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.

  • Zen: Soto, Rinzai and Sanbo Zen, Part 1 of 2

    MCZCSeptember 23, 20175 min read

    “… the very impermanency of grass and tree, thicket and forest is the Buddha nature …” ~ Dogen Dogen is credited with founding Soto (one of three important Zen “schools”) in Japan. But what is Soto? And how does it differ from Rinzai?  These differences are important. Many of the “lost generation” of Westerners who came from Europe and America in the 60’s and 70’s discovered great wisdom from the two great schools of Japanese Zen expressed...

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  • Teisho: Case 42, Book of Equanimity: Nanyô and the Water Jug

    MCZCSeptember 21, 20172 min read

    "... Absolute happiness, regardless of circumstances, is possible in the existence that the Buddha discovered ...” Description: This talk was given by Sanbo Zen Abbot, Yamada Ryoun Roshi, during a special visit to Mountain Cloud. The center of this talk is the koan, “Nanyô and the Water Jug” from the Book of Equanimity. Ryoun Roshi chose this koan because it simply and profoundly conveys the world that Shakyamuni Buddha discovered 2500 years ago. He emphasizes the fact...

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  • Message from Henry: Trapping the Moon

    MCZCSeptember 19, 20172 min read

    The self is like a seed that has been planted in this world, whose task is to give itself up, to break, disintegrate, and allow itself to dissolve into the greater life of all things, which it does not know. That’s what life is for. But so little are we taught this these days that awareness of it is all but lost. We assume life and the world in some way belong to the self,...

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  • Dogen Zenji, Part 2 of 2

    MCZCSeptember 16, 20175 min read

    “… circle of practice-enlightenment is renewed moment after moment …” ~ Dogen Zenji In the previous part we covered some of Dogen’s journey of realization (& Zen in Japan) and closed that with one of Kaz Tanahashi’s summary comments on Dogen’s answer regarding practice … Continuing Kaz’s summary on Dogen: “Dogen accepts this image of a linear process of seeking. But he also talks about the way as a circle. For him, each moment of practice encompasses enlightenment, and each moment of...

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  • Teisho: Case 58, Book of Equanimity: ” ‘Getting Despised’ in the Diamond Sutra”

    MCZCSeptember 15, 20172 min read

    "...any notion of recognition or good reputation becomes unnecessary ...” Description: The center of this talk is the koan, “‘Getting Despised’ in the Diamond Sutra,” from the Book of Equanimity. It also appears in the Blue Cliff Record. This koan is an excerpt from the Diamond Sutra, the Mahayana sutra which expresses, most closely, the spirit of Zen. Henry begins by pointing out that this koan is particularly relevant for Westerners because of our levels of...

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  • Message from Henry: Zen…

    MCZCSeptember 12, 20172 min read

    The sixth paramita, prajna, the “final” point of training, of a life of practice: naturally, whatever it connotes, it couldn’t be less final... It’s the start of everything. Zen is not about Zen. It doesn’t ask us to be interested in Zen. It doesn’t say: hey, we are all about our beliefs, and these are the ideas you have to be interested in – this person, for example, this savior, this way of thinking, this...

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  • Dogen Zenji, Part 1 of 2

    MCZCSeptember 9, 20176 min read

      “In spring hundreds of flowers, in autumn the clear moon, In summer a cool breeze, and in winter the white snow, if your mind is free of vanity, then every season is fine.”   No conversation about Japanese Zen is complete without a discussion of one of the World’s great masters, Eihei Dogen (also known as Dogen Zenji). He has been called the greatest creative thinker in Japanese history. Dogen, born in 1200, introduced Zen to Japan and,...

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  • Teisho: Case 57, Book of Equanimity: Gon’yô’s One Thing

    MCZCSeptember 7, 20172 min read

    "... when you experience sight and sound with your whole body and mind, you are swallowed whole, so to speak. We are swallowed by the moment.” Description: The focus of this talk is Case 57 of The Book of Equanimity, “Gon’yô’s One ‘Thing.’” Henry begins by discussing the story of Jôshû’s life and cites James Austin’s article, “Old Jôshû Lives On,” which considers the aging process and recent research into the positive effect of meditation on...

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  • Message from Henry: Samu or Work Practice

    MCZCSeptember 5, 20172 min read

    I and Thou. Hence we take good care, the best we can. All life is samu. Samu is to take care of what needs to be taken care of. That is our life and practice. Taking care of the life of beings, and the life of all things. That is this life. That is what it calls for. Taking care of each being with whom we come into contact, allowing it be as it is...

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  • Retreat to the Mountains

    MCZCSeptember 2, 20171 min read

    [caption id="attachment_7427" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sonnenhof: A retreat to the mountains[/caption]   A thousand clouds, ten thousand streams, Here I live, an idle man, Roaming green peaks by day, Back to sleep by cliffs at night. One by one, springs and autumns go, Free of heat and dust, my mind. Sweet to know there’s nothing I need, Silent as the autumn river’s flood. Hanshan (literally: "Cold Mountain")   Photo and creation by Rosa Bellino....

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  • Teisho: Shukman: Case 1, The Blue Cliff Record, Bodhidharma’s “Clear and Void”

    MCZCAugust 31, 20171 min read

    "... Sitting is how we embody zen ... It is “the complete continuation of the practice of Bodhidharma in his cave … it is one, unbroken fact.”   Description: The focus of this talk is the first koan of The Blue Cliff Record, “Bodhidharma’s ‘Clear and Void.’” It begins with the story of Bodhidharma, who is traditionally said to have brought Zen meditation practice from India to China. This particular night, Henry wanted to choose a...

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  • Message from Henry: End to Experience?

    MCZCAugust 29, 20172 min read

    ...when a master asks...about... “true nature,” perhaps she is not expecting description... she may be waiting for a shift in experience... even, possibly, an end to experience. Some teachers (this one included) maintain that their Buddhism doesn't make ontological or metaphysical claims about reality. But it can surely sound like it. Even the word “kensho,” for example, means “seeing into your own nature.” In other words, it would seem to claim that there is such...

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  • Dogen: Every Step is Home

    MCZCAugust 26, 20171 min read

    Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm, Without looking for the traces I may have left; A cuckoo's song beckons me to return home, Hearing this, I tilt my head to see Who has told me to turn back; But do not ask me where I am going, As I travel in this limitless world, Where every step I take is my home. ~ Eihei Dogen     Generally, this image (bird call) is used...

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  • Teisho: Koans & Why We Study Them

    MCZCAugust 24, 20171 min read

    "... the world that koans reveal grows evermore in wondrous beauty ..." Description: This teisho centers on koans and why it is worthwhile to study them. Henry likens koan study to a violinist playing a technically challenging piece like Bach’s Chaconne, in that both set a very high standard. Koans are saying to us that the awakening experience is not enough----they want us to go deeper. There is another order of our experience where there is...

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