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.

  • Dharma Talk: “The Path to Discernment” with Carolyn Seburn

    MCZCJanuary 22, 20251 min read

    Carolyn discusses Mumonkan case 11: Jôshû Examines the Hermits as an invitation to examine and trust our own discernment.

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  • January 9th Dharma Talk from Valerie Forstman

    MCZCJanuary 15, 20251 min read

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  • January 9th Dharma Talk from Valerie Forstman

    MCZCJanuary 15, 20250 min read

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  • 2025’s First Dharma Talk with Valerie Forstman

    MCZCJanuary 8, 20251 min read

    Welcome in the new year with this Teisho offered by Mountain Cloud's Guiding Teacher, Valerie Forstman. To see what Mountain Cloud has planned for the upcoming year, visit www.mountaincloud.org/newyear/

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  • “Darkness and Light Reveal Our True Nature” with Maria Reis Habito

    MCZCDecember 19, 20241 min read

    During the season of Rohatsu, Solstice, Christmas and Hanukkha, Maria takes up the psalm of Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” This psalm becomes a starting point to reflect on how darkness and light feed our practice of seeing our true nature.

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  • Breakthroughs Part 2 with Henry Shukman

    MCZCNovember 26, 20241 min read

    At this time when many of us may be feeling daunted and uncertain, we gather in the zendo to tap into our shared deeper nature that meditation can open up, drawing sustenance and new perspectives from it. In this talk, Henry explores breakthrough experiences — sudden shifts in how we understand and experience this life. They can show up in many forms, and in many areas, both personal and collective. Zen’s history is full of...

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  • Dharma Talk: Breakthroughs Part 2 with Henry Shukman

    MCZCNovember 26, 20241 min read

    At this time when many of us may be feeling daunted and uncertain, we gather in the zendo to tap into our shared deeper nature that meditation can open up, drawing sustenance and new perspectives from it. In this talk, Henry explores breakthrough experiences — sudden shifts in how we understand and experience this life. They can show up in many forms, and in many areas, both personal and collective. Zen’s history is full of...

    Watch the video
  • Poetry, Practice, and the Wild Ethics of Love: A Conversation with David Hinton

    MCZCNovember 19, 20241 min read

    David Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy—all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking. This widely-acclaimed work has earned Hinton a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from NEA and NEH, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently, Hinton received...

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  • Poetry, Practice, and the Wild Ethics of Love: A Conversation with David Hinton

    MCZCNovember 14, 20241 min read

    David Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy—all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking. This widely-acclaimed work has earned Hinton a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from NEA and NEH, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently, Hinton received...

    Watch the video
  • Valerie Forstman: Zen’s Subverting Impulse: Overturning the One

    MC PodcastNovember 5, 20241 min read

    This week's talk was offered by Mountain Cloud's Guiding Teacher, Valerie Forstman. It was recorded on October 31st at the Zendo in Sante Fe. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Check out our website: https://www.mountaincloud.org/ All are welcome to join us for sitting and dharma talks. Use this link to join us:...

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  • Valerie Forstman: Zen’s Subverting Impulse: Overturning the One

    MCZCOctober 31, 20241 min read

    Valerie begins this Halloween night teisho referencing Colleen’s Wednesday Wisdom talk based in part on Kamilah Majied’s book “Joyfully Just.” Colleen invited us to weave wonder, joy, and resilient compassion and creativity into our practice. Valerie quotes “awakening is to follow any one thing through all the way to the end” with joy and wonder. On All Hallows Eve, tradition overturns the boundary between life and death bringing together ancestors living and beyond. Valerie then...

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  • Kali Basman: Cultivating Wonder

    MC PodcastOctober 29, 20242 min read

    Kali invites us to examine the wide array of features that comprise “The Practice Field,” the many aspects of our path of practice. She states that as a species we are quite proficient at ignoring our “shadow side of life,” those parts of us that help inform the richness of the practice field. Through this avoidance of difficult experiences, we contribute to our own suffering. Kali suggests that, with kindness and insight, we can lovingly...

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  • Kali Basman: Cultivating Wonder

    MCZCOctober 25, 20241 min read

    Kali invites us to examine the wide array of features that comprise “The Practice Field,” the many aspects of our path of practice. She states that as a species we are quite proficient at ignoring our “shadow side of life,” those parts of us that help inform the richness of the practice field. Through this avoidance of difficult experiences, we contribute to our own suffering. Kali suggests that, with kindness and insight, we can lovingly...

    Watch the video
  • Valerie Forstman: A Preaching in Accordance

    MCZCOctober 17, 20241 min read

    Valerie begins this teisho noticing the full moon, The Hunter’s Moon, rising in the night sky. Dogen’s writings include several aspects of the moon as realization, one drop of water reflecting the moon, one illumination. Valerie then invites us into Case #14 of the Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record), “A Preaching in Accordance.” A monk asks of Yunmen: “What are the periods and teachings of the whole lifetime of Shakyamuni? Yunmen answers, “A preaching in accordance.” ...

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