Teachings
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Dharmatalk: The Intersection of Yoga and Zen
February 23, 20211 min read
"... who we are in the present moment--this very moment ..." "... Housebuilder, I have seen you! You will never build your house here again ..." Description: In this dialogue, which took place at the Esalen Institute in January 2020, yoga teacher Tias Little and zen teacher Henry Shukman talk about the similarities and differences between these two great traditions. Both yoga and zen share an emphasis on inquiry. When we inquire deeply within our bodies and our...
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Video – Maria Reis Habito, Nansen Kills the Cat
February 22, 20211 min read
Guest speaker Maria Reis Habito's teisho explores Case 14 from the Gateless Gate, Nansen Kills the Cat. She looks at this koan from a compassionate perspective about how to become "unstuck." Maria is Sanbo Zen teacher at the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, TX and international program director for the Museum of World Religions in Taiwan. [embed]https://youtu.be/om1F2_M5F1Q[/embed] Visit the Mountain Cloud YouTube Channel for many more videos. Cat Clipart image from Pixabay.com...
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Dharmatalk: Seeing through the Self
February 16, 20211 min read
"... Nothing changes, but everything changes, through the path of meditation ..." Description: In these talks, given during the 2020 Esalen meditation and yoga retreat, we consider certain questions about the nature of reality, taken from the Buddhist canon. Several anecdotes pose a simple question, which is something that every human being must reflect on at some level: What is the meaning of my life? The answer may not be what we expect, if it’s given by...
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Sangha Meeting Minutes: January 30 2021
February 15, 202110 min read
Board of Director's Update Presented by Sondra Byrnes, Board President We would like to thank Michael Waldron and Chris Hebard for their service on our board. While their terms have come to an end, they will continue to be involved in various capacities at Mountain Cloud. Thank you! Due to these changes, we move to elect three new board members, Josue Damian-Martinez, Sarah Giffin, and Mark Petrick. Sondra Byrnes has been elected as President of the Board with...
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Video – Dosho Port: Record of Empty Hall
February 14, 20211 min read
Dosho Port speaks about his new book The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans. [embed]https://youtu.be/-Q-IE1dUZHQ[/embed] Dosho Port teaches with the Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training and at the Nebraska Zen Center in Omaha, and he has been practicing Zen since 1977. The Record of Empty Hall is his new translation and commentary on a classic collection of koans by Xutang Zhiyu (1185-1269), an important figure in Ch’an/Zen Buddhism. Port illuminates these remarkable koans and...
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Video – Empty Hands, Valerie Forstman
February 12, 20211 min read
We are always looking for the lack, like Eka (Huike) searching for his mind - this lack is so convincing and so untrue. It blinds us to who we really are and blinds us to see the astonishing beauty of one and other. In this Dharma Talk, from February 4, Valerie helps us open our eyes to authentic reality. She reads Thomas Merton's awakening experience and explores an enigmatic line from a verse in the miscellaneous...
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Dharmatalk: The Intrinsic Healthy Self
February 9, 20211 min read
"... into the joy of present moment awareness ..." "... The healthy self lives in the world of form, not desire ..." Description: In these talks, which were given on the second day of the 2020 yoga and meditation retreat at Esalen, we examine more closely how we might uncover Unmon’s bright light. It is not through a cumulative process of building toward any kind of attainment that our negative states of mind may diminish and our healthy selves...
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Video – Reflections on Dogen’s Fukanzazengi, Will Brennan
February 7, 20211 min read
Senior student and one of Mountain Cloud's founding members, Will Brennan, offers his reflections on Dogen's Fukanzazengi. [embed]https://youtu.be/108TeHY1s-0[/embed] All dharma talks and Q&A sessions from the Encounter of the Heart Retreat are available on our YouTube Channel. Image: Collage of Dogen and Stillness Speaks image of Kaz Tanahashi’s Enso – Dogen image from Wikimedia, Public Domain, PD-1923.
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Video – Love: Encounter of the Heart Retreat, Talk 4, Valerie Forstman
February 6, 20211 min read
In this final talk from the Encounter of the Heart Retreat, Valerie turns to Love, which knows nothing of rank and order. She looks at a koan from Keizan's Transmission of Light collection. Keizan is said to have an inscription at the entrance of his zendo (paraphrased), Anyone who wants to gain enlightenment, do not enter. There is nothing to gain, if there is anything like enlightenment, it's the living dharma right where you are, right...
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Video – The Invitation: Encounter of the Heart Retreat, Talk 3, Valerie Forstman
February 5, 20211 min read
"Who would waste the spark from a flint stone?" ~ Dogen Anything could be that spark. Ryoun Roshi says "koans are a message from the oneness world." They offer an invitation into our deepest curiosity. Valerie explores Case 22 of the Gateless Gate: Kashyapa's Flagpole, and Ananda's awakening. [embed]https://youtu.be/gbQuK7ORrLU[/embed] All dharma talks and Q&A sessions from the Encounter of the Heart Retreat are available on our YouTube Channel.
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