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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Five Blossoms
May 23, 20161 min read
I originally came to China to transmit the teaching and save deluded beings. One flower opens five petals, and the fruit ripens itself. - Bodhidharma, according to Huineng If evil flowers bloom in the mind-ground, Five blossoms flower from the stem. Together they will create the karma of ignorance; Now the mind-ground is blown by the winds of karma. If correct flowers bloom in the mind-ground, Five blossoms flower from the...
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Teisho: Love and the Three Treasures
May 19, 20161 min read
“Love is the opposite of separation.” Description: In this short Valentines Day, Sunday morning talk, Henry explores love: our love for the practice and the abiding love practice has for us. In this latter love, we are gently led to intrinsic, non-separate true nature. Henry shows how the nature of love is embedded in the three treasures: “Buddha discovered no separation. Dharma points to no separation. Sangha manifests no separation.” Post Image Credit: Flora by AliceKeyStudio,...
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Teisho: Paradox
May 12, 20161 min read
“Pick up a speck of dust, and nation prospers, and the villagers knit their brows in anxiety. Put down a speck of dust, and the nation perishes, and everyone lives in peace.” Description: Henry talks about paradox, using a few koans from Fuketsu to show how Zen’s many paradoxical teachings can lead to peace, love and true intimacy. He offers an illuminated vision of the Buddha’s middle way. The middle way is traditionally seen as the...
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Zen center marks 31st year with rededication, from the Albuquerque Journal
May 11, 20167 min read
Originally published in the May 6 edition of the Albquerque Journal, written by Journal staff writer T.S Last. Photos from the article may be seen in the Journals' Photo Gallery on their website. It represented an awakening – a re-awakening in this context – for Santa Fe’s Mountain Cloud Zen Center, a Zen training and practice center nestled in the foothills just east of Santa Fe’s city limits. The gesture, as well as the knocks on a...
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Silence
May 9, 20161 min read
There is no process to become silent. To disturb your mind, you need process. But to stay silent, there is no process. Stay in satsang, stay quiet, always have love with your own Self. You are not to win it by any attempt or effort. Simply stay quiet. If any thought rises, simply find out where it came from. ~Papaji Photo and creation by Rosa Bellino
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Interview by Sweeping Zen with David Loy, Part 6
May 6, 20168 min read
It’s not enough to sit on our cushions and pursue our own individual development. That’s living out another version of the delusion of a separate self. Sweeping Zen: The next few questions are from some fans of Sweeping Zen on Facebook. One person asks, “How do we make Buddhism work in our contemporary lives without diluting its history and customary forms of practice?” David Loy: We’ve already touched on this. One issue today, which we...
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Teisho: Henry Shukman: Fuketsu’s Iron Ox
May 5, 20161 min read
Description: Henry explores the challenging koan, Case 29 from the Book of Equanimity, Fuketsu’s Iron Ox, unravelling the matter of the “iron ox” and the “heart seal.” Are these metaphors? Listen to find out what they refer to. We learn that our true nature resembles the iron ox, the absolute stillness through which all activity runs. Henry interjects some systems theory and an analogy about the Copernican revolution which takes us back to the core root...
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