Teachings

  • Message from Valerie: An Invitation to Serve

    Valerie ForstmanJanuary 25, 20232 min read

    Mountain Cloud sangha members are currently coming together once each month to prepare and serve a delicious meal at the Interfaith Shelter, known as Pete’s Place, here in Santa Fe. For members interested in further engagement with vulnerable segments of our community, we have an opportunity to serve with fellow practitioners in Upaya’s Street Ministry project.  Upaya’s Street Ministry focuses on supporting member’s of Santa Fe’s community who are experiencing homelessness. Volunteers in the Street Ministry not only...

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  • Message from Henry: Gone

    MCZCMay 27, 20202 min read

    Today's Message from Henry is a short excerpt from Henry’s path of training as recounted in One Blade of Grass. I had been sitting with a strange koan the past day or two, about Master Kyozan, in which he and a monk do a kind of charade. The monk makes movements with his body and arms, and each time Kyozan responds by drawing Chinese characters with brush and ink. I hadn't been able to make head or tail of...

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  • Dharmatalk: Venus Twinkling

    MCZCMay 26, 20201 min read

    "I and all beings have simultaneously attained the Way" ~ Buddha Description: This is the first in a series of talks on basic Buddhism, beginning with an exploration of the word Buddhism and the story of Siddhartha Gautama and how he became “Buddha” - awakened. Is there something that is not subject to suffering and mortality? This is where Siddhartha’s search for freedom began Post & Featured image: Double exposure, the Buddha and the mountains by mari-bori, purchased...

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  • Sangha Meeting: May 16 2020 Minutes

    MCZCMay 21, 202010 min read

    January 25 Sangha Meeting Minutes - Approved Henry’s Report - January 25 - May 16 (see below) Financials  This past March, Damon reported to our board of directors that MCZC would have a $53,000 net loss due to the cancellation of our many retreats and events for 2020. The very good news is that this predicted loss has shrunk to less than $20,000. This improvement is largely due to significant increases in general donations and memberships,  income from...

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  • Message from Henry: Confirmation

    MCZCMay 20, 20201 min read

    Message from Henry is an excerpt from Henry’s path of training as recounted in One Blade of Grass. I sat through the night with a river of energy coursing through the world. The whole world was love’s plaything, a cork bobbing on a silent torrent. I broke for a cup of tea in the early morning, then quietly went back and took my place again in the zendo, long before the official sitting began. A concern arises: I have...

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  • Dharmatalk: Zen and the New Story

    MCZCMay 19, 20201 min read

    "The place of stillness is where we find the “sprouts of the new story" ..." "Zen is loving the earth …" Description: In this powerful talk, touching on quantum mechanics and the work of Charles Eisenstein, Ruben Roshi reflects on how the stillness and belonging that we find in Zen practice can allow us to find our interconnectedness, and through that, to unearth a deep compassion in our hearts. The place of stillness is where we find the...

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  • Mountain Cloud Survey: Please Participate

    MCZCMay 17, 20202 min read

    Since its beginning, Mountain Cloud Zen Center has thrived on the helping hands of its sangha. This year, we will be engaging your support in new and exciting ways-- both as we grow into new activities and offerings, and as we meet the unique challenges arising from Coronavirus. Indeed these past few weeks-- and the rapid development of a brand new virtual zendo --  has shown us just how resilient, creative, adaptive, and connected Sangha is! Please give...

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  • Henry Interviewed By Eric Zimmer on The One You Feed Podcast

    MCZCMay 16, 20202 min read

    Paths of Spiritual Awakening: Henry was interviewed by Eric Zimmer on the podcast, The One You Feed. Listen to this April 28 Conversation. In This Interview, Henry Shukman and Eric Zimmer discuss Paths of Spiritual Awakening and…   Henry's new book, One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir How to work with the 3 poisons that we all have: Greed, Ill Will, Delusion Opening up to pain (rather than turning away from it) so that...

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  • Message from Henry: Keiken – Experience

    MCZCMay 13, 20206 min read

    This week, a message from an international collective of young artists known as Keiken ("experience")... I have to preface this with a disclaimer: one of the artists is actually a niece of mine. I sincerely hope no one will take this as something wrong or unwholesome on my part. I feel encouraged to overcome my hesitation and share it, because the message of collaboration, collectivity and care during our present challenges seems so important, and...

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  • Dharmatalk: Case 100, Book of Equanimity: Roya’s “Mountains and Rivers”

    MCZCMay 12, 20201 min read

    "Meditation is bound to fail if it is being done to fix a problem." ~ Barry Magid Description: In Case 100, a monk asks Master Kaku a question and the master’s response itself is showing the monk the world that is revealed when concepts about who we think we are drop away and the essential state is revealed. It excludes nothing; it is about everything we experience. “How are mountains, rivers and the great earth produced at...

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  • Don’t-Know Mind

    MCZCMay 9, 20201 min read

    But when you allow each thought to be met with “Is it true?” life will show itself to you. Eventually, you find yourself ending every thought with a question mark, not with a period. You’re able to rest in the never-ending enlightenment of the don’t-know mind. ~ Byron Katie A mind at Home with Itself Photo and creation by Rosa Bellino

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  • Message from Henry: Just Zen

    MCZCMay 6, 20202 min read

    ... there is no mind to put on walking. There is only walking.  But how could nonbeing be blissful? You don't know, but it is. This is what the famous "just" of Zen means. Zen often says: Just sit. Just walk. Just eat. But "just walking" doesn't mean: keep your mind only on walking and  don't think about anything else. It means: there is no mind to put on walking. There is only walking. There truly is...

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  • Dharmatalk: Shimmering Particles

    MCZCMay 5, 20201 min read

    "The ‘story of me’ fell away utterly and completely." ~ Francis Bennett   Description: This encouraging talk begins with excerpts from the book I Am That I Am by Francis Bennett. Zen practice allows us to join a level of experience where we are never separate from anything. This experience that can arise from deep absorption is beautifully conveyed in this talk, pointing to the value of concentration practice. There are references to Case 99, Unmon’s “Bowl and...

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  • Welcoming

    MCZCMay 2, 20201 min read

    … in welcoming, you are completely open, open to perception. In welcoming, you are waiting, completely directionless. …Your real nature is welcoming. from Living Truth – Jean Klein Photo by Rosa Bellino

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  • Message from Henry: Uncertainty

    MCZCApril 29, 20202 min read

    Henry was recently interviewed for the Albuquerque Journal North by Monica Gagnier. This weeks message is Henry's response to her final question. The full article was published on Sunday April 19. Question: Do you think the coronavirus will bring more people to a spiritual way of life, whatever that may be? Henry: I surely hope that everything we experience will collectively bring us to wiser, kinder ways of living, not just individually, but as a whole society. We have...

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