Meeting the Inconceivable | Zen Koans, Dreams & the Creative Life

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
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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
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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
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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

Today, Roshi John Tarrant takes up an infamous koan about a woman raising a goose in a bottle.
There are many bottles that we may feel trapped in throughout our lives. Awakening is never about solving our problems but rather about dissolving the constraints of the mind.
In this episode, we discuss the don't-know quality of Zen and koans in general.
We also consider koans as a gateway.
"Reject what is not true, and the real naturally appears." — John Tarrant.
What You'll Learn:
What does the koan about the goose in the bottle teach us
How to care for life
What is awakening
How to get the goods out of the bottle
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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

This episode features several stories of awakening to what was always already here and on our side.
To end the project of suffering that many of us take on, we need first to identify the types of suffering. Only then can we begin to look past the suffering to the root causes.
In Buddhism, we can learn to make use of our suffering by reaching for the light.
What does reaching for the light look like, and why does the mind manufacture misery?
"There is a place inside of you where you can rest. Even when you are reaching, you are resting inside of your life." — Allison Atwill.
What You'll Learn:
How to look beyond frustration
What suffering does Buddhism speak to
How does the mind manufacture misery
What are the two kinds of suffering
Why does the mind manufacture misery
What is inward radiance
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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