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: Dharmas within Dharmas

    MCZCOctober 6, 20201 min read

    "... We observe the unfolding of our awareness like a butterfly ... opening up its wings ..." "... Let the breath show itself to your awareness ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. In our exploration of the Four Noble Truths, we have seen how the Buddha keeps re-slicing the pie, going into the nature of our human experience in yet more and more minute detail. By following his teaching, we learn to contextualize the imaginary scenes...

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  • Message from Henry: Thought Banners

    MCZCSeptember 30, 20201 min read

    Thoughts are little banners waving in the old city, trying to get your attention and draw you back. One day you’ll go, but not yet. The city doesn’t really need you now. Let yourself rest where you are, in a deeper rest, a deeper belonging. Don’t be pulled back to the old city just yet. Those thoughts - remember, they’re only old flags, waving from afar.  From our September 29 Newsletter Image: American Modern by...

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  • Dharmatalk: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

    MCZCSeptember 29, 20201 min read

    "... Letting it be as it is, we have to drop the wish that it be otherwise ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. To achieve concentration in practice, one must have established the four foundations of mindfulness. Having ardent alertness, clearly comprehending all that arises within and around the body, its feelings, the mind, and other phenomena, the practitioner overcomes the unwholesome states of mind that pose as hindrances to a fruitful practice. For the...

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  • Message from Henry: Zen Death

    MCZCSeptember 23, 20202 min read

    To awaken is to see through it all. It is to see that real nature. But then what? The Zen death. If you've been through it, you know you have, even if you can't say much about it. The consequences are clear. It happens at a moment in time. Yet, it is always this moment, now, that it shows itself as. This world is a kind of game, a setup, where each of us is...

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  • Announcement: Valerie Forstman Roshi joins Mountain Cloud

    MCZCSeptember 22, 20202 min read

    Mountain Cloud is thrilled to announce a milestone in its history. As of Tuesday last, the center opened its doors in a wide welcome to a second "full time" teacher -- Valerie Forstman Roshi. Some of you have already tasted Valerie's remarkable clarity and depth as a dharma teacher, and Henry and she have been colleagues in Sanbo Zen for about a decade, and both have long studied side by side under Yamada Ryoun Roshi,...

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  • Dharmatalk: Right Mindfulness

    MCZCSeptember 22, 20201 min read

    "... bringing awareness back to the present moment whenever our minds wander ..." "... Here, a person dwells, contemplating the body in the body ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. The original sanskrit word smrti, which often gets translated as “mindfulness,” also means “remembering to be aware.” Modern culture offers us many ways to distract ourselves when feelings of discomfort or unease arise. By ardently doing our best to stick to the practice, by bringing...

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  • Oak Tree in the Garden, Dharma Talk by Carmen Afable (Video)

    MCZCSeptember 21, 20201 min read

    Listen to this personal and powerful talk from Carmen Afable, Sanbo Zen teacher from Manilla. Carmen presents Case 37 from the Mumonkan cannon (The Gateless Gate), The Oak Tree in the Garden. Ryoun Roshi says this koan has a strangle power to remove and delete delusions, concepts and unnecessary attachments. [embed] This talk was recorded on September 17, 2020 in our virtual zendo. Find this and many other talks and discussions on the

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  • Residing in the Present Moment, Talk 4 of 4 from our August Retreat

    MCZCSeptember 20, 20201 min read

    ...become this very moment, Life as it's happening, life as it is. Final talk from the August 2020 Original Love One Retreat. Henry concludes this exploration of original love. More will come in the September and October original Love Retreats. Once the hindrances that stand in the way of how we experience the present moment are resolved, we may reside in present moment experience and perhaps eventually.... become this very moment, Life as it's happening,...

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  • Finding Peace, Talk 3 of 4 from our August Retreat

    MCZCSeptember 15, 20201 min read

    The human body at peace with itself is more precious than the rarest gem. Finding Peace is the third talk from the Original Love One August Retreat. Henry continues the great exploration about how we find peace within ourselves. The human body at peace with itself is more precious than the rarest gem. Henry talks more about the hindrances, mindfulness practices and the Zen practice of just sitting. [embed] Find this and many other talks...

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  • A Precious Path, by Henry Shukman (Video)

    MCZCSeptember 15, 20201 min read

    Henry describes the heartbreak and profound love that goes along with completely letting go. He further talks about finding a spiritual path and begins with a short reading from Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov which includes: Every one of us has sinned against all people.... everyone is really responsible to all people, for all people and for everything...how is it we didn't realize this? When we find a path and follow it, when we get to...

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  • Dharmatalk: Cultivating Meditative Awareness

    MCZCSeptember 15, 20201 min read

    "... In our right effort we are developing the capacity to work on the unwholesome ..." Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. Right effort in practice, the sixth fold in the Noble Eightfold Path, consists in working to diminish unwholesome states of mind or being. Likewise, the practitioner should work to cultivate states of mind that promote the arisal of wholesome speech and action. Once they get a taste of the true Dharma, and the delusion...

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  • Message from Henry: Step into the Unkown

    MCZCSeptember 15, 20201 min read

    There are maps of practice. The six paramitas, the eightfold path, the seven factors of awakening, Zen's ox-herding pictures. But from the point of view of our own practice, the real map of our own journey is only ever seen in retrospect. The map appears behind us, after we have taken a step.  The forward step is always, always into the unknown. If we know what's coming, it's not a growth or development in practice....

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  • Message from Henry: Peace

    MCZCSeptember 9, 20201 min read

    Practice is not just about clearing the mind, or tasting stillness, or coming into stillness. The point isn't a negative: to be without thoughts or without movement. The point is to know the peace, fulfillment, the gentle joy, the intrinsic wellbeing, that is here already, before we have done anything. The stillness, the quiet – these are merely the means for finding that.   Message from Henry is from our September 7, Newsletter Image: Boy...

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  • Dealing with Desire, Talk 2 of 4

    MCZCSeptember 8, 20201 min read

    How will we know when we have mastered desire? Tranquility marked by a sense that we are lucky to be living whatever life we happen to be living. ~ Dr Bill Irvine Second Talk from the Original Love One Retreat. Henry continues to explore the many facets of original love through zen practice and present moment awareness. Henry talks about the nuts and bolts of practice such as the five hindrances and three poisons, with...

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