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: Case 68, Book of Equanimity: “Kassan Brandishes the Sword”
January 5, 20182 min read
"... It is all makyô, or deceptive phenomena. The dust is swept away, and we see “Buddha,” and the dust reveals itself to be none other than Buddha all along ..." Description: In exploring the koan, “Kassan Brandishes the Sword,” Case 68 from the Book of Equanimity, Henry begins by giving us a taste of the teaching of Master Kassan, who points to the fact that the “Way” cannot be taught because it is precisely who...
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From Dogen’s Echizen
December 30, 20171 min read
For so long here without worldly attachments, I have renounced literature and writing; I may be a monk in a mountain temple, Yet still moved in seeing gorgeous blossoms Scattered by the spring breeze, And hearing the warbler's lovely song— Let others judge my meager efforts. ~ Dogen This kanshi, one of a series of fifteen verses on Dōgen's Echizen "mountain retreat," expresses his creative ambivalence toward the tension between spiritual discipline and aesthetic...
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Teisho: Introductory Talk #6: Three Essentials of Zen Practice
December 28, 20172 min read
"... three elements that are essential to serious Zen practice: great faith, great doubt and great determination ..." Description: This talk covers three elements that the 11th century master Tahui and the 18th century master Hakuin developed as “essential” to serious Zen practice. (The first and third equate to the 3rd and 4th paramitas - patience and resolve or vigor; the second equates to the quest or search that set Shakyamuni on his journey.) These are: great...
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Teisho: Introductory Talk #5: Five Kinds of Zen
December 23, 20172 min read
"... Supreme way practice has no objective. It is associated with the practice of just sitting. There is no desire to realize anything—it is simply, this ..." Description: This talk covers the five kinds of zen: ordinary practice, outside practice, lesser vehicle practice (Theravada), greater vehicle practice (Mahayana) and supreme way practice. Ordinary practice is practice for ordinary benefits, like decreased anxiety, increased focus, improved health and more harmonious relationships. Outside practice refers to someone...
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Rohatsu 2017… Enter Practice
December 20, 20171 min read
Perhaps with the disenchantment of old formal religious institutions many of us are left with a reflex toward the sacred, the numinous, the ineffable, without having an immediate frame of reference by which to interpret what the impulse is, or what to do with it. Enter Practice. ~ Henry Shukman
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Dogen: Fleeting Dharma
December 16, 20171 min read
Everyone admires A graceful horse Galloping past the streaming sunlight, But few realize that this fleeting image Is itself the way of Dharma. ~ Dogen Text from The Zen Poetry of Dogen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace, by Steve Heine Image: Wild Horses by skeeze, CC0 Public Domain from Pixabay.com
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Teisho: Introductory Talk #4: Three Fruits of Zen Practice
December 14, 20171 min read
Description: This talk explores the three fruits of Zen practice. The first is concentration. The second is kensho, “seeing reality” or “seeing true nature.” The third is embodying this experience in everyday life. Concentration, or con-centration, is the process of continuously coming back to the present moment, where our lives are happening, in the center of our being. Kensho is a moment when everything falls away and we glimpse our “true nature,” as Zen calls it....
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Introductory Talk #3: Why Meditate? (Part 2)
December 2, 20172 min read
"... our existence where nothing is separate from anything else ...” Description: This talk explores why it’s worth practicing meditation, in a broader context. Henry points to four main areas of human healing and exploration where mindfulness meditation, or present moment awareness practices, have great benefit. The first area is personal psychology. Over time, as we practice, the things that trigger us and stir up our individual psychology, i.e, our neuroses or internal challenges, tend to...
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