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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Teisho: Sesshin Talk 2 (of 5): Gimme the Enlightenment! (Part 2)
November 1, 20181 min read
[caption id="attachment_9829" align="aligncenter" width="937"] Walking Meditation[/caption] Description: This teisho is the second talk from the Spring 2018 sesshin. This talk focuses on Bodhidharma’s second gate to the Zen path, entry by principle (or “fact”), as expressed by the first koan, Mu. Henry reads various passages, including a wonderful description of walking meditation by Natalie Goldberg, with the intention of giving us a taste of Mu. What is Mu trying to show us? We can...
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Sangha Meeting Minutes: October 20 2018
October 27, 201811 min read
Thank you to all who attended our October 20 sangha meeting. Attendees are listed at the end of this report. We have three sangha meetings per year. Minutes are published on our website and will continue to post them on our bulletin board. Opening sit at 10am followed by the approval of the June sangha meeting minutes. Teacher's Report (see below for the complete report written by Henry for the meeting) Financial Report Johanna...
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Nothing to Understand
October 27, 20181 min read
There's nothing to understand. Do you understand a caress or a flower? I'm just. If you try to understand your mind as if it was a puzzle to solve, or try to understand which direction your life is going to be able to direct it to the best you are wasting energy and breath. Life happens and you with it. You will never arrive at the end of psychological dilemmas, it itself is a dilemma....
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Teisho: Sesshin Talk 1 (of 5): Gimme the Enlightenment! (Part 1)
October 25, 20181 min read
"... {just} keenly watch our experience ..." Description: This teisho is the first talk from the Spring 2018 sesshin. Over the course of these talks, Henry will touch on two sources of Zen practice, Taoism and Buddhism, and how they affect how we practice. Bodhidharma, a Buddhist monk considered to be the founder of Zen, articulated two gates, or entries, to the Zen path. These are: entry by practice and entry by principle. This talk focuses...
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A Work of HeArt
October 20, 20181 min read
I would like my work to be the poetry of silence. Each work, whatever form it takes, is a 'trace' of a journey within, of an inner alchemy, a quest for identity, a drawing, a calligraphy, that reveals who we are at that particular moment, like a mark on the canvas called life. The brush dances on the paper, the words sing in the ear, each movement, unrepeatable, captures and is captive...
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Teisho: Many Doors
October 18, 20181 min read
"... The door of every house leads to Chang’an .... every aspect of our experience is a door to oneness, to emptiness ..." Description: This talk begins with a reading from Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin by John Blofeld, which highlights various perspectives on practice. Every sect of Buddhism, every phenomenon and every aspect of our experience is a door to oneness, to emptiness. Henry discusses the current cross-fertilization between different traditions...
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Meeting Crisis with Zen & Practice, Video Clip with Henry Shukman
October 13, 20182 min read
Zen was born in a time of Crisis … This practice is, in itself, taking a stand against forces of divisiveness. It appears that a “crisis of unity” is unfolding in our times as national populism seems to be rising around the world. So it seems apropos to consider how Zen– a tradition that “… is always immediately situational {and} has no overarching ontology or philosophy …” might address this matter. In Stillness Speaks’ upcoming documentary, Zen Awakening: Finding Peace...
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Teisho: Learning to Be
October 11, 20181 min read
"... The present moment is shot through with rays of the infinite ..." Description: In this talk, Henry reviews the basics of mindfulness, beginning with Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness, which apply to the entirety of experience and demonstrate that the roots of mindfulness run deep in Zen. These foundations can be seen as the basis of the practice of shikantaza, or just sitting. The diligent practice of mindfulness can lead to a state of deep...
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Teisho: Case 72, Book of Equanimity: Chûyû’s “Monkey”
October 4, 20181 min read
"... a six-windowed room represents our life, or our experience of the world through the six senses ..." Description: This talk begins with a reading from The Lost Books of the Odyssey, which aptly describes what a koan is. Agamemnon has commissioned his wisest counselors to write a book that will explain the whole world. Dissatisfied with the result, he then asks them to bring him a single word that contains everything. In the koan discussed tonight,...
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