Teachings

You can find all of our weekly Dharma talks for free right here on this page, as well as on our YouTube channel and podcast. Live talks take place every Thursday from 5:30–7:00pm MT, both in-person and on Zoom (sit.mountaincloud.org — password: mountain22). Members receive access to some special archival materials.

  • Message from Henry: Languages

    Henry ShukmanNovember 23, 20221 min read

    We are opening up the possibility of life without language. When language drops away, so does self. Then we find that there are other languages in which things speak. Breath speaks the language of breath. The heater speaks its language. Wind speaks its own language, sight speaks the language of seeing. And so on. So many languages, so many worlds. As Dogen said, “When you sail out in a boat to the middle of an...

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  • Complete Exposure of the Golden Wind: Teshin Matt Sweger

    MCZCNovember 16, 20221 min read

    On this first day of Fall, Teshin takes up case 27 of the Blue Cliff Record, Unmon’s Complete Exposure. The Case reads as follows: A monk asked Unmon, "What is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall?" Unmon answered, "Complete exposure of the golden wind”. Teshin Matt Sweger is the resident teacher at the North Carolina Zen Center. He began his Zen practice in 1993 at the Rochester Zen Center in the lineage...

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  • Message from Henry: Mindful Presence

    Henry ShukmanNovember 16, 20223 min read

    Why mindfulness?  Why does it matter?  Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh  framed Buddhist concepts in relevant ways that illuminate questions about mindfulness and presence. Thich Nhat Hanh had three main teachings…. The first is developing the capacity to be aware of the here and now.  This is a mindfulness that has the power to deactivate the harmful impulses we carry toward ourselves and others.  He encouraged his students to expressly love themselves, to speak...

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  • Dharmatalk: Complete Exposure of the Golden Wind with Matt Sweger

    MC PodcastNovember 15, 20221 min read

    On this first day of Fall, Teshin takes up case 27 of the Blue Cliff Record, Unmon’s Complete Exposure. The Case reads as follows: A monk asked Unmon, "What is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall?" Unmon answered, "Complete exposure of the golden wind”. And,

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  • Amoda Maa with Henry Shukman

    MCZCNovember 13, 20222 min read

    Two Different Paths, One Awakening In this episode, Amoda Maa is in conversation with Zen teacher Henry Shukman. The conversation is facilitated by Kavi who asks questions about the profound awakening experienced by both of these teachers, Henry within the path of Zen and Amoda without any tradition or teacher. Were these experiences the same or different? And what impact did these experiences have on how life was lived since that time? These questions and...

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  • Message from Henry: Momentum

    Henry ShukmanNovember 9, 20221 min read

    Notice the feeling of momentum that pushes and pulls you through your day, your week, your year. You can sense this pull in the body, perhaps in the chest or solar plexus. Can you be aware of that pull and let it be?  Being aware of this energy from a slightly more spacious place, you can learn to hold it with peripheral vision.  You become more aware of the sounds, scents and sights around you....

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  • Dharmatalk: Each is All, All is One with Valerie Forstman

    MC PodcastNovember 8, 20221 min read

    Upon being welcomed home from Germany, Valerie describes briefly what it's like being thrown immediately into the chaotic activity of moving from her home in Dallas to Santa Fe: "Constant activity... we are moving, all this activity and at the same time, so still." While taking a walk with co-teacher John Gaynor in Sonnenhoff, John offers Valerie this rather cerebral quote from Master Ummon, "The manifestation of the great function, knows no laws." The great...

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  • Meditative Story Podcasts

    MCZCNovember 5, 20223 min read

    A conversation and reading with Henry Shukman and Meditative Story host Rohan Gunatillake Meditative Story is a first-of-its-kind podcast listening experience that combines the emotional pull of immersive storytelling with the immediate, science-backed benefits of mindfulness practice. Meditative Story is a WaitWhat original series — created by the team who built and led TED’s media organization, and supported by its members. The Format Invention of the Meditative StoryIn each episode of Meditative Story, a different...

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  • Message from Henry: Origins of Mindfulness

    Henry ShukmanNovember 2, 20223 min read

    Mindfulness meditation comes directly out of Buddhism. Meditation, prior to Buddhism, was about connecting with something super-human or divine.  Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, immersive meditation practice allowed him to understand the origins of suffering and the way to end suffering. In the process, he completely bypassed the supernatural. Siddhartha went through a profound shift that gave him profound insight into human mental health and offered liberation from suffering.  He came up with three key components…...

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  • Dharmatalk: Coming Home, I am Already That with Valerie Forstman

    MC PodcastNovember 1, 20221 min read

    In this talk – an offering of gratitude for the life of a beloved sangha member, Valerie turns to Case 41 in the Transmission of Light or Denkoroko. A monk who has put to rest love of worldly attachments asks, “What, master, do you love?” The master’s response is an invitation to us to realize love beyond any measure. And,

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  • Message from Henry: Mindfulness and Self-Regulation

    Henry ShukmanOctober 26, 20222 min read

    All spiritual traditions, in one way or another, seek ways to calm the heart and mind, usually by seeking a supernatural power. Mindfulness, coming from the Buddhist tradition, did away with the supernatural savior. Mindfulness meditation is completely human. We use our own human capacity to become aware of each moment.    Perhaps we feel overwhelmed by inner turbulence, we struggle trying to change it or make it go away. But that doesn’t work. With...

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  • Dharmatalk: The World Honored One, Just Sat Still with Scott Thornton

    MC PodcastOctober 25, 20221 min read

    Scott explores Case 32 from the Gateless Gate, A non-buddhist questions the Buddha. The non-buddhist says, in all earnestness to the Buddha: I do not ask about words, I do not ask about no-words. The world honored one, just sat still. The non-buddhist experiences a great opening as he witnesses the Buddha’s stillness and says, The world-honored one on his great benevolence and great mercy has opened the clouds of my delusion and enabled me...

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  • Coming Home – I am Already That

    MCZCOctober 23, 20221 min read

    In this talk – an offering of gratitude for the life of a beloved sangha member, Valerie turns to Case 41 in the Transmission of Light or Denkoroko. A monk who has put to rest love of worldly attachments asks, “What, master, do you love?” The master’s response is an invitation to us to realize love beyond any measure. Photo by Mark Paul Petrick

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  • Message from Henry: Honoring Intentions

    Henry ShukmanOctober 19, 20222 min read

    I want to respect and honor the different intentions many of us have for our practice. Sure, for some it may be about full-on enlightenment. For others, a bit of that maybe, on the side, or later, for dessert as it were, but for now the main course we're after is calming this nervous system dwn, and tasting some inner quiet. But probably hardly any of us would not say we hope for some peace,...

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