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.

  • Mindful Living: Gratitude

    MCZCJanuary 20, 20201 min read

    Gratitude is a valuable process in a mindful lifestyle. Being grateful helps us break the chain of negative thinking that often plagues us and helps us cultivate loving compassion. If we make it a habit, it helps us understand that we control our thoughts––they do not control us. A gratitude chain is particularly illustrative. “If I am grateful for this, then by inference I must also be grateful for…” and so it goes. The farther...

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  • Joy in the Ordinary

    MCZCJanuary 18, 20202 min read

    Sadly we are being waited on By eyes much wiser and knowing Than yours or mine Just to see what we will do In our circle of time ~ Navajo poem Happy small discoveries bring joy and morsels of wisdom from simple unlikely places. In one short period of time the following discoveries were made locally: Postcard art under table glass at a popular restaurant reads, “If you are more fortunate than others build a...

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  • Dharmatalk: Awakening (Part 2 of 3)

    MCZCJanuary 16, 20201 min read

    "... There is no mind to be trained ..."   Description: This is the second part of a discussion on enlightenment. It begins where the first part left off—the mindfulness movement. Often the term “awakening” is very misunderstood in some mainstream books about Buddhism. In the Zen tradition, what is awakening? It is not just well-being, it is total liberation. Post & Featured image: Green Wooden Chair on White Surface by Paula Schmidt, pexels license.

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  • Message from Henry: Liming

    MCZCJanuary 14, 20202 min read

    ...fully allow thoughts to arise, endure and pass away... Many of us don’t live in ways that involve regular doses of communal “lounging,” or hanging out – or “liming” as they used to call it in Trinidad. When I played in bands there, to “lime” was to relax, chat, do nothing much, just be hanging out together. There would be long stretches of time between rehearsals, recording sessions and performances, when there wasn’t much to...

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  • Finding Love & Peace

    MCZCJanuary 11, 20201 min read

    Your task is not to seek love but merely to find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. ~Rumi We do not find love by running from or pushing away the beings who need it. We do not find peace by running from or avoiding the opportunity to create it. Awareness includes awareness of the world around us­­––even the injustice. As we mindfully observe our own response to the surrounding environment,...

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  • Dharmatalk: Awakening (Part 1 of 3)

    MCZCJanuary 9, 20201 min read

    "... All the depth that is in us needs time ..." Description: This talk begins with some beautiful reflections on a recent talk by Stephen Jenkinson, author and storyteller. It is the first part of a discussion on enlightenment—how it is understood in Western practice and how it is understood by different traditions. The current mindfulness movement may not be equipped to explore this deeper reality of existence. Post & Featured image: Closeup Photo of...

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  • New Year’s Message from Ruben Habito

    MCZCJanuary 7, 20204 min read

      Dear friends, fellow practitioners of Zen across traditions, As we welcome the new year and the new decade of the 2020’s, with a heart full of gratitude to each and everyone of you, I convey my deep-felt wishes and prayers for peace and well- being for everyone. On this occasion, allow me to offer some notes on how our practice of cultivating stillness in Zen meditation may shed some light on living in our world...

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  • Mindfulness: A Unique Piece of the Puzzle

    MCZCJanuary 4, 20201 min read

    Mindfulness is not meant to make us into unthinking conformists or narcissists concerned only for our own well-being and personal transformation. The point is not be free from fear, doubt, or pain, relieved of having to feel the effects of the suffering around us. Rather, by observing our fears and doubts we develop the ability to pause long enough to engage our rational minds and not be controlled by them. We reduce our own suffering...

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  • Dharmatalk: Wisdom

    MCZCJanuary 2, 20201 min read

    "... There is wisdom in developing personal well-being ..." Description: This talk focuses on the term “wisdom.” There are different kinds of wisdom that human beings can discover. To begin this exploration, an overview of the five kinds of Zen practice is presented. This unfolds into a more contemporary interpretation, the four zones of practice. Post & Featured image: Stack of Stones by Pixabay, pexels license.

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  • Message from Henry: Clearheaded and Kindhearted

    MCZCDecember 31, 20191 min read

    During his years of Zen training, when he was having a hard time with one thing or another, one of Henry's Zen teacher's would advise him "Don't get too caught up in it," and would then send him back to whatever koan he was working on. Henry writes about his teacher's seemingly austere but wise style in his memoir, One Blade of Grass... It helped me find over time that things did not matter as much as I often thought,...

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  • The Meaning of Life

    MCZCDecember 28, 20191 min read

    Excellence Reporter: Henry, what is the meaning of life? Henry Shukman: I’m not too sure about the meaning of life so I’ll start with the purpose. “What is the purpose of life?” a student once asked a master. The master replied: “Play.” The student was disappointed. “I’ve come all this way to study with you, to find out about life, and that’s all you can come up with? Play?” The master shrugged. “That’s how it...

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  • Dharmatalk: Case 5, The Blue Cliff Record: Seppo’s “Grain of Rice”

    MCZCDecember 26, 20191 min read

    "... Being silent and still is the heart of our practice ..." Description: A koan is always talking about right now. In Case 5, Master Seppô is teaching an assembly and says, “When you pick up the whole great earth in your fingers, it’s the size of a grain of rice.” What kind of teaching is this? Is this just absurdity or not? If not, why would Seppô say something like this? These questions are...

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  • Message from Henry: Does Zen Actually Work?

    MCZCDecember 24, 20191 min read

    It's a path, not a conclusion. Does Zen actually work? I sometimes wonder. After all, I still get elated when power brokers or incrowders from the world of books send me a friendly greeting, or throw a contract my way, or when a poem comes out in a renowned magazine. And crestfallen when left off a short list: I've given my whole life to this, and look how they treat me... A phantom haunting the...

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  • Coffee & Culture: Jennifer Villela interviews Henry Shukman

    MCZCDecember 20, 20191 min read

    Listen to this podcast interview (originally broadcast on December 7) on SantaFe.com. Host Jennifer Villela interviews Henry on the Coffee & Culture radio show on KTRC Radio in Santa Fe. Jennifer interviews Henry about his life as a writer, traveler, seeker and Zen practitioner to Zen Master in his new memoir One Blade of Grass.  Listen to Henry talk about how Zen practice changed his life. Click here to listen.

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