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
February 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?
February 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 -
Religion as Umbrella, Religion as Path, by David R Loy
February 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)
February 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
February 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 -
Teisho: Rohatsu: Case 49, Book of Equanimity, Tôzan and the Memorial Service (Part 4 of 5)
February 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 -
The Earth as Witness: International Dharma Teachers’ Statement on Climate Change, by David R Loy
January 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)
January 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 -
Teisho: Rohatsu: Gateless Gate and Doubt (Part 2 of 5)
January 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