Show Notes
What happens as Autumn approaches and the light begins to fade? In this episode, Roshi John Tarrant speaks to the seasonal descent we make with each great turning and the opportunity it provides for returning to the source, the eternal. Speaking on a number of koans that fall into the category of Mysterious Tasks & Impossible Problems, Tarrant guides listeners through stories of great mythic figures and illuminates the path we must each take up to be closer to the ancestors. "You start to see that it's kind of alright to be at the bottom of the sea." - John Tarrant. What You'll Learn: What are koans about How to accept your life What does the stone in the koan represent How to trust uncertainty What is the value of mysterious tasks How to feel the ancestors What happens to problems at the bottom of the sea — Links Mentioned: Learn more about this episode Learn more about koans Learn more about Zen John Tarrant's books: Bring Me the Rhinoceros The Story of the Buddha
More from Meeting the Inconceivable | Zen Koans, Dreams & the Creative Life
How can we welcome the spirit of pilgrimage into our lives? Why should we trust the "gift" of not knowing? In this episode of the Pacific Zen Podcast, Roshi John Tarrants speaks to the perennial problem of being lost as a known passageway to delighting in the inherent chaos of life. Predicaments are merely signs that things are about to evolve. "Maybe the feeling of being lost is itself an addition to not knowing. Maybe not knowing is even freer." - John Tarrant. What You'll Learn: How to delight in the chaos of life Why do we crave problems How to accept uncertainty What is meditation Why not knowing is great — Links Mentioned: Learn more about this episode Learn more about koans Learn more about Zen John Tarrant's books: Bring Me the Rhinoceros The Story of the Buddha
In this episode, Roshi Allison Atwill tells an old story in which a man dreams that he is a butterfly. Upon waking, he begins to wonder if he is, in fact, a butterfly dreaming of being a man. Atwill invites us into the true wonder that appears when our fixed views start to give way. We already know how to discover our own awakening. It is happening without our needing to try. Listen in to learn about endless transformation and how to align with the natural flow of things. "Another word for awakening is intimacy with the whole of my situation." — Allison Atwill. What You'll Learn: How to feel into the moment What is the transformation of things How to align with the transformation of things What are the impediments to a freer state of being How to be more comfortable with change — Links Mentioned: Learn more about this episode Learn more about koans Learn more about Zen John Tarrant's books: Bring Me the Rhinoceros The Story of the Buddha
Through exploring the classic Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote screenwriting rules, Roshi John Tarrant interrogates the constraints we so often place on life in hopes of it all making more sense. In meditation, our rules often begin to loosen, and the true absurdity and delight of our situation becomes clearer. What will we do with what we are given? Just taking it all in is a start. "One of the fundamental things in Zen would be being adaptive and conforming to circumstances rather than finding circumstances." — John Tarrant. What You'll Learn: What happens after awakening How to stop fighting our mind Why don't we own our joy How to cultivate a generous attitude Ways to find what is true for us How to teach a culture What are koans for — Links Mentioned: Learn more about this episode Learn more about koans Learn more about Zen John Tarrant's books: Bring Me the Rhinoceros The Story of the Buddha
In this lively summer sesshin talk, Roshi John Tarrant engages students in reflecting on what actually happens as practice deepens during a long retreat. Like front foot and back foot walking, we get a taste of the light and then are lost again in the darkness. We reach for a new koan or practice that will open the "right" door. Seeing our true nature encompasses both the light and the dark. Let the koan carry you. "There is not a matter or right or wrong. There is a matter of being here and respecting the quality of being here." — John Tarrant. What You'll Learn: How does meditation change the mind What is front foot walking How to harness the natural movement of the mind Why we should lean into difficulties How perception is linked to thought — Links Mentioned: Learn more about this episode Learn more about koans Learn more about Zen John Tarrant's books: Bring Me the Rhinoceros The Story of the Buddha
Meditation is not something you do; it is something you surrender to. In this episode, Roshi John Tarrant speaks from deep inside Summer sesshin about how, with practice, the gap between ourselves and the universe begins to close and we start to trust the deeper currents at work, even in our difficulties. What happens when you surrender to the moment? "The thing about koan meditation is you don't have to be good at it because it is before being good or bad at things." - John Tarrant. What You'll Learn: What to do in meditation How to trust life What to learn from the koan about flying birds How to interact meaningfully with koans What happens when you surrender to the moment — Links Mentioned: Learn more about this episode Learn more about koans Learn more about Zen John Tarrant's books: Bring Me the Rhinoceros The Story of the Buddha