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.

  • Between the Human Animal and the Animate Earth (Part 2a of 6)

    MCZCMay 24, 20182 min read

    "... the sacredness of our human inter-being with the rest of nature ..." Description: This is the second in a three-part series of spontaneous conversations between Henry and David Abram. Henry and David continue to explore the sacredness of our human inter-being with the rest of nature. David is an ecologist, geo-philosopher, and writer. David describes a geo-philosopher to be someone who reflects under the influence of the earth. He is particularly interested in the ecology of sensory...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: A Single Love

    MCZCMay 22, 20182 min read

    It is for love that the whole universe sprang into existence and it is for the sake of love that it is kept going.   ~ Meher Baba Some psychologists say we all have an “unconditioned self,” and it knows: “I am loved.” We also have a conditioned or learned self which doubts that it is loved. “Am I loved?” it wonders. And further: “Am I loveable?” It then creates the myth: “If I have enough,...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Case 67, Book of Equanimity: Wisdom in the Kegon Sutra

    MCZCMay 21, 20181 min read

    Koans are dark to the mind but radiant to the heart    Description: This talk centers on Case 67, which is taken from the Kegon Sutra. The Buddha says, “Now I see all living beings everywhere, and I see that each of them possesses the wisdom and virtue of Tathagata.” Henry explains the word Tathagata and points to the wonder of practice, which may allow us to see “all living beings everywhere.” In Zen training, we...

    Listen to the talk
  • Fully Human

    MCZCMay 19, 20181 min read

    To be fully human – that’s the project. To do that, the key is dropping the self, being liberated from a constricted notion of self, forgetting self, seeing through self and its two attendants, greed and aversion. ~ Henry Shukman   Image: Ocean woman by Nerivill, CC0 Public Domain from Pixabay.com

    Read more
  • Message from Henry: True Zero

    MCZCMay 15, 20182 min read

    Who knows true zero? English trees in wind: leaves shaking and shimmering. The woods are like tinsel. So many shades of green. So many layers. A beech stirring in the wind, ashes giving a hoarse roar, an end-of-season rosebush waving weakly, a willow with its wands dangling and dawdling, as if trying to point to the east but too weak to do so. Then the wood up on the brow, all the crowns swaying like...

    Read more
  • Earth as Witness: International Dharma Teacher’s Statement on Climate Change

    MCZCMay 12, 20188 min read

    We can use the climate crisis as a catalyst to acknowledge the consequences of our craving for more and more material wealth and the pursuit of power and realize we must change our assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors. A group of Dharma teachers have issued the following statement describing core Buddhist insights into the root causes of the climate crisis and ways to minimize its potentially tragic consequences. Over 500 Dharma teachers from around the globe...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Case 66, Book of Equanimity: Kyûhô’s “Head and Tail”

    MCZCMay 10, 20181 min read

    "... the movement into service ..."   Description: Henry begins by explaining how koans are a doorway into the deepest aspects of our existence. Zen is about letting go of everything we think we know, of all our beliefs and opinions. It is a process of purification that allows for the discovery of another dimension of our existence. In Case 66, this dimension is described as “Opening the eyes and not perceiving the dawn.” Everything is gone—time and...

    Listen to the talk
  • Cottage Opening Celebration Photos

    MCZCMay 8, 20181 min read

    Saturday May 5 Celebration   Ryoun Roshi cuts the ribbon... Sit and short talk with Ryoun Roshi   Interior Photos...     Chris Wuest manager/overseer of the entire project. Thank you Chris. Many bows!  

    Read more
  • Message from Henry: Cup of Tea

    MCZCMay 8, 20181 min read

    There is a hump we can get over, a corner we can turn, and it's getting less mysterious by the week, as contemplative neuroscientific research keeps after it. *** The practice is multi-valent. It can meet any number of different angles and perspectives from which we might plug into it, and any number of different reasons for doing it, and any number of different intentions with which we may approach it. *** Is this the...

    Read more
  • The Nonduality of Good and Evil, David Loy

    MCZCMay 5, 20185 min read

    If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? —Alexander Solzhenitsyn Because it emphasizes mindfulness of our thought processes, Buddhism encourages us to be wary of antithetical concepts, not only...

    Read more
  • Between the Human Animal and the Animate Earth (Part 1b of 6)

    MCZCMay 3, 20182 min read

    "... when we speak, the world is speaking through us ..." Description: This is the first in a three-part series of spontaneous conversations between Henry and David Abram. David is a cultural ecologist, geo-philosopher, and performance artist and the author of Becoming Animal and The Spell of the Sensuous. His writings have catalyzed the emergence of several new disciplines, including the burgeoning field of Ecopsychology. He is a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction, recently held...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Delusion

    MCZCMay 1, 20181 min read

    ...all things without exception are in fact impermanent, and incapable of providing lasting peace... Are we hardwired for joy, wonder, appreciation, gratitude, and caring, compassion, love? Basically, yes. But we are also misled and deluded by the three poisons, desire, aversion and delusion. We have to be freed of them in order to taste intrinsic primordial joy. Of the three poisons the third, delusion, is in a sense the strongest and most pervasive. Without it,...

    Read more
  • Arrested by Light

    MCZCApril 28, 20181 min read

    I was suddenly arrested in the long, crunching path of the ridge by an exceedingly pointed awareness of the light.  The moment I paused, the full impact of the mood was upon me. I saw more clearly than I’d ever seen before, the minute detail of the grasses, the small flotsam of the forest, the motion of the high clouds streaming above the peaks. I dreamed that for a moment... time stood quietly and the...

    Read more
  • Between the Human Animal and the Animate Earth (Part 1a of 6)

    MCZCApril 27, 20182 min read

    "... the sacredness of our human inter-being with the rest of nature ..." Description: This is the first in a three-part series of spontaneous conversations between Henry and David Abram. David is a cultural ecologist, geo-philosopher, and performance artist and the author of Becoming Animal and The Spell of the Sensuous. His writings have catalyzed the emergence of several new disciplines, including the burgeoning field of Ecopsychology. He is a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction,...

    Listen to the talk
footer support banner image

Support Mountain Cloud

You can show your gratitude for Mountain Cloud events, retreats, podcasts and other teachings by making a one-time gift, or by becoming a supporting member.

Donate to Mountain Cloud Become a Member