Small Koan Groups - Meditations and Conversations about Practice

The small group program was developed by David Parks-Ramage and John Tarrant, and it is open to all members of PZI. The program consists of a number of small groups of about 6 people each, plus a facilitator. The small group program is designed around six-week sessions, with each group meeting once a week for six weeks. Some groups continue to meet outside of the formal session times – for specifics on each group, click on the links in the sidebar.

Goals for the program include:

• create a way for PZI members to become collaborators in developing a new understanding of the way koans work in our lives
• provide another context for conversation about practice and the study of koans
• promote and strengthen the PZI community and relationships within it
• provide new avenues for leadership within the PZI community
• provide an opportunity for increased commitment of PZI members and friends
• add value to affiliation with PZI

For each small group series John Tarrant selects 6 koans for study by the groups – one koan each week. The koan of the week is posted online on John's Zenosaurus blog, along with questions for the groups to discuss each week. All of the groups work with the same koan each week throughout the program, and the larger PZI Monday night programs may also center on these "koans of the week."

The koans and discussion guides from the first two small group sessions are linked from this website in the Small Group Koan Study Guide