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: Awakening to Love and Compassion

    MCZCMarch 16, 20211 min read

    "... the very first line of the {Heart} sutra links Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of love, mercy, and compassion, with awakening and liberation  ..." "... What does it take to just grow one level bigger?  ..."   Description: In this talk, which was given on the first day of the Spring 2020 sesshin at Mountain Cloud, we again take up the topic of the Heart Sutra, examining how the five skandhas may cease through a disciplined practice of...

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  • Video – Everyday is a Good Day, Talk 4 from Full Moon, Clear Mirror Retreat

    MCZCMarch 13, 20211 min read

    The full moon has a long history of being the clearest expression of awakening. For Dogen the moon represents Zazen, silent sitting, in each moment. As a way of glancing at this moon, Valerie turns to a koan from a turbulent and deadly period in China’s history: Case 6 from the Blue Cliff Record, Every day is a Good Day. This story is addressed to each of us, a living koan that we have been taking up...

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  • Video – Silent Sitting – Talk 3 from Full Moon, Clear Mirror Retreat

    MCZCMarch 12, 20211 min read

    Whole heartedly engaging in single minded sitting is naturally undefiled. The true Dharma appears of itself. ~ Dogen Full moon Clear mirror, another name for Zazen.... the still still state of this practice illuminating everything, reflecting each thing just as it is. ~ Valerie Forstman Valerie looks at a central theme: The all-pervading sitting of Shakyamuni Buddha. She explores Case 18 from the Blue Cliff Record, The National Teacher's Tombstone. [embed] See all talks from...

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  • Video – What is Going On? Bill Bruce

    MCZCMarch 11, 20211 min read

    Senior student Bill Bruce shares dharma nuggets from his many years of practice and study. Bill looks at the koan, The no gate gateway. Case: "Unmon said, the world here stretches boundless away. Why let the bell sounds tell you when to don your seven-piece robe?" Bill talks about grief, illness and loss and absolute surrender. He focuses on our shared planetary grief about environmental catastrophe. [embed] See many more talks from MCZC our

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  • Message from Henry: Invention and Discovery

    MCZCMarch 10, 20213 min read

    It's (the Dharma) a condition not a discovery..If we then turn it into a thing, we have invented something: and at the same time we have invented a self that made the invention. In religions, the boundless, formless, ever-loving freedom that we humans can discover in the midst of our troubled lives, is turned into a thing. But in Zen, we continually undercut our human urge to turn it into a thing... Once it is...

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  • Video – The Immensity of Being, Talk 2 from Full Moon, Clear Mirror Retreat

    MCZCMarch 7, 20211 min read

    Though there is south and north for humans, how can there be a south or north for Buddha nature. ~ Huineng For this second talk of the Full Moon, Clear Mirror Retreat, Valerie turns to the story of Mugai Nyodai (Chiyono), a 13th-century Japanese Buddhist nun credited with becoming the first Zen Buddhist Abbess and female Zen Master. [embed] See all talks from this retreat on our

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  • Video – Neither Good nor Evil, Talk 1 from the Full Moon, Clear Mirror Retreat

    MCZCMarch 5, 20211 min read

    This first talk from our February 2021 retreat turns to the Zen origin story about, Huineng, the sixth Chinese Ancestor whose enlightenment was sparked by a passage from the Diamond Sutra. To do this, Valerie explores Case 23 from the Gateless Gate, Think Neither Good nor Evil. See all talks from this retreat on our

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  • Message from Henry: Understanding

    MCZCMarch 3, 20212 min read

    ...when “understanding” no longer has its claws in us, and we are free... It can be tempting to go through life at the leading edge of our understanding, always thinking that we have seen and understood all there is to understand. The Zen way is best followed with a different attitude – that most likely none of us will ever understand very much, though even that we can't be sure of. It’s just possible we...

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  • Dharmatalk: The Flipside of Impermanence

    MCZCMarch 2, 20211 min read

    "... Every moment, if I pay attention, I feel a way I’ve never felt before. It’s totally new!  ..." Description: The main part of this compilation of talks consists of a question and answer session conducted by Henry Shukman and Tias Little on the last full day of the January 2020 yoga and meditation retreat at Esalen. Questions revolve around similarities between yoga and zen, how to maintain a meaningful sitting practice in the midst of...

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  • Virtual Zendo – FAQ

    MCZCMarch 1, 20212 min read

    Welcome to our Virtual Zendo This page... answers frequently asked questions about zoom access and provides the zoom links for sits, retreats and the Introduction to Meditation Tuesday class. It also lists our online sitting schedule and offers help with time zone conversion Zoom Access FAQ and Guidance To participate in our virtual sits, talks the intro class and some retreats on your computer/tablet or other device, click on this zoom link....  sit.mountaincloud.org Passcode: mountain22...

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  • Dharmatalk: Inquiry into Experience

    MCZCMarch 1, 20211 min read

    "... Zen is an effortless practice. It’s just letting go ..." Description: In these two short talks given at the Esalen Institute in January 2020, we hear about Zen's emphasis on awakening, which is closely linked to the original meaning of the word "Buddhism." Zen is a unique spiritual path in that it is more interested in the heart-to-heart transmission of the awakening experience than it is in rhetorical dogma. Koans have a central place in...

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  • Dharma Talks from Valentine’s Weekend Introduction to Meditation Retreat, 2021

    MCZCFebruary 26, 20211 min read

    Zen is awakening to the dynamic reality of the present moment.....Zen is finding love in all things at all times. ~ Ruben Habito Valerie's first talk from our Valentine's weekend Intro retreat explores Zen practice from the mind of compassion and curiosity. Valerie looks at the Buddhist origin story - Shakyamuni's awakening - and she discusses some of the fruits of practice. Valerie also asks (and simply answers) What is Zen? A life long path...

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  • Message from Henry: The Non-Domesticated Dharma

    MCZCFebruary 24, 20214 min read

    We allow the vast unknown, the beyond-wild energy of the Dharma to take us over. Attempts to domesticate the Dharma seem misguided and sad. The true Dharma is wild, powerful and unknowable. It can’t be domesticated. Nor can it be commercialized. Any efforts to turn it into a lifestyle product end up selling something different. The Dharma slips out. It can’t be put into any kind of human category, let alone one from which we...

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  • Dharmatalk: The Intersection of Yoga and Zen

    MCZCFebruary 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...

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