Meditation on Koans and Deep Listening

First Thursdays at 6:30 PM

Started in 2015, this koan meditation relies predominantly on koans as gateways to our true nature. Koans are awakening stories that have been handed down through the Ch’an and Zen Buddhist traditions. Using koans and other objects of attention, we will explore the effect these ancient stories have on our very own lives. This practice is grounded in a 30 minute period of sitting followed by a formal deep listening session. We often discover that awakening stories from the past is actually our very own awakening in the present moment. The approach to the koans comes from John Tarrant, Roshi, at the Pacific Zen Institute.
Tammy Kaousias seriously turned to meditation and yoga methods more than 15 years ago to help manage the stresses in the legal profession and in caring for elderly parents at the same time. She mostly practices koan meditation in the lineage of John Tarrant. She is also a member of the Lotus Light and MOCD sanghas and finds great depth and guidance in the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu and Dzogzhen lineages.