assistant to Mother Teresa. Mayor of Oakland. Rancher in the oak hills of California. \nJerry Brown is one of the most fascinating public servants of our era; he remains a passionate advocate for nuclear disarmament\, environmental protections\, and education reform. Jerry’s life has been one of both spiritual contemplation and political action\, all in hopes of making the world better for others. \nFrom recent interviews: \n“Politics is a power struggle to get to the top of the heap. Calcutta and Mother Teresa are about working with those who are at the bottom of the heap. I came to see them as no different from myself\, and their needs as important as my needs. And you’re there to serve them\, and in doing that\, you are attaining as great a state of being as one can.” \n“Studying Zen in Japan with Koun Yamada and Enomiya LaSalle—both were extraordinary men. Ignatian meditation is about forming images. Zen is more severe; you simply sit on a cushion and breath in and out; I did that for ten hours a day while in retreat. Zen is a different kind of experience. It does not have a doctrine; it is not even part of Buddhism. Attention in meditation transcends any denomination.” \n“Our number one challenge in the world today is the threat of nuclear war. There has not been enough political debate on this. What if the war in Ukraine would break into nuclear war? China andTaiwan\, Iran\, North Korea? We’ve gotta live on Planet Earth. A war with China is unthinkable. A balloon is not a problem.” \n“Since the 1970s\, I have been saying the major factor in reversing global warming is to stop using oil\, promote electric or hydrogen cars\, build efficient houses\, and change shipping … it is about challenging the human race to transform\, to ask them to do what has never been done before.” \n“For me\, religious experience is cultivating an “ecology of mind” by watching nature\, animals\, watching dreams. Last year\, on our ranch in Colusa\, we picked over a ton of olives. Just taking the fruit from the tree\, being on the land\, off the electric grid\, no cell coverage\, no television. Just watching the moon coming up\, wax and wane\, being aware of what went before\, gives a sense of what is coming after. It somehow feels good; it gives me hope. I am really enthusiastic; I love each day when I get up.  And at night\, I walk my dogs and look at the stars.” \n—Governor Jerry Brown \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \nJon Joseph Roshi\nDirector of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-6-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Jerry-Brown-Portrait_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240415T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240415T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240411T004603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240412T234129Z
UID:10001684-1713204000-1713209400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Ducks Say it Upside-Down with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nIt is nice to occasionally experience the universe as incredibly silly\, to see the world as a vast field of play. In even the most dire of circumstances\, at times we can taste a quality of suchness and light\, one that existed before we attached the definitions “pain” and “struggle.” \nIn one of our recent Pacific Zen gatherings we talked about jokes\, about improbable joy\, and the play of the universe. A joke that popped into my mind: the very first one I learned as a young child. It is a silly one that I like to spring onto my family once a decade or so\, to a chorus of groans. \nIt was interesting that as I sat with it\, the childhood joke took on the quality of a koan: simple\, clear\, repetitive\, and yet somehow alive without holding a particular meaning. And during the session\, a surprising synchronicity emerged: A joke about ducks came up and then the famous Yunmen koan\, Upside-Down Statement: \nA monk asked Yunmen\, “When it’s not the present intellect and it’s not the present phenomena\, what is it?”\nYunmen responded\, “Say something upside down.” \n(Blue Cliff Record Case 15) \nIt was almost as if the whole forum\, along with Yunmen himself\, had written the child’s joke: \nQuestion: “Why do ducks fly upside down?”\nAnswer: “So they can quack up!”\n \nIt doesn’t make any sense but that is why it is so alive. \nSometimes the nonsensical are the funniest of jokes.  \nA couple weeks ago our neighbors joined us for dinner and brought along a young distant cousin who had recently moved from New York to North Carolina. The young man\, in his early thirties\, had studied philosophy for some years and spoke of different philosophical streams of thought with great eloquence. I was entranced. He had just finished his first Zen retreat at a nearby center and had some questions about practice. For some reason I felt rather taciturn and only added a few thoughts about Zen\, while the others chatted on about it. He asked about koans\, and I mentioned Yanguan’s Rhinoceros: \nOne day Yanguan called to his attendant\, “Bring me my rhinoceros-horn fan.” T\nhe attendant said\, “The fan is broken.”\nYanguan said\, “If the fan is broken\, then bring me the rhinoceros.”  \n(Blue Cliff Record Case 91) \nI had read that koan dozens\, perhaps hundreds\, of times. This time I found it irrepressibly funny and began to laugh loudly\, wholly out of character with the tone of our discussion. Everyone at the table looked at me and I felt a little embarrassed. Perhaps you had to have been there. \n—Jon Joseph \nArt: Eniko Eget \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-6-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ducks-Upside-Down_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240408T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240408T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240402T180905Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240405T184943Z
UID:10001683-1712599200-1712604600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Hazy Moon of Enlightenment with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nMarie Howe’s Jack and the Moon talks about how one night she was awakened by her dog Jack\, who was yelping strangely. Annoyed\, she let him out\, and he sat on the lawn staring at the bright moon. \nWhen he didn’t come\, I ended up on the couch\,\nwrapped in a shawl\, and dozed for I don’t know how long …\nthen woke\, went quietly to the door and said quietly\, Jack.\nIt was then he turned and came in\, cold and calm\, soaked with the moon. \nWe mammals\, small and large\, have been fascinated with the moon for all the ages. This morning\, in the predawn darkness\, I dropped off my partner\, who is flying to Texas with her sister to soak in the moon’s totality in front of the sun. They say that in the darkness of a full eclipse\, the temperature drops and the stars shine in the sky\, if only for a few minutes. \nThe ancient Greeks believed that the goddess Selene drove a chariot across the night sky\, and that Artemis\, huntress and protector of women in childbirth\, wore a crescent moon on her helmet. In Chinese mythology\, the moon is inhabited by a white Jade Rabbit representing purity\, selflessness and sacrifice. \nIt is safe to say that Chan-Zen is more of a moon-practice than a sun-practice. In the classic koan collection\, The Blue Cliff Record\, “moon” is mentioned over one hundred times\, while “sun” only a quarter of that. The “hazy moon of enlightenment” was one name the ancients had for awakening: the light of the moon is always shining\, even through the clouds and the dust. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-6-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/solitaryBrightness-MoonCALENDAR.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240401T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240401T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240319T233425Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240329T202734Z
UID:10001666-1711994400-1711999800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Does a Robot Dog Have Buddha Nature with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA monk asked Zhaozhou\, “Does a dog have buddha nature?” Zhaozhou answered\, “No!” The monk replied\, “All sentient beings have buddha nature. Why would a dog not have it?” Zhaozhou said\, “Because it has karmic consciousness.” \nAnother monk asked\, “Does a dog have buddha nature?” Zhaozhou answered\, “Yes!” The monk replied\, “If it has\, why then is it still stuffed into a bag of skin?” “Because though it knows\, it deliberately transgresses\,” said Zhaozhou. \n—Entangling Vines Case 46 \nWell\, perhaps a flesh-and-blood dog does or doesn’t have buddha nature\, but what about a robotic dog that runs around on artificial intelligence? Boston Dynamics makes such a dog\, which they’ve named “Spot.” \nThe old-fashioned dog\, man’s best friend\, presents only a nominal threat to their human masters. And a growing number of scientists are warning of growing threats from AI robots\, which are gaining brains and power at an extraordinary pace. Does a robot—generative artificial intelligence—have buddha nature\, or not? \nI recently asked a friend if she thought AI has buddha nature: “A robot is soul-less\, heartless. There is no way it can have buddha nature.” Then I asked ChatGPT\, the AI app\, to weigh in on the subject. “Buddha nature is considered to be the inherent nature of all beings\, which includes robots if they are considered beings … ultimately the answer to this question may depend on one’s definition of buddha nature and what is considered to be a ‘being’ capable of possessing it\,” the app smartly responded. \nA Zen monk in Vermont is deeply engaged in this question\, according to a recently article in The Atlantic Monthly. Soryu Forall has become something of a spiritual advisor to the AI-design community\, holding talks and retreats for researchers and developers from OpenAI\, Google DeepMind and Apple. He hopes his followers can “embed the enlightenment of the Buddha into code\,” according to the article. Says Forall\, creating AI with a spiritual path “is perhaps the most important act of all time.” \nThe risks of superintelligence are becoming better known\, but they may not so much risk life—existential risk—as risk the quality of life. AI\, dependent on their databases of Large Language Models (LLMs) for understanding\, have a tendency to magnify existing gender and ethnic biases. Chat bots unleashed on social media will change public opinion by greatly amplifying false messages over truthful ones. \nA longer term problem\, some scientists believe\, is the possibility that humans will lose the skill of interacting with other humans when AIs become teachers\, caregivers\,and personal confidants. \n“People will be disconnecting themselves from humanity\,” Jerry Kaplan\, an adjunct Stanford professor of artificial intelligence says in his new book\, Generative Artificial Intelligence: What Everybody Needs to Know\, “By interposing a machine\,” he adds\, “it is kind of a strong word\, but I call it ‘emotional pornography.’” Even so\, Kaplan believes the development of AI and its positive social impact on education\, healthcare and the law to be “one of the most important inventions in human history. It’s impact on humanity will be absolutely astonishing.” He ends\, “I am genuinely grateful that I have lived to see this moment happen.” \nBack to Spot\, the robot dog. Three weeks ago\, the Massachusetts State Police sent their AI dog (“Fido”) into a house where a shooter was holed up. It went up two flights of stairs and then down into the basement where they were hiding. The shooter opened fire on Spot\, disabling it. That the dog was able to locate the shooter may have saved human lives. Unfortunately\, it was an existential crisis for Fido. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nAll are welcome. Register to participate. \nJon Joseph Roshi\nDirector of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-6-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TinRobot_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240327T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240327T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20231122T181952Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240403T235247Z
UID:10001615-1711562400-1711567800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: The Asking: New and Selected Poems – Jon Joseph & Friends in Conversation with Poet & Essayist Jane Hirshfield
DESCRIPTION:Join Jon Joseph & Friends on Wednesday for a lively conversation with special guest  Jane Hirshfield. All are welcome. Register to participate. Dana and donations grateful accepted. \n\nJane Hirshfield is an American poet\, essayist\, and translator. Hirshfield is also a Buddhist who received precepts at San Francisco Zen Center in 1979. Hirshfield’s poetry reflects immersion in a range of poetic traditions. Polish\, Scandinavian\, and Eastern European poets have been particularly important to her\, along with the poetry of Japan and China. \nIt is arguable that the riddle\, the existential joke of being\, of meaning\, of Dickinson’s ‘prank of the Heart at play on the Heart\,’ is as powerful a source as song for the lyric poem. Central to Hirshfield’s vision is a kind of holy delight that is at the heart of riddles and koans. \n—Lisa Russ Spaar (American poet) \nFrom her interview with Tricycle Magazine in Fall 2023: \nJane Hirshfield on “asking”:  “How now go on?” is a question more and more in awareness. It has several faces. One is\, “How can I keep opening my eyes to each morning’s fresh news?” One is\, “What can I do to be helpful in turning the world’s tiller in a different direction?” One is\, “How to counter despair and my simple\, profound disappointment in the course of our culture over my lifetime?” \nThe shift from fixity\, assertion\, and shouting into a spirit of asking and dialogue is itself the key. Asking turns the heart-gate from closed to open. What a gift\, a life’s bi-directional Q&A with the immeasurable What-Is. My advice to young writers is often: “Open the window a little wider than you feel comfortable.” My advice in practice is to ask each thing\, event\, person you meet\, “What is your teaching?” \n\n \nJon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen and PZI created this series to support the hardworking innovators and shining voices of modern Zen: scholars\, writers\, poets\, translators\, activists\, artists\, teachers\, and more. \nAll proceeds for each event\, including teacher dana\, go directly to the guest speaker. Event attendees are encouraged to give as generously as you are able\, so we can offer deep thanks to Luminaries guests. \nOur suggested donation range is $10 for PZI Members and $12 for Non-Members\, but the scale is sliding depending on one’s ability to contribute. We also greatly appreciate Patrons\, who help support the program with larger gifts of $50—500. \n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-poet-essayist-jane-hirshfield-in-conversation-with-jon-joseph/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/JaneHirshfield_CALENDAR500x333.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240318T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240318T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240312T200840Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240315T192752Z
UID:10001680-1710784800-1710790200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Our Improbable & Singular Caffe Latte Life with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nMoment by moment\, non-stop flow. \nThat is the response given by Touzi when asked to explain Zhaozhou’s answer to the question\,“Does a newborn baby have consciousness?” Zhao replied\, “It is like tossing a ball on rushing waters.” \n(Blue Cliff Record Case 80) \nTheoretical physicist Brian Greene points out that given the billions of years in time and likely trillions of galaxies in space\, how profoundly improbable and singular it is for us to enjoy a latte at a sidewalk café in Manhattan. Or anywhere else. That gift is the inconceivable grandeur of the non-stop flow. \nLast week I found myself hiking in Death Valley\, California\, a field of planetary extremes. With an elevation of -282 feet\, it is one of the lowest points on terrestrial earth\, and with annual rainfall of only 1.5 inches\, it is historically one of the driest. Given its lack of vegetation and bowl shape\, lying between two mountain ranges\, Death Valley is also the hottest recorded place on earth at 134° F (56.7° C). \nVariability is its other extreme. In the past six months\, Death Valley has received 4.5 inches of rain\, twice generating a lake—the ranger quipped\, “It is really a short-lived puddle\,”—about two miles wide by four miles long and two feet deep. Each “puddle event” supposedly happens once every thousand years\, geologists figure. \nYesterday morning I hiked through the Pacific Coast Range above Jenner\, which lies at the mouth of the Russian River. The weather now sunny and clear after weeks of rain; my daughter invited me to join her mushroom-hunting class taught by a local mycologist. We spent several hours crawling through the bishop pine and tanoak forest\, kicking up muddy duff and peeking under logs in search of edible mushrooms. One wag offered\, “Aren’t all mushrooms edible?” and\, seamlessly\, the teacher came back\, “Yes\, but only once.” The life of a mushroom is a brief two weeks; it too is the non-stop flow. \nThe infinite space and micro-rhythms of our lives meet here\, in the ordinary cup of caffé latte\, matcha green tea\, and kombucha (an acquired taste for me). The linked bits\, the all of them\, are like a river to be appreciated\, appreciated\, appreciated moment by moment. \nGreene says there was a long period before humans appeared in the universe\, and there will be a long period after our species is gone. He called it\, “Our brief flicker within the brief flicker.” He says\, “On the one hand\, it could be debilitating to imagine an eternal future of nothing. On the other\, if we flip our perspective around\, we allow ourselves the chance to explore\, to love and to illuminate. Wow! How wonderful is that?!” \n—Jon Joseph \nThe Sweetness of Apples\, of Figs \nby Jane Hirshfield\, from her newest book\, The Asking: New and Selected Poems \nIn Bellini’s Painting\,\nthe usual angel\nis not present\,\nonly a man\nopening his chest\nto the world of\nsimple sheep\nand goose and hare\nin the strange light.\nBook and skull\,\nthe two wooden sandals\,\nlie forgotten\nbehind the open-lattice door.\nEven his pin-pricked\nhands\, it seems\, forgotten.\nAgain the holy striving\nhas given way\nto ordinary joy.\nIt is mostly blues\,\na little reddish-brown\,\nsome green. \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. Register to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-32/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Cafe-latte-life_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240311T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240311T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240306T180744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240311T200155Z
UID:10001664-1710180000-1710185400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Mysterious Radishes with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nIn his classic work\, The Gift; How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World\, Lewis Hyde posits the qualities of a true gift: It is not one gained through effort\, it is artistic and mysterious in nature\, and it only realizes its greatest value if freely passed on to others. Think music\, art\, and poetry. \nOne of the most valuable gifts\, particularly in indigenous societies\, notes Hyde\, is food. “Another way to describe the notion of the gift is to say that a gift must always be used up\, eaten\,” he writes. “Food is one of the most common images for the gift because it is so obviously consumed.” \nA student asked Zhaozhou\,\n“Teacher\, I have heard that you have personally seen Nanquan. Is this true or not?”\nZhou responded\, “They grow big radishes around here.” \n—Blue Cliff Record Case 30 \nWhen I read this koan\, as I have done many times\, I think of how Zhou is giving the inquiring student a tremendous gift: one of plain radishes. Zhou’s gift is not created through his own effort; it appeared from some mysterious source\, as most koans do. It is artistic and strangely magical. And it is appreciated in the moment while being gifted forward for the good of the many. After all\, we are still talking about this gift exchange 1\,300 years after it first occurred. \nA couple of years ago I got a seed packet of daikon (大根)\,“large root” in Japanese) in my Christmas stocking. I planted the seeds early the next summer. Perhaps it was too hot or maybe I should have sprayed on some Neem oil\, but only a couple of daikon grew and they were wormy and pretty much inedible. After a long period of benign neglect\, I pulled out the survivors which by then had gone to seed\, and threw their stalks in the compost bin where they moldered for many months. \nLast fall I spread the mulch on three fallow vegetable beds. In early winter after the first rains\, I noticed a new weed carpeting my garden. The weeds grew larger\, and when I pulled one up\, a slender daikon root came out of the soil. To my astonishment I now had a winter garden absolutely stuffed with large\, gorgeous daikon. \nThus far I have gifted about twenty pounds of this radish harvest to neighbors\, friends and family\, and am only about half done (call if you can use some!). The daikon appeared of themselves from the mysterious source. They have been in motion\, arriving as seeds and departing into the gift exchange as wonderful radishes. And they will be wholly consumed\, as soup\, pickles\, and condiments. They are a simple gift\, one of mystery and wonder and value. Something like the gift of our lives\, I think. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mayumi-carrot-bike_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240304T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240304T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240224T002640Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240305T001029Z
UID:10001667-1709575200-1709580600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Stone Woman Dreaming with Guest Host Jordan McConnell
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n6–7:30 pm Pacific Time \n\nA monk asked Hongzhi\, “What about the ones who’ve gone?” \nHongzhi said\, “White clouds rise to the top of the valleys\, blue peaks lean into the empty sky.”\nThe monk asked\, “What about the ones who return?”\nHongzhi said\, “Heads covered in white hair\, they leave the cliffs and valleys.\nIn the dead of night they descend through the clouds to the market stalls.”\n“What about the ones who neither come nor go?”\n“The stone woman calls them back from their dream of the world.”  \n(PZI Miscellaneous Koans\, Case 34) \nLast week we visited five dreams the Buddha had before his great enlightenment: \n—Lying on the great earth as his couch\n—A creeper growing skyward from his navel;\n—White grubs with black heads crawling on his legs\n—Four birds of different colors alighting on his feet and turning white\n—Walking in a mountain of dirt without getting soiled \nThese dreams of the Buddha got me deeply considering my own dreamworld. \nI seem to dream a lot and our Pacific Zen teachers often appear in them. In a recent dream\, I was at a retreat held deep in some very high mountains like the Himalayas. It was a really secluded place\, and there was snow everywhere on the ground. As I was leaving the retreat house\, I realized I was in my underwear. On the way out\, I met Tess Beasley and Amaryllis Fletcher\, and gave each of them a hug\, saying “Nothing concealed here!” We all had a great laugh. I walked out the front door onto a snowy mountainside but found that somehow everything was covered in six inches of water. I was supposed to meet David Weinstein for dinner but the water slowed me down. Then John Tarrant came by. \nOnce in another dream\, Chan master Linji tried to get me to throw my pants in the river. I wouldn’t do it and then quicker than I could stop him\, he picked up my pants and ran away with them. I was yelling at him to come back: I needed my wallet and keys and they were in the pants. He kept laughing and ran off\, leaving me standing there. \nI’ve written plenty of songs in my dreams\, but for some reason I seldom seem to recall them. One morning\, slowly waking\, I remembered a fragment of a dream song\, which went\, “You\, you. You. You\, you confuse me.” I laid in bed for ten minutes\, still half asleep\, thinking “This song is gonna be so great!” When I was more awake\, I picked up my guitar and started to play the song. Only then\, fully awake\, did I realize that it made no sense whatsoever. \nHowever\, there was one singer-songwriter\, Townes Van Zandt\, who famously wrote “If I Needed You\,” perhaps his most popular song\, while in a dream. It’s a beautiful love song\, but it also has this strange little reference to his two parrots\, named Loop and Lil. In the song\, the parrots agree that the lady in the song is “a sight to see.” \nThe lady’s with me now\nSince I showed her how\nTo lay her lily\nHand in mine\nLoop and Lil agree\nShe’s a sight to see\nA treasure for\nThe poor to find …  \nWould you come to me\nAnd ease my pain?\nIf you needed me\nI would come to you\nI would swim the seas\nFor to ease your pain \nLoop and Lil agree\, the Stone Woman was a sight to see. \n—Jordan McConnell \nNote: Jon Joseph returns next week on March 11th. \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nJon Joseph Roshi\,\nDirector of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-10-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Jordan-Closeup_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240226T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240226T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240221T174146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T184645Z
UID:10001649-1708970400-1708975800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN: Our Dreams Are Buddha's Dreams with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:In last week’s Zen Luminaries visit with psychiatrist and author Mark Epstein\, we covered a number of fascinating subjects: What might bring people to Buddhist practice\, the therapist-patient work in the room as a field of awareness\, the good enough mother and good enough Buddhist\, and learning from “the lords of the underworld\, the uncrowned and exiled kings of the unconscious.” \nWhat we did not have time to cover was the importance of dreams in our growth process. \nIn his book\, The Trauma of Everyday Life\, Mark investigates a segment of the Buddha Story that is not often told: five dreams of the Buddha had before his enlightenment. Mark writes of these five dreams as being “catalytic for the Buddha’s growth and development … simply speaking\, they showed him that he could be kind … with the help of his dreams\, he had awakened to his true nature\, and his true nature\, to his surprise\, was a relational one.” \nThe dreams are as follows: \n(1) While still an unenlightened bodhisattva\, he dreamed the great earth was his couch; Himalaya\, king of mountains\, was his pillow; his left hand lay in the Eastern Ocean\, his right hand lay in the Western Ocean\, his feet lay in the Southern Ocean. \n(2) A creeper grew up out of his navel and stood touching the clouds. \n(3) White grubs with black heads crawled from his feet to his knees and covered them. \n(4) Four birds of different colors came from the four quarters\, and\, as they alighted at his feet\, they all became white. \n(5) He walked upon a huge mountain of dirt without being fouled by the dirt. \nMark quotes psychologist Michael Eigen: “The Talmud says every dream is an unopened letter from God. We don’t open\, or are unable to open\, too many of these letters. But sometimes a letter haunts us.” \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nJon Joseph Roshi\,\nDirector of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Buddhas-dreams_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240221T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240221T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20230810T232714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240228T030951Z
UID:10001465-1708538400-1708543800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: The Zen of Therapy – Jon Joseph in Conversation with Author & Psychiatrist Mark Epstein
DESCRIPTION:To work something through means to change one’s view; if we try instead to change the emotion\, we may achieve some short-term success\, but we remain bound by forces of attachment and aversion to the very feelings from which we are struggling to be free. \n—Mark Epstein \n\nOfficial Short Bio \nDr. Mark Epstein is a psychiatrist in private practice and the author of numerous books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy\, including Thoughts without a Thinker\, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart\, Going on Being\, Open to Desire\, Psychotherapy without the Self\, The Trauma of Everyday Life\, and Advice Not Given.  \nHis recent book\, The Zen of Therapy\, reflects on one year of sessions with his patients\, observing how the therapy relationship is a spiritual friendship where a therapist can help patients realize that there is something magical\, something wonderful\, and something to trust running through their lives\, no matter how fraught. \nFor years\, Dr. Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. Content to use his training in mindfulness as a private resource\, he trusted that the Buddhist influence could\, and should\, remain invisible. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings\, he was surprised to learn how many were eager to learn more. \n\n \nJon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen and PZI created this series to support the hardworking innovators and shining voices of modern Zen: scholars\, writers\, poets\, translators\, activists\, artists\, teachers\, and more. \nAll proceeds for each event\, including teacher dana\, go directly to the guest speaker. Event attendees are encouraged to give as generously as you are able\, so we can offer deep thanks to Luminaries guests. \nOur suggested donation range is $10 for PZI Members and $12 for Non-Members\, but the scale is sliding depending on one’s ability to contribute. We also greatly appreciate Patrons\, who help support the program with larger gifts of $50—$250. \n\nJoin us on Wednesday for a lively conversation with special guest Mark Epstein. All are welcome to join in for meditation and conversation. Register to participate.
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-jon-joseph-in-conversation-with-author-psychiatrist-mark-epstein/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/zen-of-therapy_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240219T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240219T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240126T043950Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240307T224749Z
UID:10001650-1708365600-1708371000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY NOTE: The Zen of Therapy and a Hidden Kindness – Monday Note from Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:From The Zen of Therapy: \nBuddhist contemplation is a kind of therapy\, after all; its whole orientation is toward relieving people of needless and self-inflicted psychological suffering. And psychotherapy\, like meditation\, is at base an inquiry into the nature of the self. The more you examine your experience\, the more mysterious and elusive the self becomes …  \nFreud famously proclaimed that the best he could do for people was to take them from a state of neurotic misery and return them to one of common unhappiness\, while the Buddha promised freedom from both. But when it came right down to it\, both sensed salvation in a clear-eyed and realistic appraisal of the human condition\, enhanced by a healthy dose of uncertainty. \nI realized that a spa treatment is often what people want from meditation—and that it was often being sold as such—but I could tell from my own meditations that relaxation\, while an occasional benefit\, was not always accessible on demand. For me\, meditation had come to mean being with my own mind no matter what state it was in. In this way\, it was closer to psychotherapy than I had initially thought. \nIf it is going to be of any help\, we have to actively engage with [meditation] as an art rather than subjecting ourselves to it solely as a science. A goal-oriented approach\, whether it is to calm the mind\, relax the body\, or achieve some kind of transcendental experience\, is antithetical to meditation’s greater purpose. For me\, the trust and intimacy of the psychotherapeutic relationship was to become instrumental in helping to bring this greater purpose into focus. \nThere is much to be learned from the lords of the underworld\, the uncrowned and exiled kings of the unconscious. \nAt certain points I sound like a traditional psychodynamic therapist\, unpacking the childhood origins of a patient’s persistent negativity. At other times\, I continue to offer explicit meditation instruction\, hoping to guide someone away from their mind object with its recurrent loops of shame and blame. In still others I am reaching for something else\, something my years of meditative practice have inched into my consciousness\, the sense that there is an accessible vitality\, present from birth\, underlying our accrued personalities. In these more unconventional sessions\, I use whatever I can to break through a patient’s defenses or to shine a light on a patient’s unexplored natural intelligence. \nAbout Mark Epstein \nMark Epstein\, MD\, a clinical psychiatrist based in New York City\, is a leading author on the subject of interweaving modern psychotherapy and ancient Buddhist meditation. His bestselling books include Thoughts without a Thinker\, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart\, Going on Being\, and most recently\, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering A Hidden Kindness in Life. Mark received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University and is currently Clinical Assistant Professor at New York University. He has been a practicing Buddhist\, primarily in the Vipassana tradition\, for fifty years. \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US for on Wednesday for our Zen Luminaures evening with Mark Epstein. Register to participate. All are welcome. Donations gratefully received to support our wonderful guests. \nJon Joseph Roshi\, Director of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-9/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Mark-Epstein_500x375.jpeg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240212T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240212T193000
DTSTAMP:20260426T121728
CREATED:20240202T185101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240307T224512Z
UID:10001648-1707760800-1707766200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY NOTE: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective – Monday Note from Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:Psychiatrist Mark Epstein\, M.D.\, Author of The Zen of Therapy joins us next week to discuss psychotherapy from a Buddhist perspective:\nMark Epstein\, M.D.\, is a clinical psychiatrist practicing in New York City and is perhaps the leading scholar on the joining of modern psychotherapy and ancient Buddhist meditation. He is the author of numerous books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy: Thoughts without a Thinker\, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart\, Going on Being\, and most recently\, The Zen of Therapy; Uncovering A Hidden Kindness in Life.  \nMark received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University and is currently Clinical Assistant Professor in the Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis at New York University. He has been a practicing Buddhist\, primarily in the Vipassana tradition\, for fifty years. \nThe Zen of Therapy\, a warm\, profound and clear-eyed memoir of a year in his consulting room prior to the pandemic\, the psychiatrist and author—and practicing Buddhist—Mark Epstein aims at something meatier. He seeks to uncover the fundamental wisdom both (psychotherapy and Buddhist) worldviews share\, and to show\, as a practical matter\, how it might help us wriggle free from the places we get stuck on the road to fulfillment. \n—Oliver Burkeman\, The New York Times Book Review \nA psychiatrist with forty years of practice in psychotherapy and meditation shows how both can achieve the same goal: to reclaim the kindness that’s at the core of all of us. Epstein draws on a lifetime of personal and professional experience to deliver a profound and optimistic examination of the links between psychotherapy and meditation. Drawing on influences as diverse as psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott\, the Dalai Lama\, and composer John Cage\, Epstein offers a warm and accessible explanation of topics that defy easy explanation. \n—Kirkus Reviews on The Zen of Therapy\n \nEpstein\, a New York City psychiatrist trained in classical Freudian methods\, has studied Buddhist meditation in India and Southeast Asia. In a highly personal\, thoughtful\, illuminating synthesis\, he draws on his own experience as therapist\, meditator and patient in an unusual attempt to integrate Western psychotherapy and Buddha’s teachings on suffering\, delusion\, wisdom and nonattachment. \n—Publishers Weekly on Thoughts Without A Thinker \n***** \nCome join us on the 21st. \n—Jon Joseph \n\nJon Joseph Roshi \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Mondays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nJon Joseph Roshi\,\nDirector of San Mateo Zen Community
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/monday-zen-with-jon-joseph-31-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
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