Teachings

  • Message from Valerie: An Invitation to Serve

    Valerie ForstmanJanuary 25, 20232 min read

    Mountain Cloud sangha members are currently coming together once each month to prepare and serve a delicious meal at the Interfaith Shelter, known as Pete’s Place, here in Santa Fe. For members interested in further engagement with vulnerable segments of our community, we have an opportunity to serve with fellow practitioners in Upaya’s Street Ministry project.  Upaya’s Street Ministry focuses on supporting member’s of Santa Fe’s community who are experiencing homelessness. Volunteers in the Street Ministry not only...

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  • 21st century Buddhism: Facing Institutionalized Suffering, Part 2

    MCZCNovember 18, 20174 min read

    We are in a world where is enormous amount of suffering and it comes not just from our individual karma but the way society is structured. We are  posting sections of an interview Matthias Luckwaldt had with David Loy. In this part, David talks about karma and ethics and has some strong words about institutionalized suffering and delusion. If you missed it, click here for Part 1. Luckwaldt: What should a Western Buddhist student definitely know about Karma? David...

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  • Introductory Talk #1: The Origin of Zen Buddhism

    MCZCNovember 17, 20172 min read

    "... Zen Buddhism is focused primarily on meditative practice—“it’s about the sitting.” ...” Description: This talk begins with the story of the Buddha, which means, “awakened one.” He began his life as a prince, Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni), and became Buddha after six and a half years of practice. After encountering an old man, a sick man, a corpse and, finally, a spiritual seeker, the young prince became determined to resolve the problem of suffering. Once immersed in a...

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  • Message from Henry: Personality

    MCZCNovember 14, 20172 min read

    Leaking samadhi: still a self, managing itself. Non-leaking samadhi: no self. No management. We can’t seem to help it, we all walk around with our socially constructed personalities. They are like masks. Or puppets. Additional. Not intrinsic. However lovely we may try to make them appear, they aren’t quite real, and are therefore in some sense false. And therefore perhaps even a little ugly. Maybe that sounds harsh and unkind. But really in the end “personalities” are...

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  • 21st century Buddhism: Facing Institutionalized Suffering, Interview with David Loy

    MCZCNovember 11, 20174 min read

    Karma IS created by our motivations. We will be posting sections of an interview Matthias Luckwaldt had with David Loy over the next few weeks. In this first part, David talks about Karma. Luckwaldt: You are a valued critic when it comes to the integration of traditional Buddhist teachings and values into our western societies. What are you currently missing in our Western discussion of Buddhist ethics? Loy:  One big issue we need to rethink is how we understand Karma....

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  • Teisho: Dialoguing and Certifying

    MCZCNovember 9, 20172 min read

    "... we can become aware that we are the universe functioning; the universe is becoming aware of itself in every moment ...” Responding without falling into achievement. Speaking without involving listeners. The ten thousand forms majestically glisten and expound the dharma. All objects certify it, everyone in dialogue. Dialoguing and certifying, they respond appropriately to each other. Description: This teisho is the sixth talk from the Summer 2017 sesshin. The main topic comes from a verse by Master Wanshi, “Silent Illumination.” To begin this reflection on...

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  • Message from Henry: Trust

    MCZCNovember 7, 20172 min read

    There is nothing “to trust.” And that “nothing” is wondrously trustworthy. Having been skeptical and having trusted very little – having had very little trust – this practice can lead us to a position where there is simply no doubt left, and nothing left to doubt. It could be called a “position-less position.” It might also be called universal trust. It could also be called “happiness.” What can we trust? Can we trust Zen? Zen itself prefers...

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  • What is Ecodharma? by David R. Loy

    MCZCNovember 4, 20173 min read

    ...there are important parallels between our usual personal predicament – our sense of separation from the rest of the world – and our collective sense of separation from the natural world. Ecodharma is a relatively new word, and its meaning is by no means fixed. The term combines the teachings of Buddhism and related spiritual traditions (dharma) with ecology or ecological concerns (eco). A bit more specifically, ecodharma can be understood as a new development in...

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  • Teisho: Case 60, Book of Equanimity: Tetsuma, the Cow

    MCZCNovember 2, 20172 min read

    "... We practice, cultivating attention and allowing and go beyond “self” ...” Description: This teisho is the fifth talk from the Summer 2017 sesshin. The fourth talk was a silent talk. In the third talk, Henry spoke about the fact that koans are not moral or practical guidance. To begin this talk, further explanation is offered—specifically, how koans are deeply ethical, while not overtly offering moral guidelines. The koans are reality itself and in the course of zen...

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  • Message from Henry: Genjo Koan

    MCZCOctober 31, 20174 min read

    To study the Way is to study your self. To study self is to forget self. To forget self is to be awakened by all things. To realize this is to cast off the body and mind of self and other. When you have reached this stage you will practice awakening continually, without awareness of it. ~ Dogen A Quick Look at Dogen’s famous paragraph from the Genjo Koan. To study the Way is to study your self. -       Turning to Zen practice...

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  • True Seeing Received at Birth

    MCZCOctober 28, 20171 min read

      Seeking the way Amid the deepest mountain paths The retreat I find None other than My primordial home: satori! ~ Dogen   Text from The Zen Poetry of Dogen by Steven Heine Image: Rainbow by Skeeze, CCo Public Domain

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  • Teisho: Case 59, Book of Equanimity: Seirin’s Deadly Snake

    MCZCOctober 26, 20172 min read

    "... The self is actually a root system of attachments, and the entire system can be suddenly uprooted ...” Description: This teisho is the third talk from the Summer 2017 sesshin. The last talk covered the Buddha’s five hindrances. This talk begins with the remedy for the five hindrances—patience and determination. If we keep practicing, unconditional happiness can be a reality. This leads into Bodhidharma’s two “entries”—principle and practice. Entry by principle is marked by sudden realization....

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  • Message from Henry: Dharma Notes

    MCZCOctober 24, 20172 min read

    Fortitude in adversity, temperance in prosperity, said Sir Francis Bacon (as mentioned in a recent message – an Elizabethan essayist, moralist, philosopher, courtier, thinker). Bacon propounded a “middle way” too: stay strong and constant in the face of difficulty, and stay self-disciplined, not avaricious, in the face of abundance. This spirit – the spirit of moderation of the Epicureans, the followers of Epicurus who influenced Bacon. (Our common notion of an “epicurean” as a gluttonous connoisseur of...

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  • Transmitting to the East

    MCZCOctober 21, 20171 min read

    Transmitting to the east the way the ancestors brought from the west, My daily activities illuminated by the moon and shadowed by the clouds, Because I revere the ancient way of the patriarchs, The secular dust of worldly customs does not reach Where I remain secluded in my grass-thatched hut, On a snowy evening deep in the mountain recesses. ~ Dogen   Text from The Zen Poetry of Dogen by Steven Heine Image: Full Moon by alsen CCo Public Domain...

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  • Teisho: Cases 1, 7, & 23 of The Book of Equanimity

    MCZCOctober 19, 20172 min read

    "... if we can taste the power of the Buddha just sitting ...” Description: This teisho is the second talk from the Summer 2017 sesshin. The talk begins with an acknowledgment of the difficulties that can arise during sesshin, as expressed in the Buddha’s five hindrances. These are: desire; aversion; restlessness; sloth, torpor, or lethargy; doubt. The discussion moves into Cases 1, 7 and 23 of the Book of Equanimity. In Case 1, we are asked if we...

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