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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Dharmatalk: The Cessation of Suffering
July 21, 20201 min read
"Unshakable is the liberation of my mind" ~ Shakyamuni Buddha Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. The Third Noble Truth concerns the cessation of suffering. When Buddha gave his first sermon, he was sparing in his description of this Noble Truth in comparison to the three others, teaching that the cessation of suffering, also known as Nirvana, doesn’t cause or lead to anything. It is rather a release of all the causes that have always led...
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Question Mark ?
July 18, 20201 min read
? A question mark Standing firm, Defending it's ground A question mark That it will never allow itself to become a full stop Not till its questions are answered! But slowly So slowly that it doesn't even notice The question mark is becoming more flexible Slowly, ever so slowly … it is unraveling Its bends and edges get straightened out, The curves become gentler And the question mark becomes A line at first, then the...
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Dharmatalk: Letting Go of Clinging
July 14, 20201 min read
"Loss brings us to our senses. It actually gives us our life" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. In continuing the series of talks about the Four Noble Truths, we examine clinging from a traditional and a modern perspective. Craving to always be right, we may cling to fixed viewpoints and become rigid in our attitudes and ideas. Holding on to things, we create stress and tension in our bodies, which we can make it...
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Lost in the Forest of Mind
July 11, 20201 min read
Lost in the forest of mind running from shadow to shadow looking for the light I never dared to open my eyes to... Running without aim running always till the dreams that at once comforted me become nightmares Lost in the forest of mind with tomorrow as the only hope... finally the shadows hunted me down and tied be to the ground ... still Still... I finally looked up and saw the beauty of your...
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Dharmatalk: Seeking to Satisfy Dissatisfaction
July 7, 20201 min read
"When there really is just this, there is no place for thirst, or craving" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. We begin to address the Second Noble Truth: that the cause of suffering is craving, or Tanha in Pali, which literally means “thirst.” Seeking to satisfy the everyday pangs of thirst in our lives leads us to an unending cycle of craving for an end to craving. This will never happen. But when we learn...
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Flower Sermon
July 4, 20201 min read
Once upon a time the world honored one was at Vulture Peak. Before a vast crowd of lay practitioners, nuns, and monks, angelic creatures, and even gods, he held up a single flower and twirled it. Of the assembled crowd only the disciple Mahakashyapa, responded, breaking into a wide grin. The Buddha, lord of wisdom, physician of the heart, announced... I have the eye treasury of the true Dharma, the marvelous mind of nirvana, the true form of...
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Dharmatalk: Developing Compassion with Equanimity
June 30, 20201 min read
"Suffering can be the door, or the path, to practice and training" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. Continuing the discussion of the first of the Four Noble Truths: How can we transform our reactions to the various states of suffering (fear, grief, anger) that we experience on a daily basis? Develop compassion with equanimity. This is important advice for us when sitting. Find the difficult feeling in the body, accept and allow it to...
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Falling into Beauty
June 27, 20201 min read
I don't regard my life as insufficient. Inside the brushwood gate there is a moon; there are flowers. ― Ryōkan Photo: Circle of life... a contemporary Enso circle by Rosa Bellino
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Dharmatalk: Aligning with Reality
June 23, 20201 min read
"Who is it who dies?" Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. The themes are: dukkha, dissatisfaction or suffering; Buddha’s instruction on illness and death; the eight worldly conditions; and the characteristics of existence. How have humans typically approached the problem of suffering? The role of practice at various levels of experience is examined. For the introduction to this basic Buddhism series, please visit Venus Twinkling. Post & Featuredimage: Life and death by taviphoto, purchased from depositphotos,...
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