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.

  • Message from Henry: Offering

    MCZCJuly 9, 20191 min read

    Giving up. Giving to. Giving in. Last week I wrote that Mu is not a task. Why not? If we bring the question back to practice in general -- practice can seem like a task. We do it, we have a method, we take time to do it. But from another perspective, the basic aspect of practice is to be still and silent. That is, just to be. And thus, to come into alignment with...

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  • Uji – Being-Time, Dogen

    MCZCJuly 6, 20191 min read

    An old Buddha said: For the time being, I stand astride the highest mountain peaks. For the time being, I move on the deepest depths of the ocean floor. For the time being, I'm three heads and eight arms. For the time being, I'm eight feet or sixteen feet. For the time being, I'm a staff or a whisk. For the time being, I'm a pillar or a lantern. For the time being, I'm Mr....

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  • Dharmatalk (Guest): John Gaynor: Zen Master Dôgen Kigen (Part 2 of 2)

    MCZCJuly 4, 20191 min read

      Description: This is the second part of a talk given by John Gaynor, a Zen Teacher with The Oxford Zen Centre. The why, how and what of meditation is explored, using the wisdom gleaned from Master Dôgen’s first work, Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Sitting Meditation). It closes with an engaging question and answer period. Click here for Part 1. This talk was hosted by Meditatio and recorded by WCCM and is being published with...

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  • Message from Henry: Re-parenting

    MCZCJuly 2, 20191 min read

    Mu. It’s not a task. Once you really get this second kind of parenting that dharma training can offer, and go through a new kind of childhood, whatever wounds there may be from inadequacies in the first, physical parenting get both healed and greatly reduced in importance.   Message from Henry is from our June 24, 2019 Newsletter Image: Childhood by Yuliya Harbachova,  Pixabay License

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  • Breathe Truth into the Word

    MCZCJune 29, 20191 min read

    Poetry does not care If you like it or not Rhymes may care What you write How you write But true poetry doesn't care About the words you use It only cares About the silence you sing The pauses The stillness That breathes into your voice The invisible wind That carries each letter Each sound on to the page Into the space.. Time and space Weaved together Till the All sings In you - in me......

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  • Dharmatalk (Guest): John Gaynor: Zen Master Dôgen Kigen (Part 1 of 2)

    MCZCJune 27, 20191 min read

    "... If one person is harmonizing this experience of Dogen’s, then we all are ..."    Description: John Gaynor is a Zen Teacher with The Oxford Zen Centre. This wonderful talk was presented at The Meditatio Centre in London. Using the wisdom gleaned from Master Dôgen’s first work, Fukanzazengi (Universally Recommended Instructions for Sitting Meditation), the why, how and what of meditation is explored. It begins with an overview of Dôgen’s life (1200-1253). This talk...

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  • Message from Henry: Go Slow

    MCZCJune 25, 20191 min read

    Go slow... If that feels difficult, try to find the sense of rush in the body. Where is it? Allow it to show itself to you. Give it some space and attention, allow it to be as it is. Tend it, love it, embrace it. Once again, go slow. Sloooooww…... Time - in practice, we let it dissolve. We let it expand.  Turns out there is plenty of time. Who would have thought? No end...

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  • Dharmatalk: Case 84, Book of Equanimity:Gutei’s One Finger

    MCZCJune 20, 20191 min read

    "... Whatever you experience, if you can see it clearly, it shows itself to be hollow, empty, insubstantial ..."   Description: In Case 84, Master Gutei responds to whatever he is asked with the same gesture—he holds up one finger. Where is the wisdom in his teaching? Where is the compassion? This talk explores these questions, beginning with the story of how Gutei came to a moment of profound awakening after surrendering and deciding to...

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  • Message from Henry: Lessons

    MCZCJune 18, 20191 min read

      Just because we had a good time on one retreat doesn’t mean we will in the next. On the other hand, having a hard time during a retreat may in fact have taught us things that will stand us in better stead next time around. Funny how it goes. Message from Henry is from our June 17, 2019 Image: Foxglove by MabelAmber, Pixabay.com

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  • Dharmatalk: Infinite Heart Opening (Practice Basics)

    MCZCJune 13, 20191 min read

    "... The Way is never apart from you right where you are ..." Description: There are a myriad of ways to parse the human experience and find clarity. This talk is a basic overview of practice, beginning with the centrality of breath and closing with beautiful words from Master Dogen. Post & Featured image: Forest by PublicDomainPictures, Pixabay License.

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  • Message from Henry: Basic Reality

    MCZCJune 11, 20191 min read

    The Dalai Lama says: the basic reality of all human beings is shared. It’s our oneness. And our differences are secondary. Likewise, he says our basic nature is compassion. And anger and violence are secondary.   From our June 10, 2019 Newsletter Image: Dandelion by Dewdrop157, Pixabay License  

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  • Dharmatalk: Case 83, Book of Equanimity: Dôgo’s Nursing the Ill

    MCZCJune 6, 20191 min read

    "... The whole universe is offering unconditional love ..." Description: The focus of this talk is Case 83, which features Master Isan and Master Dôgo. These masters are completely free; they have thoroughly seen through self and world and the delusion of separateness is gone. How do we nurse the ill and help all become free from suffering? There is a path and it leads to boundless compassion. Post & Featured image: Love by klimkin, Pixabay License.

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  • Message from Henry: Concentration

    MCZCJune 4, 20191 min read

    ...we see truly... Of all the seven “factors of awakening” the most important is concentration. All the contemplative traditions concur on this. If you can just get clearly and strongly focused and gathered around one point, in single-pointed awareness, you can see through. And once that happens, you can break through, and the whole structure of personality and reality can collapse, and we see truly at last.   Message from Henry from our June 3,...

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  • Dharmatalk: Case 82, Book of Equanimity: “Sound” and “Color”

    MCZCMay 30, 20191 min read

    "... It’s about entering the moment in a more immediate, intimate and clearer way ..." Description: In the koan, “Sound” and “Color,” Master Unmon is essentially talking about the main emphasis of Zen—the experience of waking up. This can be suddenly triggered by one of our sense channels. What is a sense experience? When we are still in our minds and bodies, it is possible for this to become clear and boundless love reveals itself. Post...

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