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.

  • 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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  • Teisho: Book of Equanimity Case 21, Ungan Sweeps the Ground

    MCZCApril 7, 20162 min read

    Description: Case 21, Book of Equanimity: Ungan Sweeps the Ground When Ungan was sweeping the ground, Dôgo said, "You are working hard, aren’t you.” Ungan said, "You should know there is one who does not work hard." Dôgo said, “Is that so? You mean there is a second moon?" Ungan raised his bamboo broom and said, “What number moon is this?" Dôgo was silent. Gensha said, "That is precisely the second moon." Unmon said, "The man-servant greets...

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  • Message from Henry: A Little Word

    MCZCApril 5, 20163 min read

    Zen is not a palliative. Zen is not a contentment device. It is not a path to bliss, or to some Lotus-land in the distant West. It is a path to life itself. Zen is a small word, and has been visiting our language for less than a century, which is a short time. Yet it has already had to live through the kind of abuse and misuse you’d think would take much longer to...

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  • Ninth and Tenth Oxherding Pictures, by Ruben Habito

    MCZCApril 4, 20164 min read

    The ninth stage is described as a return to the source. Now, after having forgotten both my “self” and the “world” (that is, what is thought to be “outside of myself,” what emerges? There’s a bamboo shoot. There is a plum blossom. There is a rock beside a gently flowing stream. Beyond that we don’t see anything. This is just the realization of the way things are, as they are, in their naturalness. It is...

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  • Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Oxherding Pictures, by Ruben Habito

    MCZCApril 1, 20162 min read

      The sixth stage is riding the ox home. We are now able to feel that we are on our way home. We can ride the ox and it doesn’t try to jump and throw us away like a bucking bronco anymore. It is now fully one with us, and we are comfortable riding the ox. But still, there is more to come.           The seventh stage is about forgetting the...

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  • Teisho: Book of Equanimity Case 20, Jizo’s “Most Intimate”

    MCZCMarch 31, 20162 min read

    “Real spirituality is about going beyond who we think we are”  Description: Case 20, Book of Equanimity: Jizô's "Most Intimate" Jizô asked Hôgen, "Where are you going, senior monk?" Hôgen said, "I am on pilgrimage, following the wind." Jizô said, "What are you on pilgrimage for?" Hôgen said, "I don't know." Jizô said, "Not knowing is most intimate." Hôgen suddenly attained great enlightenment. Henry explores “Not knowing is most intimate.” There are two kinds not-knowing in Zen:  first...

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  • Message from Henry: TLC

    MCZCMarch 29, 20163 min read

    When we sit, whether we know it or not, we are recognizing and acknowledging the many, many things that create our existence. Some people come to practice to get enlightened. Some come because they want to be less troubled and distressed, less subject to anxiety, depression, stress. Some want to be more at ease in the face of death. Some want to have better sleep or digestion, or to relate with people better, or be...

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  • Fourth and Fifth Oxherding Pictures, by Ruben Habito

    MCZCMarch 28, 20162 min read

    The fourth stage is now the catching of the ox. After having sighted it we go closer to it and are maybe even able to lasso it and as the picture in one version shows, the little child holds a rope around the ox’s neck. Now, we have the ox closer at hand. But still the ox is unwieldy and it can still run away from us. It is still not under control. We have...

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