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.

  • Interview by Sweeping Zen with David Loy, Part 5

    MCZCMay 2, 20164 min read

    ...from a Zen perspective, at least, the most important rebirth is the one that happens every moment. Sweeping Zen: I think what we’re seeing today is a struggle between fundamentalism and the ability to see the metaphor, you know? David Loy: That reminds me of something Joseph Campbell wrote: “Half the people in the world think that the metaphors of their religious traditions are facts. And the other half contends that they are not facts...

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  • Interview by Sweeping Zen with David Loy, Part 4

    MCZCApril 29, 20167 min read

    ...karma is not something the self has but what the sense of self is. Sweeping Zen: In Sanskrit, karma literally means “action” while vipaka is the karmic result of that action. Even thoughts are said to produce karma, because they lead to actions. You have argued that this simple conception of karma as cause and effect leads to the tendency in many Buddhist traditions to view a person’s situation (usually negative) as the result of...

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  • Teisho by Ruben Habito Roshi: “My Last Teisho”

    MCZCApril 28, 20162 min read

    Description: In this powerful and compelling talk, Ruben Habito Roshi imagines that he is giving his last teisho, and encourages us to appreciate every moment as our very first and very last moment. He gives us the "ABC of Zen" --  first, Awareness; then discovery of our universal Belonging, along with all things; and finally our re-orientation toward Compassion, and Compassionate action in the world, on behalf of our fellow beings. A superb summary of the...

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  • Message from Henry: Koans

    MCZCApril 26, 20161 min read

    Koans are not riddles. They are not talking points for discussion. They are not devices to be used for psychodrama. Nor are they checklists to be knocked off in some deluded idea of progress.... They are opportunities to change the way we experience our very lives. They grant us the chance to change our experience from something shallow, two-dimensional, paper-dry, to something of limitless depth and unbounded dimension, and infinite potential. They ask only one...

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  • Interview by Sweeping Zen with David Loy, Part 3

    MCZCApril 25, 20163 min read

    The way that God is usually understood – an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving heavenly Father who tells us how to live – doesn’t really work anymore. Sweeping Zen: For many Westerners both Buddhism and psychology are perceived as elitist — for intellectuals. From the average Joe perspective I think that, for Buddhism to truly have an impact, it may sometimes need to be viewed through the scope of peoples’ own religious tradition. Some Buddhist tenets may...

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  • Interview by Sweeping Zen with David Loy, Part 2

    MCZCApril 22, 20164 min read

    ...every time Buddhism has spread to a different culture it hasn’t just imposed itself but has also been changed, sometimes radically. Sweeping Zen: Your works have been described by many of your colleagues as helping to reshape our Western understanding of Buddhist teachings, sometimes marking a departure from the so-called Asian party line. Is this something that you’ve intentionally set out to do? David Loy: Yes, very much so. Arnold Toynbee is reputed to have...

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  • Teisho: Bodhidharma’s Zen Part 2 of 2

    MCZCApril 21, 20161 min read

    Description: Henry continues his exploration of Bodhidharma’s core teaching, Outline of Practice, the Two Gates.  He opens the teisho with an inspiring quote from the novel Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams that captures an essence of what we seek in Zen practice. Then we learn that our tradition of facing the wall comes from Bodhidharma, (the tradition says he faced a cave wall for 9 years) whose teachings are a powerful blend of meditation and Taoism...

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  • Message from Henry: Reflections

    MCZCApril 20, 20163 min read

    Life uses us and does not care how we feel about it. I recently re-watched the movie E.T. with one of our sons. Early on, there’s a scene where the main (human) character, a boy called Eliot, has been scattering M&M’s to try to lure the extra-terrestrial out of hiding, though he hasn’t yet met ET. Finally ET appears, and Eliot is paralysed with fear as he approaches. ET extends his arm, and Eliot shrinks...

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  • Interview by Sweeping Zen with David Loy, Part 1

    MCZCApril 18, 20167 min read

    Yes, all form is empty, but emptiness is always taking form. Sweeping Zen: This question gets asked a lot, but, how did you first get started with Zen practice? David Loy: In 1971 I was living in Hawaii, sometimes hanging out with a friend in Waikiki who heard about a zendo near the University called Koko An. We went there one evening and after the sitting learned that the following weekend there would be a...

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  • Bodhi Tree

    MCZCApril 15, 20161 min read

    The body is the Bodhi tree, The mind is like a clear mirror. At all times we must strive to polish it, And must not let the dust collect. Shenxiu, according to Huineng, the sixth Patriarch of Zen Bodhi originally has no tree The mirror also has no stand. Buddha nature is always clear and pure; Where is the room for dust? -Huineng   Poem taken from Zen Poems, Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets, 1999 Image:...

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  • Teisho: Bodhidharma’s Zen Part 1 of 2

    MCZCApril 14, 20161 min read

    Description: In this talk, Henry explores the origins of zen as it moved from India, to China and finally Japan.  This penetrating teisho grounds us in Bodhidharma’s view of zen which is rooted in four simple but profound characteristics: a special mind to mind transmission outside scripture; not relying on words and letters; directly pointing to the human mind; and becoming Buddha. Henry discusses Bodhidharma’s Outline of Practice, or the “Two Gates” to entry which are...

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  • Message from Henry: Practice is a Mirror

    MCZCApril 13, 20163 min read

    That’s practice: an empty mirror... like a mirror it simply reflects what comes in front of it. The zendo in Sonnenhof Zen Center in Germany is called “Empty Mirror Zendo.” That’s practice: an empty mirror. Meaning, that like a mirror it simply reflects what comes in front of it. It has no qualities itself. So if you feel you don’t like practice, that’s not exactly right. Rather, “not liking” is what is appearing in the mirror of...

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  • Vanishing

    MCZCApril 11, 20161 min read

    To what Shall I compare the world? It is like the wake Vanishing behind a boat that has rowed away at dawn. Sami Manzei   Poem taken from Zen Poems, Everyman's Library Pocket Poets, 1999 Image: Dawn Rowers, by Ed Dunens, CC-by-2.0, from Flickr.com

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  • Mountain Cloud Photo Gallery

    MCZCApril 8, 20161 min read

    Enjoy these images of our zendo.  Photos taken by Cherie Manifest, used with her permission.       On the stone a name is inscribed. What is the name?             Stop the sound of the distant bell.               Emptiness             Wisdom, compassion, equanimity         All people have their own place of birth in Karma. What is your...

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