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.

  • The Suffering of Self, Part 1 of 4, by David Loy

    MCZCFebruary 18, 20175 min read

    Buddhism isn’t about helping us become well-adjusted. A socially well-adjusted ego-self is still a sick ego-self, for there remains something problematical about it. It is still infected by dukkha. If someone asked you to summarize the teachings of the Buddha, what would you say? For most Buddhists, probably the first thing that would come to mind is the four noble (or “ennobling”) truths: dukkha, its causes, its cessation (better known as nirvana), and the eightfold path...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Continuation Case 50, Book of Equanimity, Seppo’s What Is This?

    MCZCFebruary 16, 20172 min read

    "If we could all just reside in our real self, we would be infinite.” “They are so imponderable, that you cannot ponder them. So what do you do? You sit, and you swallow the koan, and you wait. All things come to those who wait" ~ Henry Shukman Description: Henry delivers this talk on Rohatsu, the auspicious day of Buddha’s awakening.  He states: “Koans can be charming little stories, but are more often interpreted as...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: The Six Virtues

    MCZCFebruary 14, 20172 min read

    They may be understood more as six overlapping, unfolding, but loose, endlessly repeatable stages. The “paramitas” are often translated as “perfections” but that may sound a little unattainable. They are... dana - generosity: giving freely. sila - ethical restraint, guided by the precepts: in sum, refraining from harm kshanti - patience: with the vicissitudes of life, and with our practice virya - diligence, constancy: the Sanskrit word is cognate with both strength, virility and virtue,...

    Read more
  • Religion as Umbrella, Religion as Path, by David R Loy

    MCZCFebruary 11, 20174 min read

    For Buddhism, the issue is whether “salvation” is to be achieved by clinging to doctrines and rituals that offer the possibility of a postmortem paradise, or by following a spiritual roadmap that can transform us here and now. In his great book, The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker suggests that religions claiming knowledge of an afterlife create a “vital lie” and attempts to evade death and thus end up crippling us in life. But is...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Rohatsu: Case 50, Book of Equanimity, Seppo’s What Is This? (Part 5 of 5)

    MCZCFebruary 9, 20172 min read

    "It’s a series of graces falling like blows on the crown of the head." "... the inevitability of failure in Zen practice—error and mistake are the mulch which allows our humanity to grow ..." ~ Henry Shukman Description: This final teisho of the Rohatsu sesshin follows an early morning ceremony that commemorates  Shakymuni’s awakening.  Henry notes that each and every koan is a manifestation of Buddha’s awakening. Many koans actually ask some version of the question:...

    Listen to the talk
  • Sample Sesshin Schedules

    MCZCFebruary 7, 20171 min read

    Schedules for Sesshins and the Weekend Intro Retreat   Multi-day Sesshin Sample Schedule (for 5-7 day retreats) Opening day 4.00 to 6 pm Arrival, find your accommodation and settle in 6 pm Dinner 7.30 to 9 pm Introduction and orientation / Sitting Daily 5:00 am Wake up: tea and coffee 5:30-5.45 Walking outside 6:00 Kentan – morning greeting Sitting 7.45 Breakfast 8:15 Work practice 9:30Rest 10:00 Sitting 10:25 Talk (teisho) 11:00 Sitting    12:00 Lunch...

    Read more
  • Message from Henry: Doubt and Humility

    MCZCFebruary 7, 20171 min read

    ...humility is the cure not just for doubt as a hindrance, but for many of our ills. Pure Land Buddhists say the hindrance of doubt is self-generated. Doubt involves some measure of unwillingness to give the Way the benefit of the doubt – a reluctance to let go of what we think we know. It may involve a grain of pride. On the other hand, humility is the cure not just for doubt as a...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Rohatsu: Case 49, Book of Equanimity, Tôzan and the Memorial Service (Part 4 of 5)

    MCZCFebruary 2, 20172 min read

    "Avoid seeking elsewhere, for that is far from yourself. Now I travel alone, everywhere I meet it. Now it is me, now I am not it. It must be thus understood to merge with thusness." ~ Tozan "... There is no other other essential reality, there is “just this,” beyond any description ..." ~ Henry Shukman Description: Case 49: When Tôzan held a memorial service for Ungan before his portrait, he mentioned the episode with the portrait....

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: A Clear Mind and Heart

    MCZCJanuary 31, 20171 min read

    “Just sitting” practice (shikantaza) is also sometimes described as the practice of “doing nothing.” Doing nothing doesn’t mean that nothing is going on. Rather, we become clear that whatever is going on, we don’t need to do anything about it. ***** What fills the gap (if there is one) between awakening and ordinary life is love, appreciation, tenderness, caring. Then eventually there isn’t a gap any more. ***** From the perspective of a clear mind...

    Read more
  • The Earth as Witness: International Dharma Teachers’ Statement on Climate Change, by David R Loy

    MCZCJanuary 28, 20178 min read

    ...craving, aversion, and delusion are also the root causes of climate change. Climate change is perhaps humanity’s greatest teacher yet about how these mental forces, when unchecked in ourselves and our institutions, cause harm to other people and the living environment. 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 150 Dharma teachers...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Rohatsu: Case 48, Book of Equanimity, Vimalakirti’s “Not-Two” (Part 3 of 5)

    MCZCJanuary 26, 20172 min read

    Then Manjusri asked Vimalakirti, "All of us have finished giving our explanations. Now you should give your explanation. What does it mean that the Bodhisattva enters the Dharma-gate of Not-Two?" Vimalakirti remained silent. ~ from Case 48 "...  what is that roar of silence? ..." ~ Henry Shukman Description: Henry uses a computer software metaphor for describing practice: Zen Practice is about changing our software, running a new operating system, with the main feature that it...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Koan Training in the West

    MCZCJanuary 24, 20173 min read

    We have a tendency in the West to understand Buddhist meditation practice as primarily an individual effort for individual benefits. It’s certainly true that we ourselves must do the “heavy-lifting” of maintaining a practice, yet it’s a communal practice... Two points about koan training in the West: 1. Keeping koan training “true” -- in the sense of upright, aligned with its intention. One way to understand this is as follows: The meditation teacher Shinzen Young...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Rohatsu: Gateless Gate and Doubt (Part 2 of 5)

    MCZCJanuary 19, 20172 min read

    Zen makes the mind of Buddha its foundation. It makes no gate, the gate of dharma. If it is no gate from the start, how can we pass through it? Haven’t you ever heard…things that come in through the gate are not family treasures. Description: In this second talk of the Rohatus sesshin Henry continues to look at Mu with the help of Mumon’s Preface to the Gateless Gate. In this talk, Heny focuses on...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Poem from Sonnenhof

    MCZCJanuary 17, 20171 min read

    The snow falls like so many old ideas long forgotten, like so many words that once meant so much and now, who needs them?   Image: Winter, CC0 Public Domain, from Pixabay.com

    Read more
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