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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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...
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Dharma Talk: “The Best Season of Your Life” with Shana Smith
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...
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Dharma Talk: “Enlightenment: Already so, and yet” with Valerie Forstman
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...
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Dharma Talk: “Turning 40 in a Timeless Practice” with Valerie Forstman
Zen sometimes uses the phrase “hazy moon” to convey the confluence of time and timelessness, the day-to-day happenings of our lives and the one seamless entirety that shows itself precisely in the array of the myriad things. The talk takes up case 6 in the Denkoroku or Transmission of Light, inquiring into how Master Keizan’s verse about the hazy moon might shine a light on our everyday practice in this ordinary and endlessly boundless world....
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Dharma Talk: “Everywhere You Turn” with Valerie Forstman
This talk takes up case 34 in the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku, “Kyozan’s ‘Not Wandering,’” as a guide to that exploration. Kyozan (Yangshan) asks a monk, “Where have you come from?” It’s a common question – a fundamental question – that the monks of record repeatedly fail to realize. Here, the monk responds in terms of geography, the distance between here and there, near and far, coming and going. The exchange unfolds with a...
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Dharma Talk: “Everywhere You Turn” with Valerie Forstman
This talk takes up case 34 in the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku, “Kyozan’s ‘Not Wandering,’” as a guide to that exploration. Kyozan (Yangshan) asks a monk, “Where have you come from?” It’s a common question – a fundamental question – that the monks of record repeatedly fail to realize. Here, the monk responds in terms of geography, the distance between here and there, near and far, coming and going. The exchange unfolds with a...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Zen Practice: Sweeping the Ground of our Lives” with Valerie Forstman
In this talk, Valerie returns to the basics of Zen practice beginning with a beloved verse by the renowned 8th century Chinese poet, Li Po. The poem is both a practice pointer and an expression of the fundamental reality we can discover along the way as practice unfolds: the essential world that is empty, boundless, and one, while, at the same time, exactly the world of our everyday lives. As a pointer to this one reality,...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “Zen Practice: Sweeping the Ground of our Lives” with Valerie Forstman
In this talk, Valerie returns to the basics of Zen practice beginning with a beloved verse by the renowned 8th century Chinese poet, Li Po. The poem is both a practice pointer and an expression of the fundamental reality we can discover along the way as practice unfolds: the essential world that is empty, boundless, and one, while, at the same time, exactly the world of our everyday lives. As a pointer to this one reality,...
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “The humanity of our life in a borderless now” with Valerie Forstman
In this talk, Valerie begins with the poetry of love and loss as a portal to a saying from the eminent 9th century Chan/Zen master Joshu (Zhaozhou) about the timelessness of our everyday lives. The talk explores Joshu’s response to a monk who asks, “During the 24 hours, how is mind put to use?” Joshu offers a response that calls us into the immeasurable dynamism of each present moment. We are creatures inured to time....
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “The humanity of our life in a borderless now” with Valerie Forstman
In this talk, Valerie begins with the poetry of love and loss as a portal to a saying from the eminent 9th century Chan/Zen master Joshu (Zhaozhou) about the timelessness of our everyday lives. The talk explores Joshu’s response to a monk who asks, “During the 24 hours, how is mind put to use?” Joshu offers a response that calls us into the immeasurable dynamism of each present moment. We are creatures inured to time....
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “It’s Alive!” with Scott Thornton
Scott's talked is based on one of Joshu’s sayings. When asked “What is meditation?” he responded, “Non-meditation.” When asked how that could be, he said, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” Recorded on July 17th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide...
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “It’s Alive!” with Scott Thornton
Scott's talked is based on one of Joshu’s sayings. When asked “What is meditation?” he responded, “Non-meditation.” When asked how that could be, he said, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” Recorded on July 17th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide...
Watch the video -
Dharma Talk: “The Great Matter: Arriving in the Light of Day” with Valerie Forstman
Fresh home from a memorial service for a beloved mentor and on the heels of the flooding in Texas, Valerie turns to case 41 of the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, “Joshu’s ‘Great Death.’” How does this case speak to the root of our human experience? What does it say about the coming and going of life and death? Might this ancient exchange between two masters – a generation apart in age – offer a...
Listen to the talk -
Dharma Talk: “The Great Matter: Arriving in the Light of Day” with Valerie Forstman
Fresh home from a memorial service for a beloved mentor and on the heels of the flooding in Texas, Valerie turns to case 41 of the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, “Joshu’s ‘Great Death.’” How does this case speak to the root of our human experience? What does it say about the coming and going of life and death? Might this ancient exchange between two masters – a generation apart in age – offer a...
Watch the video
