Pacific Zen Institute

Pacific Zen Institute is a community and school committed to creating a culture for transformation through meditation, koans, conversation, and the arts. We spring from the Rinzai tradition of Zen, though have simplified much of the Japanese-style ritual we inherited to create a modern and relevant culture of personal transformation. We are a small and growing community of several hundred members, with many more reached online through, writings, media and in-person as well as online retreats and dharma gatherings. 

Pacific Zen incorporates meditation and Zen koans with teaching and shared conversation to invite students to enter and appreciate their own handmade lives. From our founding 30 years ago, director John Tarrant, Roshi has promoted awakening using Zen koans, even when much of the Zen community had moved away from them. He has shown ways that koan meditation can provide a gateway that allows us to enter a universe of freedom and compassion through creativity and deep listening.