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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240811T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240811T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240704T000055Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250402T235319Z
UID:10001801-1723372200-1723377600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SUNDAY ZEN with Guest Host Jon Joseph: The Journey Itself Is Home
DESCRIPTION:The months and days are like travelers of a hundred generations; the passing years are also like travelers. For those who spend their lives on a boat drifting offshore or grow old leading a horse by the mouth\, every day is a journey\, and the journey itself is home. \nThus opens Matsuo Basho’s greatest travel journal\, a collection of prose and short verse detailing his 1\,500-mile journey through the wild north of 18th century Japan. Considered dangerous travel at the time\, it became for him his richest of experiences. \nOn that route Basho met the whole of life: He heard peasants singing rice-planting songs in spring\, was mired in muddy tracks in May\, sobbed at the thick summer grasses growing over an ancient battlefield\, and was plagued by the fleas and lice sleeping with him in a horse’s stall. At the end he stood on the dark seashore as ocean waves crashed under a full autumn moon. \nBasho’s travels to the interior are not different from our own journey inward. We begin this path thinking it narrow and perhaps even perilous. But with time\, with practice together\, our hearts and minds begin to open and widen and we feel more generous. We realize that the spring is green and wet\, the summer smokey and hot—all as they should be. August tomatoes arrive on time\, welcoming us to this grand adventure. It is a good path\, this one. One worthy of our lives. \nJoin us. \n–Jon Joseph \nSunday Zen with Guest Host Jon Joseph\, August 11th\, 2024 \n\n\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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration is FREE or you may elect to donate $10.\n\nDana and donations are gratefully accepted.\nOnce you register\, you’ll receive a PZI link for access to:\nSunday Zen at 10:30 am Pacific Time
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-33-2-2-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/boat_monet_500W.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240806T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240806T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240731T200715Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240828T162912Z
UID:10001795-1722967200-1722972600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Hugging the Golden-Haired Lion
DESCRIPTION:A student asked Yunmen\, “What is the pure and everlasting body of reality?”\nYunmen said\, “A fence of flowers and healing herbs.”\nThe student asked\, “What’s it like when I reach there?”\nYunmen said\, “Golden haired lion!” \nAnother time when Yunmen was asked a similar question\, his reply was “dried shitstick.” Reminds me of Zhaozhou’s response to a similar question\, which was\, “Oak tree in the garden.” That’s what the pure and everlasting body of reality looks like\, sounds like\, acts like. That the image of a golden haired lion is used in reference to the intertwined nature of the real and the provisional\, emptiness and form\, is interesting\, but I doubt Yunmen had that in mind when he said it. I doubt he had anything in mind when he said it. \nI receive an inordinate number of videos featuring people hugging\, being hugged by\, rolling around with and generally being amazingly intimate with big lions\, tigers\, and all manner of big cat. I love seeing them and wish I could have a big cat with which I could to do that\, too.  \nWhat if Yunmen felt that way\, and saw the student who asked the question as a golden haired lion that he wanted to roll around with? The verse to the case would appear not to be so kind to either Yunmen\, or the student: \nA fence of flowers and healing herbs. Don’t look so stupid!\nThe pointer is on the scale arm\, not on the measuring pan.\n“…When one goes on that way…”  —What a foolish thing to say! A golden-haired lion. Everybody look! \nIndeed\, everybody look! Here are a couple of ways that a golden haired lion can look. \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-17-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/lion.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240805T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240805T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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:20240804T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240804T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240729T212409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250402T232831Z
UID:10001782-1722767400-1722772800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SUNDAY ZEN with John Tarrant & Friends: Summertime
DESCRIPTION:The Dharma is a long and ancient conversation \nEmperor Wenzong wrote\, \nPeople suffer from the burning heat\, but I always love the summer days. \nThe poet Liu Gongquan replied\, \nA fragrant breeze blows from the south\,\ngiving rise in the palace to a refreshing coolness. \nAt these words Dahui was enlightened. \nAnd this became a koan. \nThis summer I was looking forward to that cool breeze and to the thoughts falling out of my mind. Other things happened instead\, sometimes mad and sometimes hard to welcome. \nThey included great fires\, a friend with a brain tumor\, the Olympics\, an intense and vivid covid in which I had conversations with Avalokitesvara. Also\, not going to Provence to friends and lavender fields was part of the yearning of it. \nIn the end it was beautiful. \nJoin us on Sunday when we are all at the center of the universe \n\n\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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration is FREE or you may elect to donate $10.\n\nDana and donations are gratefully accepted.\nOnce you register\, you’ll receive a PZI link for access to:\nSunday Zen at 10:30 am Pacific Time
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-33-2-2-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/lavendar-field.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240801T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240801T173000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240708T194632Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T222556Z
UID:10001805-1722528000-1722533400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Thursday Zen with David Parks
DESCRIPTION:NO THURSDAY ZEN TODAY \nDavid Parks is on break throughout August\, returning to Thursday Zen on September 5th. Come join us then! \n\n\n\n\n\n \n  \nCOME JOIN US at 4 pm on Thursdays for koan meditation\, dharma talk and conversation.\nRegister to participate. All are welcome. \n\n\nDavid Parks Roshi\, Director of Bluegrass Zen \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-thursday-zen-with-david-parks-5/2024-08-01/
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 Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240730T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240730T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240724T214032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240726T190506Z
UID:10001765-1722362400-1722367800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: The Alchemical Process of Losing and Finding
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nSomeone asked\, “What is meditating and seeing things just as they are?”\nYunmen said\, “A coin lost in the river is found in the river.” \n“Where is my phone? Where are my keys? Where are my glasses?” I ask myself these questions\, accompanied by a sinking feeling in my gut\, multiple times a day. I am not sure if it is getting worse\, or I am getting better at noticing it more. Recently I was looking for a pair of scissors that I had just used and put down\, which had mysteriously disappeared\, though I had not moved. I found the scissors where I left them\, right in front of me. That’s when the koan about the coin lost in the river paid me a visit. \nI remembered that this saying of Yunmen’s was the response to the question\, “What is meditating and seeing things clearly?” Rather than a description of a static state\, Yunmen gives a description of a process. The process is losing and finding and then losing again and finding again. Reminds me of the alchemical process of dissolution and coagulation. \nThose scissors that I was looking for were hidden under a piece of paper that I had placed on top of them. Just like the way I obscure my ability to see things clearly by putting things\, ideas\, my opinions and agendas\, on top of what’s there. Of course\, then there is the added story that I put on top of that\, something along the lines of “Who moved them?” or “Not again!” or “What’s the matter with me?” \nThe fact is\, I lost my attention before I lost the scissors and it found me again in the midst of having lost it. Sometimes an awakening experience is described as remembering something you did not know you had forgotten. It was kind of like that. I noticed that I was clinging to my idea about where I left the scissors and my idea about myself\, when I remembered my attention\, which I had not noticed that I had forgotten. I had the spaciousness to be able to look other places than where I thought I left them. I was able to be aware of other possibilities. \nLost anything lately? Find it? What was that like? \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-16-6/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/coins-with-statue.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240729T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240729T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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:20240728T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240728T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240709T220646Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240709T220646Z
UID:10001771-1722162600-1722168000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends
DESCRIPTION:NO SUNDAY ZEN TODAY \nJohn Tarrant is away in July. \nCome join us for our next Sunday Zen on August 4th! \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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-10-2/2024-07-28/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cavedoor500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240725T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240725T173000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240712T180614Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240723T171845Z
UID:10001767-1721923200-1721928600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:THURSDAY ZEN with David Parks: Dharma at the End of Summer
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nSummer is more than halfway done. Already I am starting to grieve. Every year I look forward to the blueberries in May\, and then it is a joy to greet ripe blackberries towards the end of June. Now\, the blackberries are finished and the blueberries are only a memory. Now we are picking tomatoes and cantaloupes. Our summer garden is soon done. When I look at the trees\, they seem tired\, the pawpaw already dropping its leaves. Now just half way through\, Genevieve said to me last night\, “It is beginning to feel like fall\,” as the cooling wind blew our faces.  \nDongshan’s big question as he practiced under Nanquan was whether inanimate objects preach the dharma or not. Well\, yes\, rocks and sticks\, and pawpaws and blueberries\, too; tomatoes and cantaloupes and peppers\, all preach\, practice the dharma\, and accompany us on the Way. So\, the end of the summer practice period is in the air. \nSummer is a time for practice. Just as Pacific Zen Institute gathered in retreat in June and Bluegrass Zen went on retreat in early July\, the monks of Tang Dynasty gathered in monasteries all summer to practice the Way. That’s what we have been doing\, all summer we bodhisattvas have practiced the Way of the Open Heart in person and in the online practice of the PZI Open Temple. Now\, it’s in the wind\, in the whitening leaves – the summer practice is winding down.  \nThis brings me to today’s koan\, from the Blue Cliff Record\, Case 8. It was at the end of a summer practice period that Cuiyang (Kingfisher-Cliff Mountain) engaged his dharma brothers\, Baofu (Prosper-Nurture Mountain) Changqing and Yunmen (Cloud-Gate Mountain) in a conversation. Here is a mash up of the koan using David Hinton’s translation and others: \nInstructing the assembled sangha at the end of summer session\, Kingfisher-Cliff Mountain said: “I’ve been here all summer for you\, my friends. I’ve talked and talked. Now\, look closely at this Kingfisher-Cliff: Did my eyebrows fall out?”\n“It takes an empty mind to be a thief\,” observed Prosper-Nurture Mountain.\n“Revealed\,” quipped Reward-Perpetua Mountain.\n“Barrier\,” declared Cloud-Gate Mountain. \nThis is an interesting koan. First\, about those eyebrows: there is a Chinese folk tale that says when someone distorts the dharma their eyebrows fall out\, and as they communicate with wisdom and insight they grow. Is Cuiyan really concerned? And Cuiyan’s dharma brothers\, what of them as they make their response? “Barrier!” called out Yunmen. \nI think of the ways I check myself as I approach the end of something\, a season\, a relationship\, the ways that I evaluate as good or bad\, my behavior\, actions\, thoughts\, feelings. Is this what Kingfisher-Cliff Mountain is up to? Here he is with his dharma siblings\, all students of Xuefeng and all renowned Chan Masters. Is he checking himself\, calling himself out as wrong? Or are the four of them having what we might call a good time? But mostly\, I just can’t get over Kingfisher Cliff and those eye brows\, him sticking his face out\, asking everyone to look\, “Now\, look closely at this Kingfisher-Cliff: Did my eyebrows fall out?” Which face do they see? Do you remember this koan\, also from the Blue Cliff\, Zhaozhou’s Stone Bridge: \nA monk said to Visitation-Land: “I’ve long heard talk about how Visitation-Land is a stone bridge. But now I’ve come\, all I see is a little plank.”\n“Well\, if all you see is a little plank\,” replied Land\, “Of course you don’t see a stone bridge.”\n“What is this stone bridge?” asked the monk.\n“Mules cross-beyond over it. Horses cross-beyond over it.” \nLet’s get together on Thursday and have a conversation about Kingfisher-Cliff Mountain and his eyebrows at the end of the summer practice period. \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-31-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fruit-on-ground.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240723T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240723T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240717T221911Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240718T192444Z
UID:10001764-1721757600-1721763000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: Every Day Is a Doorway
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nYunmen said\, “I don’t ask you about before awakening\, say something about after awakening.”\nHe answered himself saying\, “Every day is a good day.” \nThe prospect of every day being a good day is attractive. Equanimity in the midst of chaos sounds like a preferred way for things to go. It’s not uncommon to think that after awakening everything is going to be fine: no more troubles\, no more problems. Attaining Nirvana\, paradise\, is the goal\, right? Depends on what Nirvana means to you. \nMark Twain’s book\, Letters from the Earth\, is a series of letters from Archangel Satan reporting back to God about his creation. One thing that puzzles Satan is the way that humans think of heaven. When they are alive\, they do not look forward to the experience of spending Sunday in church. However\, Satan notes\, their conception of heaven seems to be an eternal Sabbath with angels singing and church bells ringing. \nMore recently\, and similarly\, David Byrne wrote in his song\, Heaven: “Heaven\, heaven is a place\, a place where nothing\, nothing ever happens.” If nothing ever happens\, nothing bad can happen—is that Heaven? The path of meditation is sometimes called the middle way. In pursuit of the ‘middle\,’ we can practice in such a way as to cut off the highs and lows of life\, leaving nothing but the middle\, which is a kind of dead way to live. There are fewer traumas\, but less life too\, and that itself is a trauma. \nYunmen’s good day is not a day when nothing bad happens\, when nothing unwanted happens\, when there are no fires and no smoke\, no positive Covid tests. It is the whole enchilada\, containing it all. Our meditation practice gives us access to a doorway out of our small\, safe\, constructed life into something larger—and that’s good. \nJoin us. \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-16-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/doorway-with-light.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240722T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240722T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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:20240721T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240721T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240709T220646Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240709T220646Z
UID:10001770-1721557800-1721563200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends
DESCRIPTION:NO SUNDAY ZEN TODAY \nJohn Tarrant is away in July. \nCome join us for our next Sunday Zen on August 4th! \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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-10-2/2024-07-21/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cavedoor500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240716T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240716T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240709T233236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240718T180147Z
UID:10001763-1721152800-1721158200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: What Is Your Original Face?
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nQuickly\, without thinking good or evil\,\nwhat is your original face before your parents were born? \n—Gateless Barrier Case 23 \nThat word “quickly” quickly got my attention. Some translations don’t have it but most do\, which is interesting. That it has survived all this time as part of the koan speaks to me about the importance of “quickly.” I was reminded that according to Buddhist teachings there are sixty-four thought moments in the snap of a finger. Huineng is encouraging us to be quicker than that. \nI recently saw an article about a skydiver who became the first person to break the sound barrier while skydiving\, going faster than the speed of sound. Huineng is urging us to go faster than the speed of thought\, to break the thought barrier. \nCheck it out\, how quickly do ideas about good or bad\, this or that\, self or other come to mind? \nThe other thing that came along as I was keeping company with this koan was part of last week’s koan\, specifically the part that asks\,“What are you?” \nOriginal face feels like a fitting response. \nJoin us Tuesday. \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-16-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Monkey-with-Mirror.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240715T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240715T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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:20240714T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240714T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240709T220646Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240709T220646Z
UID:10001769-1720953000-1720958400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends
DESCRIPTION:NO SUNDAY ZEN TODAY \nJohn Tarrant is away in July. \nCome join us for our next Sunday Zen on August 4th! \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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-10-2/2024-07-14/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cavedoor500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240711T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240711T173000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240708T185658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240920T011350Z
UID:10001766-1720713600-1720719000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:THURSDAY ZEN with David Parks: Bathing in the Mountain Forest
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\n\nIn the old days there were sixteen bodhisattvas. When it was time to bathe they got into the bath together. They suddenly realized the cause of water and said\, “This subtle touch releases the brightness. We have become the sons and daughters of the Buddha.” \n—Blue Cliff Record\, Case 78 \nLast week\, Bluegrass Zen made a trip into the Eastern Kentucky Mountains for a summer retreat. We were fifteen bodhisattvas\, who over five days—waking\, sleeping\, eating\, walking—meditated and practiced with koans. We were joined by a canine companion\, Shadow\, and accompanied by sweet mountain birds\, who sang us to and to the meditation hall every morning and evening. Their song resounded throughout the mountain forest. \nOne day a fierce storm bore down: lightening flashing\, wind blowing\, and thunder rolling. Birds\, storms\, songs\, walks up steep mountain hillsides\, breath heaving and heart beating along with the songs and storms alive in our hearts. We welcomed the fullness of what it is to be alive. \nIn the words of Thursday’s koan\, we got into the bath together immersing ourselves in the fullness of abundant life. \nComplete and full immersion in what life might bring\, beyond good and bad\, reveals the light that shines in all things. That is what we’ll be exploring on Thursday. \nJoin us. \n\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-31-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/bathers.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240709T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240709T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240702T010758Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240709T220548Z
UID:10001802-1720548000-1720553400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: The Whole World Is Medicine
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nYunmen said\, “Sickness and medicine heal each other.\nThe whole world is medicine. What are you?” \n—Blue Cliff Record Case 87 \nThe first thing that paid a visit as I began keeping company with this saying from Yunmen was remembering that the medication Warfarin\, which is used to prevent blood clots\, is also the main ingredient of rat poison. Poison and medicine exactly correspond. \nThen a saying of Hongzhi came to mind: \nMedicine and sickness are a pair difficult to separate. When the bottom is filled with rubbish\, just walk through the sludge. Do not laugh at the snail\, meandering in its own slime. \nIn the Tibetan meditation tradition\, people who practice meditation for the benefit of other people\, bodhisattvas\, are likened to peacocks: It is said that the brilliant colors in a peacock’s tail feathers come from the fact that the peacock eats poison and transmutes this into brilliant colors.  \nAs yucky as snail slime might be to us\, it’s what allows the snail to glide along in the way it does. When my mind is filled with rubbish that gets in the way of my experiencing the moment as it is arising\, trying to get rid of that rubbish creates more rubbish.  \nTo be able to find our life in the midst of the rubbish and sludge is not to “make do” with a bad situation\, but to glide along like that snail\, appreciating how rubbish and treasure are a pair difficult to separate. \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-16-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/medicine.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240708T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240708T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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:20240707T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240707T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240627T222030Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240627T222030Z
UID:10001768-1720348200-1720353600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends
DESCRIPTION:John Tarrant is away in July. \nCome join us for our next Sunday Zen on August 4th! \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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-10/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cavedoor500x350.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240702T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240702T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240627T205424Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240628T174302Z
UID:10001761-1719943200-1719948600@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: What Visits in the Cold and the Heat?
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nA student asked Dongshan\, “When cold and heat come\, how can we avoid them?”\nDongshan said\, “Why don’t you go to the place where there is no cold or heat?”\nThe student asked\, “Where’s the place with neither cold nor heat?”\nDongshan said\, “When it’s cold\, the cold kills you. When it’s hot\, the heat kills you.” \nAs I spend time with this koan from Dongshan about heat and cold\, I’ve been visited by a number of other koans. First there was Zhaozhou\, when someone asked him\, “When times of great difficulty visit us\, how should we meet them?” And he said\, “Welcome.” \nThen Linji came along and said\, “Wherever you are\, just take the role of host and that will be a true place.” \nThen there was Yunyan telling Dongshan\, “Just this is it.” \nWord of the party got out and a number of koans from the miscellaneous collection came along. \nStop the sound of the distant temple bell\nPut out the fire across the river\nStop the dogs barking at midnight\nExtinguish the star\nMake the mountain dance\nHide in a pillar\n \nOf course there was also Dongshan’s\, “Now it is me\, I now am not it.” \nThe other thing that happened was being reminded of an earlier time in my practice when I mistook submission for surrender. \nWhat strings in other koans get plucked for you? \n—David Weinstein \n\nDavid Weinstein Roshi\n  \nEveryone is welcome here no matter how you are feeling\, where you come from\, what you believe. \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-16-2/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fire-and-ice-500W.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240701T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240701T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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:20240701T040000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240802T070000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240627T202116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240627T202418Z
UID:10001756-1719806400-1722582000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:OPEN TEMPLE: Summer 5-Week Meditation Pass – MEMBERS FREE
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\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\, July 1st–August 2nd\, 2024. 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) \nCheck for weekly updates here  \n\nYour Temple Zoom Link\nThe recurring Zoom link for Open Temple access will be in your emailed receipt\, for entrance to ALL morning meditations. (stay tuned!) \nPZI Members FREE\, Non-Members $65 \nQuestions? Or to check your membership status\, contact Karin Pfluger \n\n\nNot a member of PZI? Now is your chance!  \nJoin us for free access to the Open Temple\, scholarships\, discounts for retreats\, our vast and growing library of dharma talks\, and other resources.\n \nBecome a Member\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/open-temple-summer-5-week-meditation-pass-members-free/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:Open Temple
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Summer-Mountain_500x375-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240630T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240630T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240618T221424Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240627T222905Z
UID:10001727-1719743400-1719748800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SUNDAY ZEN with John Tarrant & Friends: For Whom Do You Bathe and Make Yourself Beautiful?
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nJuly is the month when we take a monthlong recess\, so this is your last Sunday til August. \n\nWe are always deepening and this change never stops. Here is an old koan about the journey and where consciousness is going. It points out that when we look at life\, the view is beautiful and also we are on a journey—we are encouraged to persist. \nThe voice of the cuckoo is calling you home.\nCountless flowers have fallen\, and that voice continues—\nin the deep places\, where mountains are piled on mountains\, the call continues. \nJoin us this Sunday for a look at some of those flowers that keep falling on our path. \n\n\n \n—John Tarrant \n\n\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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration is FREE or you may elect to donate $10.\n\nDana and donations are gratefully accepted.\nOnce you register\, you’ll receive a PZI link for access to:\nSunday Zen at 10:30 am Pacific Time
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-32-5/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/woman-with-flowers.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240627T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240627T173000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240621T190430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240625T170415Z
UID:10001737-1719504000-1719509400@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:THURSDAY ZEN with David Parks: What Is It You Lack?
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nIt is said that we mingle eyebrows with the ancestors. Yep\, that can happen. In fact\, sitting down in the basement\, up pop two such ancestors\, Linji and Zhaozhou\, their words echoing across mountains and hills. \nOnce\, when addressing the assembly\, Linji posed an interesting question. He brought up the topic of lack\, that fear of missing out\, of being somehow deficient in body\, mind\, and spirit in the ability to love or be loved\, in not having enough money\, or not being wise enough. What do you lack? Speaking the word “lack\,” Linji conjures up a world of hurt as you put your lack between yourself and the simplicity of being here. \nIn your life right now\, what is it you lack\, what is it that practice must mend?  \nThis from Linji reminded me of Zhaozhou. Once\, a student thinking that they were somehow left out\, came looking for the true Dharmakaya\, the body of reality\, that which might put their mind to rest. That’s what you do when you think there is something to get\, something that you don’t have: you go looking. The student ends up at Zhaozhou’s place and asks: \nWhat is the true Dharmakaya of the Buddha? \nI love Zhaozhou’s response. He puts the student right back on themselves—their dissatisfaction\, their suffering\, their lack.  \nHe answered\, Is there anything else you don’t like?  \nDislike and lack. When this happens to me\, I dislike the feeling of lack. What is it called? Sometimes it is FOMO\, the fear of missing out. Like a wallflower at the dance\, I feel life is going on around me and I am not included. Ouch. \nWhen Zhaozhou and Linji actually met\, way back in the day\, Zhaozhou\, on pilgrimage\, was not quite as clueless as Linji’s assembly. Zhaozhou came upon Linji\, just as he was washing his feet. In Entangling Vines Case 207\, we eavesdrop on the meeting of two worthies. This is how it went: \n Zhaozhou asked\, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?”\n“Right now I happen to be washing my feet\,” replied Linji.\nZhaozhou came closer and made a show of listening.\nLinji said\, “Do I have to toss out a second ladleful of dirty water?!”\nZhaozhou departed. \nLooks like a meeting to me. A moment in and outside of time where nothing is missing\, no lack. The sound of water running into the basin\, a tilting of the head\, a cocking the ear to listen\, and then a quick upside-down appreciation. I’d leave\, too. There is nothing to get here. Nothing else to do. \nJoin us Thursday. \n—David Parks \n\n\n\n\n\nDavid Parks Roshi\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-30-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/empty-bowl-.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Parks Roshi":MAILTO:dparksbluegrasszen@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240625T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240625T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240621T192347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240621T192622Z
UID:10001733-1719338400-1719343800@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: You Are Huichao
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\nA student asked Fayan\, “I am Huichao. What is Buddha?”\nFayan replied\, “You are Huichao!”\n \nYuanwu\, the compiler of the Blue Cliff Record had this to say about this koan: \n“People of later times just made-up interpretations of these words. Some say\,‘Huichao is himself Buddha; that is why Fayan answered as he did.’ Some say\, ‘It’s much like riding an ox searching for an ox.’ Some say\, ‘The asking is it.’ How is any of this relevant? If you go on understanding like this\, not only do you turn against yourself\, but you seriously demean that ancient teacher.” \nThat pretty much takes away any rational understanding that I might have about this koan. \nWhat’s left? \nJoin us. \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-15-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mountain-lake-500W.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240624T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240624T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240623T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240623T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240610T234312Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240702T221559Z
UID:10001726-1719138600-1719144000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:SUNDAY ZEN with John Tarrant & Friends: The Vessel of the Meditation Retreat
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\nThis Week: The Vessel of the Meditation Retreat \nWe just got out of a weeklong retreat\, so I’m thinking about what it’s like to be in a vessel together. I think of the old alchemical ideas of transformation. There is lumpy darkness and shadow\, and silver moonlight and fire\, and water and pressure and salt\, and flames having all the peacock colors. \nSomething opens in the mind and heart and we feel the blessed day\, we enter our lives without reservation or disapproval. \nJoin us! \n\n\n \n—John Tarrant \n\n\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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration is FREE or you may elect to donate $10.\n\nDana and donations are gratefully accepted.\nOnce you register\, you’ll receive a PZI link for access to:\nSunday Zen at 10:30 am Pacific Time
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-32-4/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dragon-pot_500x375.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240618T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240618T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240607T000240Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240618T013120Z
UID:10001732-1718733600-1718739000@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:TUESDAY ZEN with David Weinstein: What Is the Teaching That Lasts a Lifetime?
DESCRIPTION:REGISTER\n\n\n\n\n\nA student asked Yunmen\, “What is the teaching that lasts a lifetime?”\nYunmen replied\, “Say something in response.” \n\n\n\n\nWhen I was queried about newsletter copy for our Tuesday Zen gathering (this one)\, my response was\, “Oh shit\, I completely forgot!” It was day five of our seven-day retreat and I was completely unstuck in time. \nThen another koan came to keep me company along with Yunmen’s “Say something in response\,” which was Baizhang’s “Say something without moving your lips or tongue.” \n\n\n\n\nWhat do you say to that? \n\n\n—David Weinstein \n\n\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-15-3/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Friendship-2_500x375.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="David Weinstein Roshi":MAILTO:dweinstein@pacificzen.org
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240617T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240617T193000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240616T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240616T120000
DTSTAMP:20260509T044759
CREATED:20240522T001100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240522T001809Z
UID:10001747-1718533800-1718539200@www.pacificzen.org
SUMMARY:ON BREAK: Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends
DESCRIPTION:John Tarrant is in Summer Sesshin this week. \nCome join us next on June 23rd. \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 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://www.pacificzen.org/event/on-break-sunday-zen-with-john-tarrant-friends-9/
LOCATION:PZI Online Temple
CATEGORIES:PZI Zen Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.pacificzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cavedoor500x350.jpg
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