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.
-
Dharma Talk: “Freedom and the Sound of the Bell” with Carolyn Seburn
November 18, 20251 min read
How do we reconcile the wondrous and borderless reality of the essence with the messiness of our everyday lives? Are changing diapers, checking a phone or driving to work really compatible with “vast and void, no holiness?” Carolyn explores this question as it was posed by Unmon in 10th century China (Case 16 of the Mumonkan) “the world is vast and wide like this. Why do we put on our seven-panel robe at the sound...
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “Freedom and the Sound of the Bell” with Carolyn Seburn
November 18, 20251 min read
How do we reconcile the wondrous and borderless reality of the essence with the messiness of our everyday lives? Are changing diapers, checking a phone or driving to work really compatible with “vast and void, no holiness?” Carolyn explores this question as it was posed by Unmon in 10th century China (Case 16 of the Mumonkan) “the world is vast and wide like this. Why do we put on our seven-panel robe at the sound...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Nothing Lacking” with Scott Thornton
November 11, 20251 min read
In this talk, Scott takes up Case 10 of the Mumonkon, “Seizei the Poor.” Recorded on November 6th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “Nothing Lacking” with Scott Thornton
November 11, 20251 min read
In this talk, Scott takes up Case 10 of the Mumonkon, “Seizei the Poor.” Recorded on November 6th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Bring me the Rhinoceros” with Valerie Forstman and Natalie Goldberg
November 4, 20251 min read
For this talk, Valerie is joined by friend, author, artist, and dharma teacher, Natalie Goldberg. Together, Natalie and Valerie take up case 25 in the Book of Equanimity or Shoyoroku as a way of exploring the dharma that is at the heart of every koan – this world that is at once broken and utterly complete. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online...
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “Bring me the Rhinoceros” with Valerie Forstman and Natalie Goldberg
November 4, 20251 min read
For this talk, Valerie is joined by friend, author, artist, and dharma teacher, Natalie Goldberg. Together, Natalie and Valerie take up case 25 in the Book of Equanimity or Shoyoroku as a way of exploring the dharma that is at the heart of every koan – this world that is at once broken and utterly complete. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “How to See in the Dark” with Valerie Forstman
October 29, 20252 min read
This talk begins with the question, ‘What is it to be human?’ When Siddhartha Gautama was 29 years old, he leapt beyond the palace walls of his rarified life in search of an answer to this question. One of Shakyamuni Buddha’s earliest teachings points the way towards what he discovered: Stop and see. Stop the conditioned activity of our discursive minds, our habitual ways of framing the world, our fixed concepts about who and what we are. Put down the artifice of that narrow flashlight. Turn off the projector and see. See what remains. In effect, see in the dark. In response to this invitation, Valerie turns to case 89 in the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, ‘Unmon’s Bright Light.’ Addressing the assembly, Unmon says, “Everyone has their own bright light. When you look at it, you can’t see it; it is complete darkness. Now, what is the bright light of you all?” Unmon’s own reply is a pointer to who we truly are and to how that matters in our lives.
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “How to See in the Dark” with Valerie Forstman
October 29, 20252 min read
This talk begins with the question, ‘What is it to be human?’ When Siddhartha Gautama was 29 years old, he leapt beyond the palace walls of his rarified life in search of an answer to this question. One of Shakyamuni Buddha’s earliest teachings points the way towards what he discovered: Stop and see. Stop the conditioned activity of our discursive minds, our habitual ways of framing the world, our fixed concepts about who and what we are. Put down the artifice of that narrow flashlight. Turn off the projector and see. See what remains. In effect, see in the dark. In response to this invitation, Valerie turns to case 89 in the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, ‘Unmon’s Bright Light.’ Addressing the assembly, Unmon says, “Everyone has their own bright light. When you look at it, you can’t see it; it is complete darkness. Now, what is the bright light of you all?” Unmon’s own reply is a pointer to who we truly are and to how that matters in our lives.
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Teisho Takeover: Amazing Grace” with Valerie Forstman
October 21, 20252 min read
This talk comes in response to the winning bid for the “teisho takeover” opportunity that was part of Mountain Cloud’s 40th anniversary celebration auction. The topic proposed: ‘How does the Christian notion of grace relate to or resonate with the teachings of Buddhism?’ In her talk, Valerie draws on theological resources to look into the question, ‘What is grace?’ And she explores the question, ‘Is there a corollary in our practice?’ The talk touches on...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Cosmological Ecodharma?” with David Loy
October 14, 20251 min read
Does the earth’s ecological crisis reveal a universal problem? Astronomers have recently detected thousands of exoplanets circling nearby stars. It seems highly unlikely that none of the other countless planets in the universe has evolved a biosphere with intelligent life. Wouldn’t their own technological evolution tend to produce the same bottleneck? What would that mean for us?
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “The World and Us” with Henry Shukman
October 7, 20251 min read
Henry explores ways Zen and poetry can illuminate our relationship with this world. Recorded on October 2nd, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Place of Total Freedom” with Scott Thornton
September 23, 20251 min read
This Dharma talk will take up Case 26 of Mumonkon (The Gateless Gate), “Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds”. In this koan Zen Master Hogen (Fayan) points us to the reality of this world of oneness and emptiness, where there are no dualistic concepts, no gaining or losing – the place of total freedom. Recorded on September 18th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “The Best Season of Your Life” with Shana Smith
September 16, 20251 min read
Shana explores Case 19 of the Mumonkan: “Ordinary Mind Is the Way,” and relates our practice to the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn, the seasons of our lives, living in the midst of a poly crisis, and trusting our intuition. Recorded on September 11th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Enlightenment: Already so, and yet” with Valerie Forstman
September 9, 20251 min read
Inspired by Mountain Cloud’s 40th anniversary celebration, Valerie offers some reflections on the occasion then turns to a koan about the core of this practice. The koan is case 62 in the Book of Equanimity or Shoyoroku, “Beiko’s ‘Enlightenment or Not.’” In this exchange, one master surreptitiously asks another, a close dharma sibling, “Do people these days rely on enlightenment or not?” The query and the response lead us to question: What is awakening? And...
Watch the video