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.
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The Apposition of Opposites: Dharma Talk with Scott Thornton (Video)
January 10, 20221 min read
Taking up Koan #87 of The Blue Cliff Record, “Unmon’s Medicine and Disease,” assistant Sanbo Zen teacher Scott Thornton explores the creative use of opposites in psychology and theatre, and their dissolution in Zen. [embed] Recorded in our virtual zendo December 16, 2021 Photo by Diogo Nunes on Unsplash
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Dharmatalk: Dharma Master Hsin Tao
January 4, 20221 min read
Description: Dr Maria Reis Habito describes her experiences and work with dharma Master Hsin Tao. Maria Reis Habito is the International Program Director of the Museum of World Religions, the Director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute USA, and a Zen Teacher authorized in the Sanbo Zen lineage. And,
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Round Two: Henry Shukman on the Tim Ferriss Show
January 2, 20222 min read
Through koans, you can meet in the boundless wonder of this other dimension of our experience. — Henry Shukman Henry returns to the Tim Ferriss Show: 20 Minutes of Calm, Plus the Strange and Powerful World of Koans Henry begins this engaging podcast with how to tap into peace, calm and love when you aren't feeling well. Henry and Tim discuss "allowing"... What are the characteristics of allowing and accepting? Being still and acknowledging what's going on...
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Buddha Nature: Rohatsu Talk Three and Q&A with Henry Shukman (Video)
December 31, 20211 min read
Henry continues exploring the first koan from the Gateless Gate, Mu, looking particularly at Buddha Nature as it has been understood historically in Vedanta and other ancient wisdom traditions. Along the way, Henry offers a scattering of useful practice tips. [embed] Watch the Question and Answer session from Rohatsu day three with Henry.
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The Greatest Discovery: Rohatsu Talk Two and Q&A, Valerie Forstman (Video)
December 31, 20211 min read
In this talk from the second full day of our Rohatsu sesshin, Valerie takes up the Head Chapter of the Transmission of Light as an invitation to taste the great discovery of who we truly are, awakening here and now. [embed] Watch the Question and Answer session for Rohatsu day two, with Valerie Forstman. Photo by Biel Morro on Unsplash
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Surrender: Rohatsu Talk One, Henry Shukman (Video)
December 29, 20211 min read
Tenderness is what remains when you stop trying to fix anything. How can we make the world a safer, just and healthy place? Work for the Oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world, says Dorothy Day. We can create this in our zendo without walls while remembering the suffering in the world, hunger, violence, fear, and illness. Henry asks us to reflect on why we do this practice. It is...
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Dharmatalk: Life and Death, Zen and God
December 28, 20211 min read
"... from a Zen perspective God is indeed everywhere ..." "... Does a practice lead to God where one forgets about God?. ..." Description: Sanbo Zen teacher Marlis Muting discusses how her determination to resolve the problem of life and death led her to Zen. She focuses on the koan, Tosotsu’s Three Barriers, in which a group of monks are asked, “At this moment, where is your self-nature?” Drawing on her Christian background, Marlis explains...
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Introduction to Meditation: Tuesdays at 5-6pm Online
December 22, 20214 min read
The beginner’s mind is the mind of compassion. – Shunryu Suzuki Roshi The new year is an opportunity to recognize that we are always beginning. Beginning now. No boundary, no basis for comparison, no preconceived notion on which to base expectation. That’s the invitation of this practice, to sit in silence with thoroughgoing attention and entrust ourselves to the unfettered newness of this moment. To sit and find our home in ‘the mind of compassion.’...
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Dharmatalk: Courage to Grow, Henry Shukman
December 21, 20211 min read
"... Have courage. Have trust. Let go. Surrender. Grow. ..." Description: Traditionally in Buddhism, there were three phases in the growth of practitioners. One must move beyond sati and samadhi -- mindfulness and “unification of mind” -- to reach prajna, wisdom. Developing along these lines requires us to let go of the many delusions we have been carrying around, especially our sense of self. In this talk, we consider how we may contribute to systemic...
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Waking to the World, Illness and All: Valerie Forstman (Video)
December 20, 20211 min read
Valerie begins this talk with a look at palindromes as a cipher for Zen’s gateless-gate. She then takes up case 83 of the Book of Equanimity, “Dogo’s Nursing the Ill,” as a pointer to what the masters call “that matter” and to finding our deepest wellbeing right in this midst of this broken world. [embed] Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash
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Freedom: Dharma Talk with Maura Noone (Video)
December 14, 20211 min read
Senior student Maura Noone offers a courageous and heart felt teisho sharing how dedicated dharma practice supports her significant health challenges and allows her to know profound trust. Once awareness reveals itself, there is no longer a problem. My job is to welcome the desire for everything to be different, to love the pain, make space for it all...There is nothing to fix, how freeing. ~ Maura Thank you Maura for this priceless offering. Not...
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Dharmatalk: A New Bodhisattva Path
December 14, 20211 min read
"... how modern-day bodhisattvas may direct their efforts toward the benefit of all beings ..." "... Nondual, non-selfish engagement with the world is an essential part of our practice ..." Description: Buddhism does not prescribe any simple, straightforward method for dealing with the societal problems that we face today, but it does tell us how we should live as dharma practitioners, having an engaged response to the world’s suffering. In this talk, David Loy explains...
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