The Mysterious Stone Crypt – with John Tarrant

You are locked in a stone crypt.
There are no windows and the door is barred from the outside.
How will you get out?

—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 20

Great koans give an image for our condition, for climate change, for being at the mercy of our leaders and of our own view. That’s the question we’re carrying: How will we get out? We’re in the same situation as Mr. Toad in Wind in the Willows, locked up in the stoutest dungeon in Merry England. 

It’s a beautiful description of what we are in, when we’re in. Whenever we’re suffering, in essence we’re in that stone crypt. And how do we get out? Zen practice is for breaking those locks.

PZI Sunday Zen with John Tarrant & Friends on October 13, 2024