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.

  • Dharmatalk: A Koan for the World (2 of 3)

    MCZCJuly 13, 20211 min read

    "... join with human beings around the world in unravelling the great, global koan ..." "... Oneness is a property of all phenomena ..." Description: This talk contains some practical advice for using mindfulness to deal with the global health crisis. Lockdown measures may afford us the opportunity to go deeper into our practice, where we may find the inflexion point between outer circumstances and our internal reactions to them. Once we shift our perspective from...

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  • The Wall Tiles are Preaching, Dharma Talk with Valerie Forstman (Video)

    MCZCJuly 12, 20211 min read

    Valerie takes up the opening line of Case 49 of the Book of Equanimity, “Tozan and the Memorial Service,” and explores this world where all things expound the dharma without end. [embed]  

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  • Awakening the Heart Retreat, Talk Four: Sound of Raindrops, Valerie Forstman

    MCZCJuly 11, 20211 min read

    Who we really are is the fabric of the moment. Valerie Forstman delivers the final talk in the 2021 summer solstice retreat. She summarizes that, though the four days of the retreat, we have been cultivating simple awareness of "what is now." Our job, as humans who want to experience life fully, is to simply pay attention.  Valerie asks, what is your truly original and unencumbered self and what difference does it make to see...

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  • Awakening the Heart Retreat, Talk Three: Person of No Rank, Henry Shukman

    MCZCJuly 9, 20212 min read

    Koan: There is a true person of no rank who is constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is that true person of no rank? Rinzai grabs the monk who asks that questions and answers, person of no rank, what a shit stick you are. Henry explores this koan from the Book of Equanimity by first reflecting on the book Caste by Isabelle Wilkerson and on our responsibility as practitioners to...

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  • Gutei’s One Finger – Henry Shukman (Video)

    MCZCJuly 8, 20211 min read

    Henry continues his talks from the koan collection, the Gateless Gate, Case 3, Gutei's One Finger. Henry asks, how can a single finger resolve our existence? This is classic Zen, sudden awakening triggered by one phenomena, in this case a single raised finger. [embed] Image by Al Soot on Unsplash

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  • Message from Henry: Sitting

    MCZCJuly 7, 20211 min read

    Start with ease - with things being as they are. Sitting - don't try too hard. Don’t sit down and immediately demand that you settle into blissful awareness or deep samadhi. I remember as a trombonist, back in my youth, being told: when you pick up the horn in the morning to warm up, you don’t see if you can still hit that high F you landed last night in the rehearsal. You start with...

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  • Dharmatalk: A Koan for the World (1 of 3)

    MCZCJuly 6, 20211 min read

    "... Our every step is taken on instability ..." Description: This talk is about opening up to uncertainty. We all tend to avoid uncertainty in our lives. When we encounter it, we often feel fear and anxiety. The outbreak of the coronavirus brought with it an unprecedented, global wave of uncertainty. If we can let go of the need for certainty, as we do when practicing meditation with koans, we may experience a deep sense of...

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  • Awakening the Heart Retreat, Talk Two: Descent, Valerie Forstman

    MCZCJuly 4, 20211 min read

    Valerie explores the miscellaneous koan, In the sea of Ise, ten thousand feet down, lies a single stone. I wish to pick up that stone without wetting my hands... Valerie asks, how do we get to the bottom of this immersive silent sea which is so completely unknown? There are clues in the space of the unconditioned, in the fact of not knowing. Zen calls it true blindness, and deep stillness. How do we make...

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  • Awakening the Heart Retreat, Talk One: It’s the Curve, Henry Shukman

    MCZCJuly 3, 20211 min read

    To be kind, you must swerve regularly from the path. Henry's talk is on the miscellaneous koan: "In order to be worthy as a Zen student, I must go straight on a narrow mountain road with 99 curves." It's not the straight road that counts, it's the curves. If we aim to be calm and peaceful as practitioners, that aim is the ordinary, misguided and often mindless straight road. Whatever intervenes during practice is the...

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  • Message from Henry: Kensho

    MCZCJune 30, 20212 min read

    There are three ways we could look at it, especially at how veridical it is. Kensho is an intense experience a human being can undergo which radically adjusts their way of experiencing themselves and their environment. In particular it undercuts their allegiance to their ordinary separate sense of self. It often has lasting positive effects on psychology and personality. Kensho is the above, but also offers veridical insights into the nature of consciousness. It reveals...

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  • On-Site sits in our Zendo – Details and Schedule Here

    MCZCJune 29, 20211 min read

    Mountain Cloud's zendo is open for in person daily sits. Please read the details and schedule below. All times are Mountain Time. These sits are open to the public. Donations are always gratefully accepted. If you can, arrive about 5 minutes prior to the start of the sit. To learn about basic zendo protocols or forms, look at this page. Finally, be sure to read our COVID-19 Protocols. Monday7:00-8:00am  Meditation5:30-6:30pm  Meditation Tuesday7:00-8:00am  Meditation5:30-6:30pm  Meditation Wednesday7:00-8:00am  Meditation5:30–6:30pm  Wisdom Wednesdays:...

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  • Dharmatalk: Unknown Territory: Original Love – Support (3 of 3)

    MCZCJune 29, 20211 min read

    "... the value of going into unknown territory ..." Description: In this final talk from our Original Love 2  (Support) retreat, Henry opens by exploring the value of going into unknown territory and having our preset ideas destabilized. Henry also talks about the critical, supportive work that occurs for many Zen practitioners who don't experience kensho. It's important to "wake up, grow up and clean up." (Ken Wilbur). Henry then turns to the theme of...

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  • Guru Viking: Interview with Henry Snukman

    MCZCJune 28, 20211 min read

    Henry was recently interviewed by Steve James on the ‘The Guru Viking Podcast’ which specializes in in-depth interviews with remarkable figures in the world of spirituality and self development. In this interview Henry discusses his upbringing in Oxford, as the son of a don and a graduate of the illustrious Dragon School, and how in poetry he found the liberating aspect of literary life. Henry reveals his first awakening experience, the breakdown that occurred thereafter, and...

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  • Message from Henry: Walking Through Grasses

    MCZCJune 23, 20212 min read

    Walking slowly through grasses - a bit sick, weak, under-fed, with a sore belly - I saw two little birds, then a third. They were hopping, fluttering among the grass. Stopping to reach up and peck at the seeds that overhung from some of the grass stalks, hanging in downy seed-tassels. One paused, switched sides around its stalk, let out two high-pitched, sweet-sounding alerts. I guess because I was coming. Then paused again. Another one...

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