Teachings
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Dharmatalk: Right Concentration
November 3, 20201 min read
"... start to experience the intrinsically fulfilling wellbeing of the lotus flower ... permeated from its roots throughout the tips of its petals with the same cool water in which it thrives in perfect stillness ..." "... Whatever needs to drop away drops away by itself ..." Description: Final talk in the series on basic Buddhism. The final fold in the Noble Eightfold Path is samadhi. This word sometimes gets translated as concentration, but it really means something...
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Meeting Mu, Dharma Talk by Henry Shukman
November 2, 20201 min read
Developing mindfulness is like creating a warm loving home inside yourself. In Henry's final talk prior to the election he acknowledges that the eyes of people all over the globe are watching our country. It's important to remember that the purposes of the Mahayana (our Zen Practice) is the reduction of suffering. Whatever outcome this election brings - this purpose goes on. The grand project of the great vehicle carries on. Henry speaks also about awakening, Mu...
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Dharmatalk: Bringing the Mind Home
October 29, 20201 min read
"... mindfulness ... is a practice of becoming okay with what we have ..." "... We have to let be, to let go ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. The practice of mindfulness is not about adding something into our already busy lives that’s going to pick us up and make us feel better -- it’s more a matter of becoming okay with what we have, and learning to meet the present moment and appreciate it just...
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Zen’s Middle Way, Talk 1 from October’s Original Love Retreat
October 27, 20201 min read
How could we ever be anywhere but at square one? .... it's always here - just like this - and we are always equipped to find it. Henry opens this first talk from the Original Love 3 retreat by acknowledging the gap between basic mindful awareness practice and authentic awakening practice. Zen allows for both, it's the middle way that embraces mindful day to day practice with sudden awakening where body and soul fall away. Henry describes...
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Sangha Meeting Notes: October 17, 2020
October 25, 20207 min read
October 17 Sangha Meeting Minutes Financials In May, Damon reported that our initial budget loss of nearly $50,000, caused by the cancellation of many 2020 events, had been reduced to less than $20,000. Since that meeting, members of Mountain Cloud have been endlessly generous. Through donations and tireless efforts put forth by many individuals, the predicted budget loss of 2020 has turned into a surplus of over $30,000. This additional funding will help Mountain Cloud begin the...
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Samadhi, Henry Shukman
October 25, 20201 min read
The Sanbo Zen lineage has traditionally focused on kensho (sudden awakening) experiences which offer a complete, though often brief, shift in how we see reality. To attain this shift, practitioners sit on a cushion and meditate with little instruction. This changed in the 1940s when Zen opened to western seekers and laity. An early introductory document written during this time period listed three aims for Zen, the first of which is samadhi (translated as bringing...
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Dharmatalk: The Process of Letting Go of Everything
October 20, 20201 min read
"... You can only see it when you are it ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. Human beings tend to get constantly captivated by their “default mode network," which can generate a continuous stream of internal commentary. To really be able to be present without an outward task: that is the basic meaning of the kind of mindfulness we are cultivating. Zen is a process for humans to realize their capacity to awaken out of their...
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Solitary and Poor, Dharma Talk by Valerie Forstman
October 18, 20201 min read
Enjoy this dharma talk from our October 10-11 Introduction to Mediation Retreat. Valerie Forstman explains what a teisho is, explores some of the great benefits of sitting meditation and introduces a koan, Case 10 from the Gateless Gate, Sozan and poor Seizai. [embed]https://youtu.be/08BWbxnn55c[/embed] Image: Cloud by Geralt from Pixabay.com
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Fierce Compassion, Dharma Talk by Valerie Forstman
October 13, 20201 min read
Valerie's dharma talk probes Case 23 from the Blue Cliff Record, Hofuku and Chokei on an Outing. Hofuku says "This very moment is awakening. Exactly," responds Chokei, "but it's regrettable." [embed]https://youtu.be/0x9_Q7V4-TM[/embed] This talk was recorded on October 8, 2020 in our virtual zendo. Find this and many other talks and discussions on the Mountain Cloud You Tube Channel.
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Dharmatalk: The Zone of Phenomena
October 13, 20201 min read
"... The principle of zen is: body and mind fall away ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. Having reached the fourth aspect of mindfulness, which is the seventh fold of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is itself the fourth of the Four Noble Truths, we find that dharma gates are indeed countless. Buddha gave this, his first teaching upon having attained enlightenment, to those who required a gradualist guide to awakening. In zen, beneath the surface...
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