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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250412T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250412T100000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250130T183826Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250321T170636Z
UID:10001995-1744444800-1744452000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SATURDAY ZEN: For PZI Members – Conversations with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:About Saturday Conversations \nDokusan is the Japanese word for these conversations about meditation practice. It means “to go alone” or “to practice alone.” It is to have a conversation so intimate\, that for both participants it is as if you were talking with and listening to yourself. \nThe word “conversation” (in place of the Japanese word dokusan) has its own way of speaking to the experience. \nEtymologically\, it means “to turn around together.” Meditation is often referred to as a turning around of our attention towards the inside. These conversations about meditation practice are an opportunity for a mutual turning the light around and exploring what’s there. \n—David Weinstein \n\nSaturday Conversations with David Weinstein Roshi\nOnline on Zoom from 8–10:00 am Pacific Time\nEvery two weeks \nIf you are a PZI Member and would like to have a conversation with David\,\nbook your 15-minute online meeting for April 12th here. \nDana gratefully accepted \nQuestions? Contact David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/saturday-zen-for-pzi-members-conversations-with-david-weinstein-17/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:Saturday Conversations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Buddha-laying-down.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250408T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250408T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250313T180749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250330T140859Z
UID:10002026-1744135200-1744140600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: ON BREAK
DESCRIPTION:David is not teaching today\, but will return on April 15th. We hope you join us then! \n\nEveryone is welcome here no matter how you are feeling\, where you come from\, what you believe.  \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-guest-host-michael-wilding-2/
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:20250407T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250407T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250212T201623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T201623Z
UID:10002009-1744048800-1744054200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: ON BREAK
DESCRIPTION:Jon Joseph is not teaching today\, but will return on April 14th. We hope you join us then!\n\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-on-break-2/
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:20250407T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250407T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250114T232713Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T170750Z
UID:10001982-1744048800-1744054200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: Things as It Is and Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been – Jon Joseph in Conversation with Poet & Teacher Chase Twichell
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nChase Twichell has published eight books of poetry including Things As It Is (2018) and Horses Where Answers Should Have Been (2010)\, and is currently working on a new collection. She began a lay Zen practice in the mid-1990s at Zen Mountain Monastery under John Daido Loori\, and her poetry and practice have been co-mingled since then. \n“Zen threw me a big curve ball\,” she has said. “There is almost no metaphor in Chinese poetry: Zen tries to see things as they are\, without the spin.” \nChase’s poems have appeared in many publications including The New Yorker\, The Paris Review\, and The Nation. In addition\, she has taught poetry at Princeton University\, the University of Alabama\, and Hampshire College. \nTHINGS AS IT IS \nLast night my hand began writing\nin the hand of some future me\,\nas if a branch in wind had scribbled\non freshly fallen snow.\nIn the dark\, coyotes called\nback and forth in the bird-silence.\nI put down the pen and went outside\,\nstood listening to wind in snow’s translation.\nWild dogs\, teach me\na few of your words before I die. \nHIS ABSENCE \nHis absence is hard to pin down.\nNo martini glasses in sight\nno secret ashtrays.\nI can ask him anything–\nlocked in a dark library.\nall that he knew and remembered is lost to us both.\nAnd the whole world of the night\nhas gone missing.\nIncluding the scent of our joy. \n\n\nChase Twichell’s poems are among my favorites ever written. Often brash\, always vivid\, smart\, and lyrical\, pointing toward essential things—this is a marvelous and rich body of work. \n—Tony Hoagland \n\nShort Bio \nChase Twichell was born in 1950\, and grew up in Connecticut and the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. She is the author of eight books of poetry\, most recently Things as It Is (Copper Canyon\, 2018). \nAfter teaching for many years (Hampshire College\, the University of Alabama\, Princeton University)\, she left academia to found Ausable Press\, a not-for-profit publisher of contemporary poetry\, which was acquired by Copper Canyon in 2009. \nFrom 2013 to 2016 Twichell served as Chair of the Kate and Kingsley Tufts Awards Jury. \nShe recently taught in the Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers. \nA longtime student in the Mountains and Rivers Order at Zen Mountain Monastery in upstate New York\, she splits the year between the Adirondacks and Saratoga Springs\, NY. \nsource: https://www.chasetwichell.com/about \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 $25—$250.
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-horses-where-the-answers-should-have-been-jon-joseph-in-conversation-with-author-chase-twichell/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Chase-twichell_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250407T040000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250530T070000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250404T134825Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250404T134825Z
UID:10002025-1743998400-1748588400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:OPEN TEMPLE: 8-Week Spring Meditation Pass – MEMBERS FREE
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nFREE to PZI Members!\nMorning Meditations 5 Days Weekly\nWherever you are in the world\, let’s sit together.\n \nOpen Temple Pass gives you unlimited access to two morning meditations\, Mondays–Fridays\,\nApril 7th–May 30th\, 2025. All are welcome. PZI Members attend FREE. \nPractice leaders will ring the bells and hold a cushion for you. Join us! \n\nWeekday Schedule\nJoin in as you can\, as often as you like. \nSESSION 1 Sits in the East Temple: 7–8:00 AM Eastern Time\n(or 4–5 AM Pacific) \nSESSION 2 Sits in the West Temple: 6–7:00 AM Pacific Time\n(or 9–10 AM Eastern) \n\nYour Temple Zoom Link\nThe recurring Zoom link for Open Temple access will be in your emailed receipt\,\nfor entrance to ALL morning meditations. \nPZI Members FREE\, Non-Members $125 \nQuestions? Or to check your membership status\, contact Lucas at PZI Support. \n\n\nNot a member of PZI? Now is your chance!  \nJoin us for free access to the Open Temple\, scholarships\, discounts for retreats\,\nour vast and growing library of dharma talks\, and other resources.\n \nBecome a Member
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/open-temple-8-week-spring-meditation-pass-members-free/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:Open Temple
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SpringOT500.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250406T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250406T120000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250227T155620Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250407T202901Z
UID:10002020-1743935400-1743940800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:Sunday Zen with Guest Host Tess Beasley & Friends: Dissolving the Plot\, Discovering the Unforeseen
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nI remember a dream once in which the danger seemed certain\, but then a sliding door opened as if I were in a grocery store and a gaggle of turkeys wandered through. \nWhatever plot I’d been holding to suddenly gave way and the world stood open. \nBeing alive comes with plenty of good reasons to be afraid\, but having a practice means making way for the turkeys and other unexpected gifts of the mind to appear. \nAs we become more intimate with the world\, it shares its secrets with us. As we become less certain\, new pathways appear. \nJoin us Sunday for meditation\, music\, and stories of encountering the unforeseen. \n—Tess Beasley \n\n\n\n \nMeditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong\, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you\, for doors to open by themselves\, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead. \n\n\nWaking up is something we do together\, in the online temple on Sunday. We love it when you join us.  \n—John Tarrant Roshi and all of us at PZI
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-tess-beasley-friends-54/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Turkeys500short.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250403T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250403T173000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250211T223119Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250401T235334Z
UID:10001999-1743696000-1743701400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:THURSDAY ZEN with David Parks: The Stone Woman Brings Forth
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThe stone woman gives birth in the middle of the night. \n—PZI Miscellaneous Koans Case 33 \nHere is a koan for transitions. In the darkest hour of night\, in the depths of your not knowing\, there is a quickening\, a stirring. The womb\, or should we say the womb-of-origins\, churning as it awakens to bring forth the new. \nIt could be said that the stone woman in the middle of the night is a koan for winter—the bare trees\, the cold ground\, the seamless cover of snow. In life we have those barren times\, like a woman unable to bear a child\, to bring forth. Here is a koan for the dark of night\, without sight or knowing. And yet\, against all expectation that which is bare is full of life. There is a stone woman giving birth\, a quickening\, the aliveness made manifest. As there is a light inside the dark\, there is a spring in every winter. \nAlso\, I found this in Wendell Berry’s essay\, “A Native Hill.” It could easily serve as a reflection on the stone woman. Employing all the senses Berry finds his place in the pattern of things. \n“Perhaps then\, having heard that silence and seen that darkness\, he will grow humble before the place and begin to take it in—to learn from it what it is. As its sounds come into his hearing\, and its lights and colors come into his vision\, and its odors come into his nostrils\, then he may come into its presence as he never has before\, and he will arrive in his place and will want to remain. His life will grow out of the ground like the other lives of the place\, and take its place among them. He will be with them—neither ignorant of them\, nor indifferent to them\, nor against them—and so at last he will grow to be native–born. That is\, he must reenter the silence and the darkness\, and be born again.” \n—David Parks \n\n\n\n\n\n \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Thursdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Parks Roshi\, Director of Bluegrass Zen
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/thursday-zen-with-david-parks-42/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/stonewoman.jpeg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250401T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250401T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250313T180540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250330T140942Z
UID:10002027-1743530400-1743535800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: ON BREAK
DESCRIPTION:David is not teaching today\, but will return on April 15th. We hope you join us then! \n\nEveryone is welcome here no matter how you are feeling\, where you come from\, what you believe.  \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-guest-host-michael-wilding/
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:20250331T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250331T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050006
CREATED:20250212T201411Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T191301Z
UID:10002004-1743444000-1743449400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Like A Mosquito Bites an Iron Ox: An Abiding Wisdom in the Absurd
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA monk asked Zhaozhou\, “‘The Ultimate Path is not difficult—just avoid picking and choosing.’ Isn’t this a cliché for people of these times?” Zhou replied\, “Once someone asked me\, and I really couldn’t explain for five years.”\n\n—The Blue Cliff Record Case 58 \nYuanwu\, the commentator of The Blue Cliff Record\, speaks to the extraordinary difficulty of working with this koan; likening it to a mosquito trying to bite an iron ox\, or attempting to climb a silver mountain\, or breaking through an iron wall. We all know the feeling of deep frustration\, bordering on insanity\, in confronting the impossible over and over again with no satisfying result. \nA couple of months ago\, I found myself in a state of intense despair with some personal struggles. While watching TV with my wife—was it The Lincoln Lawyer\, Lioness\, or Succession?—tears suddenly welled up in my eyes. I asked myself\, “Why do you keep banging your head against the wall?” In that moment\, an unexpected answer rose from within me: “Because you can’t give up on Mu.” \nThe response was startling and strange. It came from a deep\, foundational place inside me. I haven’t worked on Mu as a koan in decades\, though I often sit with its English translation\, “No.” Yet\, in that moment it was an original statement\, familiar to me\, and one from the very beginning of my Zen practice\, more than fifty years ago. \nSomething shifted in that inner dialogue\, though I cannot fully explain how. The problems that once seemed insurmountable pretty much vanished. The iron ox\, the silver mountain\, and the iron wall no longer appeared as obstacles but rather as absurd partners in an intimate game. \nThe “Ultimate Path” koan appears four times in The Blue Cliff Record\, with Zhaozhou offering a different response each time. In one case\, he warns\, “As soon as you hear these words\, you think this is picking and choosing\, or clarity. This old monk does not dwell in clarity.” When a monk asks\, “What do you dwell in\, then?” Zhou replies\, “I don’t know\,” and tells the monk that simply asking the question is enough. \nHow inconceivable that just trying to bite the iron ox would be enough. That standing on the top of a hundred foot pole\, that holding onto a branch with our teeth would all be the full expression of our Buddha nature. Perhaps the Ultimate Path is not somewhere else\, in some sense-making\, light-filled universe. Maybe in some absurd way\, it is right here. Asking the question may be enough. \n—Jon Joseph \nSnow–Globe Vesuvius \nI live on the flank of Vesuvius\, in Pompeii.\nEach day the sky fills with leaflets\,\nsmokelets\, prayers to  powers\naglitter whether storming or still\n(the old ones mica\, the new ones who cares what).\n\nEveryone knows there’s more than one\nkind of consciousness. Everyone knows\nthat in the snow-globe of Vesuvius\,\nthe “snow” is really ash–\neach time the volcano buries the town.\n\nWould you meet me in a world like that?\nIf not there\, where?\n\n —Chase Twichell\, Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been \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-52/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Oxen500.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250330T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250330T120000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250227T155556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250331T171528Z
UID:10002019-1743330600-1743336000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:Sunday Zen with Guest Host Jesse Cardin & Friends: No Reason To Be Happy
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nYunmen said\, “I’m not asking you about before the full moon. Come and say a word or two about after the full moon.”\nAnd he himself replied\, “Every day is a good day.” \n—The Blue Cliff Record Case 6 \nWhen I woke up this morning the air was hazy gray with smoke from our neighborhood volcano. I’m tired and my son is rambunctious and it’s getting on my nerves. The tiny bird that hit my window yesterday has flown off somewhere\, or at least I hope that’s why it’s not in the yard anymore. \nWhen I look inside\, I’m happy\, though not for any good reason. I’m in awe of the way the world just keeps showing up: trees and rain and small children and cars and impatience and political opinions and wondering what I’ll have for lunch. Maybe that’s reason enough. \nSee you Sunday. \n—Jesse Cardin \n\n\n\n \nMeditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong\, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you\, for doors to open by themselves\, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead. \n\n\nWaking up is something we do together\, in the online temple on Sunday. We love it when you join us.  \n—John Tarrant Roshi and all of us at PZI
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-53/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kids-playing-in-Mud500.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250329T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250329T100000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250130T183402Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250321T170631Z
UID:10001994-1743235200-1743242400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK — SATURDAY ZEN: For PZI Members – Conversations with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:David Weinstein is not meeting today\, but will return on April 12th. We hope you sign up then!\n\nAbout Saturday Conversations \nDokusan is the Japanese word for these conversations about meditation practice. It means “to go alone” or “to practice alone.” It is to have a conversation so intimate\, that for both participants it is as if you were talking with and listening to yourself. \nThe word “conversation” (in place of the Japanese word dokusan) has its own way of speaking to the experience. \nEtymologically\, it means “to turn around together.” Meditation is often referred to as a turning around of our attention towards the inside. These conversations about meditation practice are an opportunity for a mutual turning the light around and exploring what’s there. \n—David Weinstein \n\nSaturday Conversations with David Weinstein Roshi\nOnline on Zoom from 8–10:00 am Pacific Time\nEvery two weeks \nDana gratefully accepted \nQuestions? Contact David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/saturday-zen-for-pzi-members-conversations-with-david-weinstein-16/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:Saturday Conversations
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:20250325T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250325T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250130T181950Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T180357Z
UID:10001986-1742925600-1742931000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with Guest Host Michael Wilding
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nEveryone is welcome here no matter how you are feeling\, where you come from\, what you believe.  \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-34/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/michaelWilding-HeadshotBW-cropped.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250324T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250324T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250212T201228Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250321T212049Z
UID:10002003-1742839200-1742844600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: Dios Pasas: The Gods Pass By
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA couple of nights ago\, my dog Mocha Puppachino was restless in the very early morning\, so I got up to let her out. After a few minutes\, she came back\, and we returned upstairs. Falling into a half sleep\, I began to dream. \nI was standing on the side of a wide dirt road. Going down the lane was a procession of indigenous Aztecs or Mayans\, with high cheekbones and aquiline noses\, lightly dressed in ceremonial wear\, passing in profile from left to right. Their colors were earth tones of ocher\, soft yellows and browns. \nIn my sleep I began to repeat to myself\, “Dios pasas!”\, “Dios pasas!”\, over and over again\, almost as if I were saying a prayer or holding a koan. Though my Spanish is not very good\, I translated the phrase in my mind as\, “The gods are passing by!” (My Spanish-speaking daughter later corrected my grammar un piquito.) \nI’m not fully sure what the dream meant\, but I had a strong feeling of inclusion. I was witness to the sacred; not sacred as an idea\, but as a relationship. With great warmth and appreciation\, I understood I was being watched over. The gods too were being witnessed by me. Each of us was expressing our essential relationship to the other\, in that moment and place. To make ourselves whole\, we needed each other. \nA dream-like koan came to me in connection to the dream itself: \nShoushan said to the assembly\, “If you attain it with the first phrase\, you will be teacher of buddhas and ancestors. If you attain with the second phrase\, you will be teacher of humans and gods. If you attain it with the third phrase\, you will not even save yourself.” A monk asked\, “At which statement did you attain it\, teacher?” Shoushan said\, “The moon sets\, it is midnight. I walk through the marketplace.” (BS 76) \nOur movement through the dark and empty marketplace is singular and sometimes deeply lonely. Yet it is full of potential: absence completely open to receiving presence\, as David Hinton writes. \nSoon enough\, farmers and merchants arrive on their donkey carts and horses. The horizon lightens and the sun comes over the ridge. Women with sleepy children in tow come to shop for dinner; chickens squawk and dogs bark. And the buddhas\, ancestors and gods are there. They walk among us even now. \nHongzhi Zenghue in his verse on this koan writes: \nWe meet the lowly and then the noble\nWe meet the noble and then lowly\nGetting the jewel through formlessness\nThe ultimate way is continuous \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-51/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/monday.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250323T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250323T120000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250227T155538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250320T203622Z
UID:10002018-1742725800-1742731200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends: In the Middle of Things—Silence
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOn the left we have velociraptors\, above we have pterodactyls—not sure if my insurance will cover dinosaurs\, \nbut the mind is always running on\, now it’s sunshine and rain days\, a spring morning worth a thousand gold pieces says Sudong Po\, the time when foxes have their weddings\, and you have to peek at the procession from behind a tree. \nIn the middle we have silence. Silence which allows the madness to settle. \nHere’s the old spring koan: \nWe’re always talking about subject and object\nand even not talking is about subject and object\,\nhow do we get beyond subject and object? \nThe master said\, “I’m always thinking of the lakes in March\, partridges sing among the fragrant blossoms.” \nThe reverie of spring with its thousands of gifts is inside and outside. Let’s have that this Sunday. \nJoin us! \n—John Tarrant \n\n\n\n \nMeditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong\, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you\, for doors to open by themselves\, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead. \n\n\nWaking up is something we do together\, in the online temple on Sunday. We love it when you join us.  \n—John Tarrant Roshi and all of us at PZI
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-52/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/fox500.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250320T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250320T173000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250211T223210Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250211T223210Z
UID:10001998-1742486400-1742491800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:THURSDAY ZEN with David Parks
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nDon’t grab hold\, just allow the meditation to come to you. Same with koans\, they will come. It is like a dance\, a call and response.  \n—David Parks \n\n\n\n\n\n \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Thursdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Parks Roshi\, Director of Bluegrass Zen
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/thursday-zen-with-david-parks-43/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/DPR-Headshot_500x375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250318T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250318T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250130T181733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T183021Z
UID:10001985-1742320800-1742326200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Nanquan's Cat – Equanimity Case 9
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nOne day at Nanquan’s\, students of the eastern and western halls were arguing over a cat. Nanquan held up the cat and said\, “If you can say something\, I won’t kill it.” No one could speak\, so Nanquan cut the cat in two.\n                                                                                                          \n That evening\, Zhaozhou returned from a trip and Nanquan brought up what had happened. Zhaozhou took off his sandals\, put them on top of his head\, and walked out. Nanquan said\, “If you had been here\, you’d have saved the cat.” \n—Book of Serenity Case 9 \nWhat came to me as I started keeping company with this koan was the first precept about killing. I can’t think of any other koans in which something is literally killed. Lots of people experience the “great death\,” “killed” by their teacher’s words or actions\, but none literally: It is their relationship to their ideas about themselves and the world that gets killed. \nI did come across a story about an old teacher named Chan Master Fori\, also known as Dahui\, who is credited with innovating the koan meditation practice. So\, a well known and respected teacher. The name “Fori” was given to him by the Emperor in recognition of his excellence as a teacher\, and it means “Buddha Sun.” \nFori was having tea with a group when he saw a cat coming\, and tossed a dove from his sleeve\, giving it to the cat\, which took it and went away. Fori said\, “Excellent!” It’s not exactly the same as Nanquan killing the cat\, but… \nWhat came next to keep me company is a story from the Bible called The Judgment of Solomon\, in which Solomon rules with two women who both claim to be the mother of a child. Solomon orders the baby to be cut in half\, with each woman to receive one half. The first accepts the compromise as fair\, but the second begs Solomon to give the baby to her rival\, preferring the baby to live\, even without her. Solomon orders the baby given to the second woman\, her love being selfless\, as opposed to the first woman’s selfish disregard for the baby’s actual wellbeing. \nWe don’t know exactly what the monks were arguing about in regards to that cat. It would be easy to assume\, since they were monks from different halls\, that they were arguing about where the cat belonged—perhaps they had a mouse problem. \nSome commentators note that monastic communities of the time were divided into two parts. One part devoted themselves to meditation and formal traditional spiritual practice and the other worked to support the monastery as their main practice\, in the fields and in the kitchens. As you might imagine\, they could have different ideas about what “practice” was. Perhaps they were arguing about whether the cat had Buddha nature or not. Whatever they were arguing about doesn’t matter\, really. What matters is that they could not respond. \nHave you ever found yourself in a situation where you couldn’t respond? This koan is an opportunity to look into that. The stakes don’t have to be as high as the life or death of a cat to create a situation in which we get stuck. \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-33/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nanquans-cat500.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250317T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250317T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250212T201047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250317T144238Z
UID:10002002-1742234400-1742239800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: The Mysterious Co-Mingling of Our Lives
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nYunmen\, teaching the community\, said\, “The old Buddha and a pillar embrace—how available are they to each other?”  He answered for them\,  “On South Mountain clouds gather\, on North Mountain rain falls.”\n\n—The Blue Cliff Record\, Case 83 \nThis morning\, I woke in the dark to the delicious sound of rain on the roof. Late in the season\, we in California are getting another series of atmospheric rivers—those long narrow storms heavy with warm\, moist air\, sometimes called the pineapple express—which will bring several inches of rain to the green foothills and drop several feet of snow on the divides and basins of the High Sierra. \nThe sound reminded me of years ago when I was in sesshin\, awake at night listening to the sound of heavy dewdrops falling from the eves outside the window. How utterly splendid was the sound of each drop before it hit. But I wander. \nClouds gather on South Mountain while rain falls on North Mountain. It may be inconceivable to connect the two. Koun Yamada\, our ancestral teacher\, cautions against it. “When we hear about clouds on South Mountain and rain on North Mountain the temptation is all too great to conclude that there is some connection between the two. And as soon as we do that\, we are caught up in concepts and are far indeed from the spirit of the koan. We have been caught in the trap which Yunmen has laid for us.” His advice is to wonder at the thusness of each: how wonderful the clouds\, how amazing the rain. \nBut maybe Yunmen’s “trap” is actually an invitation to embrace that which is irrationally linked and to explore the deeper\, more mysterious relationships in our lives. Like the old Buddha and the pillar\, to what degree are we open and vulnerable to the people and things around us? That which seems fractured may actually be part of a greater whole. We need not explain it; we can just live it. \nEd Espe Brown\, the Soto priest and author of No Recipe: Cooking as Spiritual Practice\, relates a story about the famous Italian chef Massimo Bottura. One day an assistant chef came in and confessed he had dropped and broken a whole tray of lemon tarts. Instead of throwing out the broken and fractured tarts\, Bottura folded them into a lemon pudding\, and it has since become one of the favorite desserts at his Osteria Francescana. \nOne time Baizhang was walking outside with his teacher\, Mazu\, when they flushed a brace of ducks. The teacher asked\, “Where did they go?” Zhang replied\, “They flew away.” The teacher grabbed his nose and twisted it\, saying\, “When did they ever fly away?” Zhang returned to his room\, and a monk found him weeping. Later\, the monk came back and Zhang was laughing. The monk asked him about it\, and Zhang said\, “Before I was crying\, and now I’m laughing.” The ducks and his nose shared an inconceivable co-mingling\, both in laughing and in crying. \nLast week\, I spoke with an old friend\, who informed me he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I had recognized some decline in him in the past year\, but the news was very saddening. Going forward\, we agreed to check in regularly. Later\, I went to a wonderful birthday dinner with friends\, and afterward we all went to a club to listen to some amazing folk and blues guitar. It was fantastic. So sad and so fun\, co-mingling. \nXuetou\, himself an old Buddha\, writes in his appreciatory verse on this koan: \nIn suffering happiness\nIn happiness\, suffering\n \nPerhaps just because it is fractured\, life somehow works. \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-50/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Plate500.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250316T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250316T120000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250227T155512Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250317T174730Z
UID:10002017-1742121000-1742126400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends: It’s Going to Be Alright
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nIt rained in the night. \nI went out by the fire to hear it on the roof. \nA front is coming in from the Pacific. \nGeese call on the wing\, as they do. \nThe mysterious great horned owls \npractice their mystery as they do. \nAlso Washington has gone to hell\, \nas it does. \n2 ravens circle me and investigate. \nIt’s going to be alright. \nLike everyone else\, the ravens\, the river otters\, \nthe worried people\, you will be alright too. \n—John Tarrant \n\n\n\n \nMeditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong\, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you\, for doors to open by themselves\, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead. \n\n\nWaking up is something we do together\, in the online temple on Sunday. We love it when you join us.  \n—John Tarrant Roshi and all of us at PZI
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-51/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/photo-Mark-cohen500.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250315T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250315T100000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250306T190739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250306T190850Z
UID:10002024-1742025600-1742032800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SATURDAY ZEN: For PZI Members – Conversations with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:About Saturday Conversations \nDokusan is the Japanese word for these conversations about meditation practice. It means “to go alone” or “to practice alone.” It is to have a conversation so intimate\, that for both participants it is as if you were talking with and listening to yourself. \nThe word “conversation” (in place of the Japanese word dokusan) has its own way of speaking to the experience. \nEtymologically\, it means “to turn around together.” Meditation is often referred to as a turning around of our attention towards the inside. These conversations about meditation practice are an opportunity for a mutual turning the light around and exploring what’s there. \n—David Weinstein \n\nSaturday Conversations with David Weinstein Roshi\nOnline on Zoom from 8–10:00 am Pacific Time\nEvery two weeks \nIf you are a PZI Member and would like to have a conversation with David\,\nbook your 15-minute online meeting for March 15th here. \nDana gratefully accepted \nQuestions? Contact David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/saturday-zen-for-pzi-members-conversations-with-david-weinstein-19/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:Saturday Conversations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Buddha-laying-down.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250311T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250311T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250130T181633Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250307T212510Z
UID:10001984-1741716000-1741721400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Baizhang’s Fox
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThere is a fine line between observing the self\, selfing the self and dissociation. Basically\, in dissociation there is a lack of connection and there lies the difference. Observing the mind in meditation enhances connection\, it does not sever it. \nIt is a common mistake to imagine that meditation leads to a state of serenity in all situations. What meditation does lead us to is being more who we really are and there is a certain equanimity that comes with that. In this koan\, the old man is suffering from the belief that it is possible to sever the chains of karma. That it is possible to always move through life with serenity\, unaffected by the world around him. \nUpon closer observation\, over a long time—five hundred lifetimes\, the story tells us—he comes to notice the cost of his belief and instead of leaving\, as he has done so many times before\, he stays. He stays after the talk\, and he stays in his life\, just as it is\, just as he is and he discovers freedom. \nWhat do you notice when you stay and don’t leave? What do you notice when you leave? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-32/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/snowyfox500.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250310T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250310T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250212T200850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T200850Z
UID:10002001-1741629600-1741635000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: ON BREAK
DESCRIPTION:Jon Joseph is not teaching today\, but will return on March 17th. We hope you join us then!\n\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-on-break/
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:20250309T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250309T120000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250227T155442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250311T165605Z
UID:10002016-1741516200-1741521600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends: How to Survive Interesting Times
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nYou can’t ignore the cruelty and you can’t panic and think your life is over. \nAlso\, strangely\, we can’t escape to Mars. \nGetting to Mars isn’t really getting into the universe. We enter reality by becoming aware of our own thoughts and feelings. Kindness for those we meet along the way is good\, too. Love. Modesty in what we can achieve is good. Accuracy and honesty are good. \nWe are here for a short time and we can love each other. Poetry and art are good too. \nIt’s good to know that your own life can be beautiful in all kinds of times. \nJoin us this Sunday. \n—John Tarrant \n\n\n\n \nMeditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong\, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you\, for doors to open by themselves\, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead. \n\n\nWaking up is something we do together\, in the online temple on Sunday. We love it when you join us.  \n—John Tarrant Roshi and all of us at PZI
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-43/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/diego-rivera-2-woman_466.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250306T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250306T173000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250211T223317Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250304T182918Z
UID:10001997-1741276800-1741282200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:THURSDAY ZEN with David Parks: Loving Your Life
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nQuick\, don’t get ready!\n\n—Miscellaneous Koans \nLingyun was wandering in the mountains and became lost in his walking. He rounded a bend and saw peach blossoms on the other side of the valley. This sight awakened him and he wrote this poem: \nFor thirty years I searched for a master swordsman\,\nhow many times did the leaves fall\,\nand the branches burst into bud?\nBut from the moment I saw the peach blossoms\,\nI’ve had no doubts. \n—Miscellaneous Koans Case 37 \nLife Practice\nSpiritual practice/Zen practice is life practice\, a laboratory for paying attention to what arises in the day to day of our living. Your life is a gift. In welcoming the gift\, you participate in the great flux\, the endless changes that living brings. \nIt is uncertain how or where a gift might come. Arising from a source not known\, a gift is a surprise to the one who receives. The people you meet\, the opportunities that come as you arise from the unknown source. Surprise! Doors close\, other doors open. Who knew? At times when you are uncertain where to turn or what to do\, a path opens and you take the next step. \nIn meditation and with koans it is much like this. It is best to allow meditation to come to you\, you will meditate as you meditate. Too\, koans will come to you. No need to figure them out or explain them to yourself. What will come\, will come\, as you open to meditation\, koans and life. This life practice is simply to notice and pay attention to what arises here in this moment. \nThe bottom line? You are here. Your practice is to notice\, to pay attention. And what you notice is never what you expected. This gift of life\, from the moment you are born until you die\, is unexpected\, a surprise. \nAs you are opened by life’s surprises\, your heart will recognize something beyond surprise\, beyond imagining: you are not separate. Indeed you live\, breath and have your being in relationship to everything else. So\, one day Lingyun went out into the mountains\, losing his way. He rounded a corner and saw peach blossoms in full bloom across the valley. From that moment on he had no doubts. There was no one to harbor doubt. It was just this. He was awake. Who can prepare for that? So\, “Quick\, don’t get ready!” \nPaying Attention\nI remember time and again being called out by teachers in elementary school. They wrote notes home\, put it in their comments on my report cards\, “Does not pay attention in class.” There is a style of attention that is alert and focused\, the sort of attention that learns multiplication tables\, hears directions for the next assignment\, sticks to the task at hand. Yes\, and elementary school teachers like that sort of attention. However\, attention can go the other way. Alert\, yes\, and open\, casting a wide swath\, noticing connections and relationships as things arise\, including my place in the dance of things. \nIn her most famous poem\, Mary Oliver comes with big questions: \nWho made the world?\nWho made the swan\, and the black bear? \nOnly to be drawn out of speculation into life\, as it come to her in a grasshopper: \nThis grasshopper\, I mean —\nthe one who has flung herself out of the grass\,\nthe one who is eating sugar out of my hand\,\nwho is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —\nwho is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.\nNow she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.\nNow she snaps her wings open\, and floats away. \nShe brings it home confessing that she does not know much about much; prayer\, paying attention\, on how to be idle and blessed…the very actions that have made up her day: \nI don’t know exactly what a prayer is.\nI do know how to pay attention\, how to fall down\ninto the grass\, how to kneel down in the grass\,\nhow to be idle and blessed\, how to stroll through the fields\,\nwhich is what I have been doing all day. \nMy 6th grade self rejoices\, she does not know how to pay attention\, the attention that narrows and focuses. Instead\, outside of knowing\, her heart is blessed in its idleness\, receiving what comes. This is attention as well\, alert and open\, in connection with what comes (like meditation.) I believe we can call this love. \nLove your Life\nYou have heard it read at most every Christian wedding you have attended. First Corinthians 13\, wherein the writer\, Paul of Tarsus\, speaks of a most excellent way\, the way of love. I have paraphrased this passage a great deal to fit our context: \nLove is patient and kind. It does not envy\, it does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others\, is not self seeking\, nor is it easily angered. It keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not hold separate\, but opens to life as it comes. Love receives everything\, trusts\, and abides in all. \nSurely love can be our approach to one another\, but more broadly love is an approach to living\, welcoming and trusting what comes. Patient and kind\, love includes\, welcomes. Love will not boast—there is no thing to promote over anything else. It will not seek for self\, for in love there is no self to seek or grab hold of\, or add to what is here. Nor is love easily angered\, there is no thing to protect. We can appreciate life—no\, love life—all of it as it comes our way. That which a separate self might call “good” or “bad\,” all of it is included in our full lives\, endlessly changing and in flux. \n—David Parks \n\n\n\n\n\n \n  \nCOME JOIN US on Thursdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation. All are welcome. Register to participate. \nDavid Parks Roshi\, Director of Bluegrass Zen
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/thursday-zen-with-david-parks-44/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/grasshopper500.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250304T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250304T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250130T181517Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250306T175151Z
UID:10001983-1741111200-1741116600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Equanimity Case 7 – Yaoshan Ascends the Rostrum
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nYaoshan hadn’t given a talk for a long time. The Administrator of the temple said\,\n“Everyone has been anxious for instruction for quite a while. Please\, will you give a teaching?”\nYaoshan called for the bell and everyone gathered. He climbed up to the seat.\nThen\, after a long time\, he climbed down and returned to his quarters.\nThe Administrator followed after him and asked\, “You agreed to give a teaching\nfor everyone; why didn’t you say a single word?”\nYaoshan said\, “For sutras\, there are sutra specialists. For commentaries\, there are\ncommentary specialists. What do you want from me?”\n\n—Book of Serenity Case 7 \nIn the first case of Equanimity we had the Buddha ascending the rostrum\, now we have Yaoshan ascending the rostrum in the same way. Is the repetition just in case we didn’t get it the first time? Either Hongzhi\, who originally collected the koans\, or Wansong\, who took Hongzhi’s collection and added commentary\, chose to give these two cases the same name\, except for the name of the protagonist. They must have appreciated that the same point was being made and at the same time recognized that something different was being offered in the case of Yaoshan. \nWith Yaoshan we have the conversation that happens after he descends from the rostrum and that’s where my attention went. Then a story about Yaoshan and his teacher Shitou joined in the conversation. That story goes like this: \nOne day Shitou came upon Yaoshan sitting in the garden. He asked Yaoshan what he was doing and Yaoshan said\, “I’m not doing anything.” To which Shitou replied\, “Why are you sitting here wasting time?” Yaoshan replied\, “If I was wasting time\, then I’d be doing something.” Shitou then said\, “What is this ‘not doing anything’ that you’re talking about?” Yaoshan said\, “Not even the 10\,000 sages know.”\n\nIn the koan that we kept company with before this one\, it was elder brother Hai who said he didn’t know\, placing himself firmly in the ranks of the 10\,000 sages. \nAs to what Yaoshan’s specialty was\, it seems obvious\, it was “not doing anything.” \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-31/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Rostrum500.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250303T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250303T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250212T200441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T174107Z
UID:10002008-1741024800-1741030200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:MONDAY ZEN with Jon Joseph: The Way to Cold Mountain: A Hermit's Poems and Life
DESCRIPTION:Looking for a refuge\nCold Mountain will keep you safe\na faint wind stirs dark pines\ncome closer\, the sound gets better\nbelow them sits a gray-haired man\nchanting Taoist texts\nten years unable to return\nhe forgot the way he came \n—The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain\, Red Pine\, (4) \nFor over a thousand years\, this has been one of the most beloved poems in Chan-Zen Buddhist and Daoist communities everywhere. The hermit writes that for a very long time he has lived deep in the mountains\, and he is now not sure if he wants to\, or even can\, return home. “Cold Mountain\,” writes Gary Snyder\, “in Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems\, is more than the name of an anonymous Tang Dynasty poet; it is also a place and a state of mind. As verse\, the poems are ‘colloquial\, rough\, and fresh.’” \nCold Mountain has always been the people’s\, rather than the critic’s\, choice. “The Chinese literati over the centuries never seemed to embrace the rag-wearing beggar as one of their own\,” writes Bill (Red Pine) Porter. Porter believes Cold Mountain is the people’s favorite just because he is simple\, honest and rudely playful. \nThe 300 poems\, collected off rocks\, bamboo\, wood and the walls of houses\, demonstrate in the writer a vast range of human emotion: expansive consciousness (“my mind is like the autumn moon/clear and bright in a pool of jade”)\, occasional bitterness (“Wise ones you ignore me/I ignore you fools”)\, and a melancholy loneliness (“recently visiting family and friends/most have left for the Yellow Springs”). \nHe gives hints of a former\, perhaps easier\, life now lost: tending a garden with his wife\, raising daughters\, enjoying a high social position. This is what the people understand in him: Love\, loss and loneliness. “Cold Mountain was a flesh-and-blood sage\, not a bronze or porcelain image\,” writes John Blofeld\, in his introduction to Red Pine’s translation. But Cold Mountain also shows in stories of his madcap life with two sidekicks\, Pickup and Big Stick\, that all is not tears. \nOne day while he was dusting the statues in the shrine hall Pickup went to the altar and ate a piece of fruit left by a worshiper in front of the statue of Shakyamuni. Then before the statue of Kaundinya\, the Buddha’s first disciple\, he yelled\, ”Hinayana monk!” The other monks who saw this reported it to the chief custodian\, who moved Pickup into the kitchen to work… \n–o– \nOnce when the monks were grilling eggplants\, Cold Mountain (who occasionally worked in the temple kitchen) grabbed a string of them and swung them against a monk’s back. When the monk turned around\, Cold Mountain held up the eggplants and said\, “What’s this?” The monk cried out\, “You lunatic!” Cold Mountain turned to another monk and said\, “Tell this monk he’s wasting salt and soy sauce…” \n–o– \nOnce I reached Cold Mountain\nI stayed for thirty years\nrecently visiting family and friends\nmost had left for the Yellow Springs\nslowly fading like a dying candle\nor surging past like a flowing stream\ntoday facing my solitary shadow\nsuddenly both eyes filled with tears (53) \n–o– \nI have a single cave\na cave with nothing inside\nspacious and devoid of dust\nfull of light that always shines\na meal of plants feeds a frail body\na cloth robe masks a mirage\nlet your thousand sages appear\nI have the primordial buddha (163) \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-49/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/coldmountain500.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250302T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250302T120000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250224T163104Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T235617Z
UID:10002015-1740911400-1740916800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends: Dodging the Monsters\, Chasing the Plum Blossoms
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nIn the East\, ice and more ice\,\nIt is like claws\, a lock\, and the thaw is slow\nwhich is hard on the little creatures.\nIn the west\, delirious daffodils and\, finally\, plum blossoms.\nIn the capital\, presidents are screaming\, red faced.\nRed is a nice color\,\nI had a bright red car once which I bought because\, well I’m a bit color blind.\nIn any event\, it’s time for modest and encouraging early blooms like hound’s tongue\nwhich is actually stars\, blue stars\, a galaxy\,\npointing to the inner life which heals\, opens us\,\nand for which we sing\nand sit very still \nSit with us\, Sit with us\, we are building a culture for awakening \nJoin us this Sunday. \n—John Tarrant \n\n\n\n \nMeditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong\, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you\, for doors to open by themselves\, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead. \n\n\nWaking up is something we do together\, in the online temple on Sunday. We love it when you join us.  \n—John Tarrant Roshi and all of us at PZI
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-march-2-25/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Hounds500.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250301T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250301T100000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250130T183255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250214T170223Z
UID:10001993-1740816000-1740823200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SATURDAY ZEN: For PZI Members – Conversations with David Weinstein
DESCRIPTION:About Saturday Conversations \nDokusan is the Japanese word for these conversations about meditation practice. It means “to go alone” or “to practice alone.” It is to have a conversation so intimate\, that for both participants it is as if you were talking with and listening to yourself. \nThe word “conversation” (in place of the Japanese word dokusan) has its own way of speaking to the experience. \nEtymologically\, it means “to turn around together.” Meditation is often referred to as a turning around of our attention towards the inside. These conversations about meditation practice are an opportunity for a mutual turning the light around and exploring what’s there. \n—David Weinstein \n\nSaturday Conversations with David Weinstein Roshi\nOnline on Zoom from 8–10:00 am Pacific Time\nEvery two weeks \nIf you are a PZI Member and would like to have a conversation with David\,\nbook your 15-minute online meeting for March 1st here. \nDana gratefully accepted \nQuestions? Contact David
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/saturday-zen-for-pzi-members-conversations-with-david-weinstein-15/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:Saturday Conversations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Buddha-laying-down.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250225T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250225T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20241220T205020Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250220T232947Z
UID:10001959-1740506400-1740511800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Mazu's Black and White
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nA student asked Mazu\, “Without talking about philosophy\,\nplease tell me simply why Bodhidharma came from the West?”\nMazu said\, “Today I’m worn out and can’t explain it to you.\nGo find Zhizang and ask him.”\nThe student asked Zhizang\, who said\, “Why didn’t you ask the teacher?”\n“He told me to ask you.”\n“I have a headache today and can’t explain it to you.\nGo and find Elder Brother Hai and ask him.”\nThe student asked Hai\, who said\, “Ever since I came to this place I haven’t been able to explain that.”\nThe student told Mazu about this.\nMazu said\, “Zhizang’s hair is white\, Hai’s hair is black.” \n—Mazu’s Black and White\, Book of Serenity Case 6 \nAs soon as I started spending time with this koan\, a similar story involving Mazu came to mind: \nMazu and Baizhang had gone on a walk and seen wild geese fly away\, and Mazu asked Baizhang where they had gone. Baizhang responded\, “They flew away.” Mazu grabbed and twisted Baizhang’s nose and Baizhang cried out in pain. Mazu said\, “They haven’t gone anywhere at all.” Baizhang had an awakening experience.  \nAfter that experience\, Baizhang returned to the monk’s quarters and sat\, quietly weeping. One of his friends asked why he was weeping\, and Baizhang said\, “Go ask Mazu.” So Baizhang’s friend asked Mazu\, who replied\, “Go back and asked Baizhang.”  \nHe went back and arrived at the monk’s quarters to find Baizhang laughing. He said to Baizhang\, “Just a little while ago you were crying and now you’re laughing. What’s going on?” Baizhang replied\, “A little while ago I was crying and now I’m laughing.” \nWhose head was white and whose head was black in that situation? \nAt that point another koan came along to join the conversation. \nMujaku asked her teacher Bukko\, “What is Zen?”\nAnd Bukko replied\, “The heart of the one who asks. You cannot get it from another’s words.” \nMy mind throws up the question: If you cannot get it from another’s words\, then what’s the point of asking? In response to that\, I hear the first teaching I received about koan practice:  \n“Make your mind a question mark.”  \nWhether the question is “What is Zen?” or “Why are you weeping?” or “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?” You cannot get the answer from another’s words. When brother Hai said\, “Ever since I came to this place I haven’t been able to explain that\,” he was not expressing any deficiency on his part. \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nCOME JOIN US on Tuesdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \nDavid Weinstein Roshi\, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community \n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/tuesday-zen-with-david-weinstein-30/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/blacksheepCALENDAR.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250224T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250224T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20250114T204533Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250226T184401Z
UID:10001981-1740420000-1740425400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ZEN LUMINARIES: Dancing with the Dead – Jon Joseph in Conversation with Author & Translator Red Pine (Bill Porter)
DESCRIPTION:  \n\nPlease join us this Monday night when in our Pacific Zen Luminaries Series we visit with the celebrated Dharma translator\, Red Pine.  \nRed Pine\, also known as Bill Porter\, will share with us his pilgrimage to find and learn from present-day Chinese mountain hermits as chronicled in his book\, Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits\, and featured in the recent Woody Creek Pictures documentary\, Dancing with the Dead. Also joining us for this multi-media presentation are the film’s producer and director\, Ward Serrill\, and the vocalist in the film\, Spring Cheng. \nIn addition\, Red Pine will read from one of his earliest translations\, The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse.  \nStonehouse was a little-known Chinese hermit-poet of uncommon clarity and insight. Born into an elite family in 1272—the last years of the great Song Dynasty before it was overthrown by the Kublai Khan—at the age of twenty\, Stonehouse decided to become a Buddhist monk and went on to study with several outstanding teachers of the day.  \nA brilliant student\, he accepted the post of meditation master at a prestigious temple\, and was rapidly promoted to the position of abbot at several larger monasteries. But at age forty he tired of institutional prestige and position\, and gave up teaching to live as a simple hermit in a hand-built bamboo hut in the mountains. \nBelow are two of his many poems: \nDon’t think a mountain home means you’re free\na day doesn’t pass without its cares\nold ladies steal my bamboo shoots\nboys lead oxen into the wheat\ngrubs and beetles destroy my greens\nboars and squirrels devour the rice\nthings don’t always go my way\nwhat can I do by turn to myself\n \n(Mountain Poems\, 10) \nStripped of conditions\, my mind is at rest\nemptied of existence\, my nature is at peace\nhow often at night\, have my windows turned white\nas the moon and stream passed by my door\n \n(Mountain Poems\, 108) \n\nSo I’ve come to realize that translation is not just another literary art. It’s the ultimate literary art. For me this means a tango with Li Bai\, or a waltz with Wing-Wu. But in any case\, a dance with the dead. \n—Bill Porter \n\nShort Bio \nBill Porter assumes the pen name Red Pine for his translation work\, and is recognized as one of the world’s finest translators of Chinese poetic and religious texts. \nHe was born in Los Angeles in 1943\, grew up in the Idaho Panhandle\, served a tour of duty in the US Army\, graduated from the University of California with a degree in anthropology\, and attended graduate school at Columbia University.  \nUninspired by the prospect of an academic career\, he dropped out of Columbia and moved to a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. After four years with the monks and nuns\, he struck out on his own and eventually found work at English-language radio stations in Taiwan and Hong Kong\, where he interviewed local dignitaries and produced more than a thousand programs about his travels in China.  \nHis translations have been honored with a number of awards\, including two NEA translation fellowships\, a PEN Translation Prize\, and the inaugural Asian Literature Award of the American Literary Translators Association.  \nHe was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to support work on a book based on a pilgrimage to the graves and homes of China’s greatest poets of the past\, which was published under the title Finding Them Gone in January of 2016. More recently\, Porter received the 2018 Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation bestowed by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  \nHe lives in Port Townsend\, Washington. \nsource: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/authors/bill-porter/ \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 $25—$250.
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/zen-luminaries-dancing-with-the-dead-jon-joseph-in-conversation-with-author-translator-red-pine/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/RedPine-CALENDAR_500x375.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250224T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250224T193000
DTSTAMP:20260503T050007
CREATED:20241220T203617Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250217T181836Z
UID:10001943-1740420000-1740425400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Monday Zen with Jon Joseph
DESCRIPTION:Jon Joseph is not teaching today\, but will return on March 3rd. We hope you join us then!\n\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-48/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/wooden-bucketCALENDAR500x350.jpg
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