The Solitary Brightness Is You!

 There is a solitary brightness without fixed
             shape or form.
       It knows how to listen to the teachings,
       it knows how to understand the teachings,
       it knows how to teach.
              That solitary brightness is you.

We all have that brightness—inside and out, solitary and shared among us. And somehow, together, we’ve built a temple. Through the generosity of our teachers, leaders, musicians, and community members it’s been a lively temple in 2021. Thank you for all that you bring to us, with your being and your support. 


We have big plans for 2022,but 
we need your help to keep 
the PZI Dragon carrying us all. 

Here’s the shortlist of all we’ve been able
to do this year with your help:

  • Weekly Sundays, with John Tarrant and 100+ world-wide friends, filled with stories, poetry, music, and laughter as well as fledgling birds and their untold secrets. Special thanks to our musicians for their astounding songs of the dharma.                     
  • Four deep and enlivening online Sesshins: Winter Silence Into New Light; After the Dark and the Cold, Come the Blossoms; Summer in the Palace at the Blue Cliff; and Metamorphosis and the Miscellaneous Koans—each with a special gift from PZI members and an art card too.
  • Two month-long training periods where PZI members gathered across timezones to bathe in silence, koans, and poetry each morning. 

Feed the PZI Dragon for 2022

More from 2021:

  • An ongoing Koan Innovation Series to support our leaders and senior students in holding and passing along our tradition and the PZI Way. 
  • A Zen Luminaries interview series with Jon Joseph.
  • Dedicated evening dharma talks, community building, mentorship, and newsletters by David Parks of Bluegrass Zen, David Weinstein of Rockridge Meditation, Jon Joseph of San Mateo Zen, and Allison Atwill of Coral Moon Zen.  
  • An intensive Refuge Vows as Koans series with Allison Atwill, Tess Beasley and Jesse Cardin.
  • Ongoing PZI Talk Live evenings with intimate discussion, humor, and practice exploration with Chris Gaffney and Corey Hitchcock.
  • Open Temple morning meditations open to all members through the last months of the year.     

We’ve also been working hard behind the scenes to improve all
PZI has to offer: (Thank you Corey Hitchcock & Karin Pfluger!)

  • Expanding shelves in the Koan Library: We’ve added hundreds of downloadable talk audios and talk transcripts to our online KALPA library, with help from dedicated volunteers.
  • Website overhaul: We’ve nearly completed a 30-page website overhaul to better share PZI’s spirit of Koan Zen and community with the wider world, and to make it easier for members and interested visitors to find the goods.
  • The Dragon of Requirement Newsletters filled with haiku, dharma, music, images, and stories to keep in your pocket for a rainy day.

Feed the PZI Dragon for 2022

The PZI DRAGON Really Needs Your Help
to Keep the PZI Temple Thriving in 2022. 

Your support would mean the world to us.

  • Our scholarship well has gone dry

as we continue to help as many members as we can during the pandemic. Your generosity can help those who would love to be part of us but may not otherwise be able.

  • Our incredible admin staff has big plans
    for continuing to curate dharma talks and other works to nourish your journey. They’re also working hard to help creative, interesting folks find PZI and feel supported in becoming members.

    Their jobs depend on your support and our temple
    depends on their support.     

  • We plan to create a podcast
    focusing on creativity and koan practice, and also to develop more class series and self-guided courses.

    Your support makes these programs possible.

Here’s How You Can Help PZI TODAY:

Consider joining us or increasing your quarterly, monthly
or annual PZI Membership. Give a friend a PZI Gift Membership!

Consider an end-of-year tax-deductible donation in any amount. Suggestions…
$150     $250     $500     $1000+

Feed the PZI Dragon for 2022

Thank You!