Message from Henry: Friends
Sometimes I wonder if the greatest value of our Dharma practice is what it does to our ability to relate to one another. Could it be that all our practice
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Author Archives: MCZC
Going Back to the Source: A conversation with Stephen Batchelor and Henry Shukman
On June 4, 2014, Stephen Batchelor and Henry Shukman sat down for an engaging conversation at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico on “Going Back to
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Random Thoughts on Practice
All is well at Mountain Cloud. Flowers are blooming intensely in the tail end of a long and wonderfully wet summer. As the poet said: What would the world be,
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Me
It turns out this “me” is a seed — as Jesus said, it’s the “corn of wheat” that must fall to the ground and die. Zen always says: Die! Be
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Angst
“… If we could just flip the angle of light, the trick of perspective, we would see exactly what we do not see, rather than what we do see…” What
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Podcast: Seppo’s Poisonous Snake
Episode Description: In this talk exploring Case 22 of the Blue Cliff Record, we examine the teachings of the great Tang-dynasty master Seppo, who had a long hard struggle in
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The Ancestors’ Love
What do we have to do to receive the love and help of the ancestors, ever more deeply and thoroughly, until finally we know that we do nothing, and they
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Addiction to Suffering
Suffering is a system to which we attach ourselves. In a way, that’s OK. If that’s what we choose to do, then so be it. Except in another way it’s
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Little Champion
When I get hopeless about human life, which quite frankly is far too difficult for me, I like to remember that in the desert there is a little butterfly that
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Teisho: What is Zen?
Welcome to Mountain Cloud Zen Podcast (MCZP) Series! Episode Description: This talk, the first in our new audio podcast series, offers some brief introductory thoughts by way of an overview
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About Zen
Zen is a practice of meditation and action designed to free us to live compassionate, healthy and energized lives. The word “Zen” simply means meditation. The practice of meditation can
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Hokusai says …
Hokusai says look carefully. He says pay attention, notice. He says keep looking, stay curious. He says there is no end to seeing. He says look forward to getting old.
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The fundamental position of Sanbo Zen (formerly the Sanbo Kyodan)
YAMADA Kôun Roshi stated as follows: “The fundamental position of Sanbô Zen is to stand at the origin point of Buddhism through the Dharma gate of Dôgen Zenji.” The “origin
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States and Facts
Something we should try to be clear about is the difference between a “state” and a “fact.” In America the early popularity of Zen in the 50’s and 60’s was
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