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.

  • Man in a Boat at Sea, from Genjokoan

    MCZCJune 17, 20161 min read

    When a man is in a boat at sea and looks back at the shoreline, it may seem to him as though the shore is moving. But when he fixes his gaze closely on the boat, he realizes it is the boat that is moving. In like manner, when a person tries to discern and affirm thoughts with a confused notion of his body and mind, he makes the mistake of thinking his mind, his...

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  • Teisho: Yamada Ryoun Roshi: Rinzai’s “True Person,” Case 38, Shoyoroku, Book of Equanimity (Part 3 of 4)

    MCZCJune 16, 20161 min read

    Case 38: Rinzai instructed his assembly and said, “There is one true person of no rank, always coming out and going in through the gates of your face. Beginners who have not yet witnessed that, look! look!” Then a monk came out and asked, “What is the one true person of no rank?” Rinzai descended from the rostrum and grabbed him. The monk hesitated. Rinzai pushed him away and said, “The true person of no rank...

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  • Message from Henry: The Old Hurt

    MCZCJune 14, 20164 min read

    There was simply a ring of fire, of pain, of grievous loss by which the entry had to be made. In Die Wise Stephen Jenkinson mentions a term that has come rolling out of the Welsh mountains and mists, namely herath, which he translates as “the Old Hurt.” What is the “old hurt”? It begins in longing, moves into love, then loss of what is still loved though gone. It's the one old way. Our...

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  • Healing Ecology: Discovering Our Collective Place in the World, by David R Loy, Part 2 of 3

    MCZCJune 12, 20164 min read

    For Buddhism the only true solution lies in realizing our nonduality with “others” and understanding that our own well-being cannot be distinguished from their well-being.  Click to read Part 1 of Discovering our Collective Place in the World. Does this basic insight about the intimate connection between sense of self and dukkha also apply to the sense of separation between ourselves and others? The issue here is whether “separate self = dukkha” also holds true for...

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  • The Buddha Way, from Genjokoan

    MCZCJune 10, 20161 min read

    To learn the Buddha Way is to learn one's self. To learn one's self is to forget one's self. To forget one's self is to be confirmed by all the dharmas. To be confirmed by all dharmas is to cast off one's body and mind and the bodies and minds of others as well. All trace of enlightenment disappears, and this tracless enlightenment continues on without end. The moment you begin seeking the Dharma, you move...

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  • Teisho: Yamada Ryoun Roshi: Isan’s Karma-Consciousness, Case 37, Shoyoroku, Book of Equanimity (Part 2 of 4)

    MCZCJune 9, 20161 min read

    Case 37: Isan asked Kyôzan, “Suppose a man asks you, saying, 'All living beings are tossed in a vast karma-consciousness. Does this karma-consciousness have any origin from which it arises?' How would you check him?” Kyôzan said, “If such a monk appears, I call out to him, 'Mr. So-and-so!' When he turns his head, instantly I say, 'What is this?' If he hesitates, then I say to him, 'Not only is there a vast karma-consciousness,...

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  • Message from Henry, Ecstasy and Laundry

    MCZCJune 7, 20161 min read

    An idea has crept into American Zen, especially perhaps in some lines that formerly grew out of Sanbo Zen, that the point of training was to have a glimpse of the dimension of ku, or shunyata, or the “Dharmakaya,” or Dharma-body, then scurry back into “normal views.” After the ecstasy, the laundry. But actually that’s not how it is taught in Japan. Rather, it’s not “after the ecstasy the laundry,” but something more like: “glory...

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  • Healing Ecology: Discovering Our Collective Place in the World, by David R Loy, Part 1 of 3

    MCZCJune 6, 20164 min read

    In the article below, Buddhist scholar David Loy explores the parallels between our individual and collective journey to understand who and what we are, the traps that we fall into the the path to belonging. Originally Published in One Earth Sangha, we are publishing the article in three installments. As a complex religious tradition, or group of traditions, Buddhism has a lot to say about the natural world. Passages in many Buddhist texts reveal sensitivity...

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  • Flowers Fall, from Genjokoan

    MCZCJune 3, 20161 min read

    When all things are the Buddha Dharma, there is illusion and enlightenment, practice, birth death, Buddhas and sentient beings. When all things are without self, there is no illusion or enlightenment, no birth or death, no Buddhas or sentient beings. The Buddha way is originally beyond any fullness and lack, and for that reason, there is birth and death, illusion and enlightenment, sentient beings, and Buddhas. Yet for all that, flowers fall amid our regret and...

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  • Teisho: Yamada Ryoun Roshi: Joshu’s Dog (Part 1 of 4)

    MCZCJune 2, 20161 min read

    Description: Yamada Ryoun Roshi, Abbot of the Sanbo Zen lineage from Kamakura, Japan, gives his first teisho of the North American Sanbo Zen (NASZ) sesshin for 2016, on Joshu’s Dog. In his introduction, Roshi stresses the primary purpose for practicing Zen. Settling the mind and many other fruits of practice are not the primary purpose. They are byproducts of Zen, while discovering our true nature, and then living up to it, is the real purpose. Listen...

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  • Message from Henry: Notes on Practice

    MCZCJune 1, 20162 min read

    Oddly, letting go allows our focus to get steadier and clearer. A tight grip often makes it wander, and become indistinct. It’s natural that at times our faith in practice will waver. The important thing is not how strong and steady our faith in it is, but that we don’t allow ourselves to get derailed by fluctuations in it. An old writing teacher once told me not to get “tossed away” by doubt when the...

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  • Photos from North American Sanbo Zen Sesshin

    MCZCMay 30, 20160 min read

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  • Photos from the May 5th Re-dedication Ceremony

    MCZCMay 27, 20161 min read

    Photos from our recent re-dedication ceremony with Ryoun Yamada Roshi.  The zendo and grounds were filled with sangha friends from near and far.  Thank you to all who made it a splendid afternoon. Roshi opens the eyes of our new Buddha A fine spread of food thanks to Sandy Anderson and volunteers Photos courtesy of Cherie Manifest Deep Gassho Cherie

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  • Teisho: Yamada Ryoun Roshi: Mountain Cloud Rededication

    MCZCMay 26, 20161 min read

    Description: Abbot of Sanbo Zen, Yamada Ryoun Roshi from Kamakura, Japan, gives this talk to an overflowing zendo in honor of Mountain Cloud’s rededication ceremony.  With over a hundred people somehow crowded into the zendo and the lobby, the Roshi recognizes Mountain Cloud founder Philip Kapleau, and expresses his personal aspiration, as Abbot of the Sanbo Zen lineage, for Mountain Cloud to become the North American center for Sanbo Zen activities.  He believes that North America...

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