Ink painting of a fox walking, part of PZI's koan-inspired art collection

Working with a teacher is an essential part of Zen practice.

One-on-One Practice

When you are a member of Pacific Zen Institute you have the opportunity to work with teachers one-on-one — online, in person, or in some cases via email or phone. You may connect with a teacher in person at a retreat, or through our PZI-wide online gatherings and weekday teachings.

Individual meetings are one of the ways to go deeper in your meditation and koan practice.

Watercolor of an egret on an arched bridge beneath the moon, titled Snow in a Silver Bowl

PZI Teachers

Work with a teacher one-on-one, online or in person — a way to go deeper in your meditation and koan practice.

  • John Tarrant

    Founder & Director

    A Zen teacher, poet, and founder of PZI, interested in Zen as a way that transforms the mind, and in the dance between innovation and tradition in both teaching and practice.

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  • Allison Atwill

    Zen Teacher & Visual Artist

    Her work emerges from an intimate, embodied conversation with koans — interested in wholeness over perfection, discovery over self-improvement, and koans as a way of moving in the dark.

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  • Tess Beasley

    Zen Teacher, Board President

    Based in New York and serves as PZI’s Board President, particularly interested in the ways Zen and depth psychology complement each other to kindle creativity and transformation.

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  • Eduardo Fuentes

    Zen Teacher, Santiago, Chile

    Especially interested in how koans can help people learn what they are, and to become intimate with nature.

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  • Jon Joseph

    Director, San Mateo Zen

    Finds he is not only leading but participating in a community of brothers and sisters, any one of whom can offer guidance and wisdom to the group, and to himself.

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  • David Parks

    Director, Bluegrass Zen

    Based in Waco, Kentucky, with an interest in the parables, sayings, and doings of Jesus as Christian koans — vehicles for opening the heart-mind to life lived freely and fully.

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  • Michelle Riddle

    Teacher, PZI Digital Temple

    Involved in the care and evolution of PZI for decades, interested in how koans help with the discovery of freedom, and the creative possibilities for manifesting that freedom.

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  • David Weinstein

    Director, Rockridge Meditation Community

    Teaches regularly at the Rockridge Meditation Community in Oakland, CA, interested in discovering Zen practice in the midst of ordinary life.

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