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.

  • Teisho: “In the Wake of Sesshin: Wash your bowls” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatMarch 31, 20261 min read

    In this first dharma talk following the Spring Sesshin, Valerie begins with a poem that whimsically maps the trajectory of practice. The talk then turns to Case 7 in the Mumonkan or Gateless Gate, "Joshu's 'Wash Your Bowls.'" A monk arrives at the monastery and asks for instruction. On the surface, Joshu's response is a word of practice guidance to the monk and to us. Deeper still, Joshu's every word presents the world where there...

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  • Path(less): Intro

    MCZCMarch 28, 20261 min read

    Welcome to a new converation series, titled "Path(less)," on the "in the Cloud" podcast. In this introductory episde, host, Grant Goulet, provides a brief orientation to the theme of the series: the pathless path of practice and life. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions....

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  • Teisho: “A Person of Great Strength” with Carolyn Seburn

    Xander MoffatMarch 17, 20261 min read

    In this Teisho, Carolyn takes up Mumonkan Case 20: A Person of Great Strength – Seeing Shôgen's World From the Midst of Fire. Watch or listen below: https://vimeo.com/1173388557?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci Recorded on March 12, 2026 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/

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  • Teisho: “On the Way Without Ever Leaving Home” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatMarch 10, 20261 min read

    Valerie begins this talk with an exploration of Zen's invitation to 'come home' to who we truly are. What kind of path is it that can arrive fully without taking a single step? And what are we to make of this homecoming when the suffering of the world is fully included? As a way of exploring these questions, the talk turns to a koan: Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku Case 69, "Nansen Draws a Circle."...

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  • Dharma Talk: “No Choosing (This is it!)” with Scott Thornton

    Xander MoffatMarch 5, 20261 min read

    In Case 2 of The Blue Cliff Record, Master Joshu instructs us that, “The Supreme Way is not difficult; it simply dislikes picking and choosing.” How can this actually apply to a human life, especially in such trying times, since we seem to be faced with nothing but choices every day, from the most mundane to the most heart wrenching? Scott takes up this koan and these questions in his talk. Watch or listen below:...

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  • Dharma Talk: “The Oak Tree of Life” with Maria Habito

    Xander MoffatFebruary 24, 20261 min read

    This talk is in reference to the Biblical “Tree of Life,” from which we disconnected when we ate from the “Tree of Knowledge.” How does our Zen practice help us to reconnect? Does Joshu's “Oak tree in the garden” give a hint? Recorded on February 19, 2026 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member:...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Taking Care of the One Who is Not Ill” Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatFebruary 17, 20261 min read

    Zen practice invites us to sit in the midst of things just as they are without being tossed about by difficulties. As the waves settle, it can happen – in one unguarded moment – that the world suddenly falls open. The long imagined scaffolding of separation falls away. And we discover: right there in the vicissitudes of our lives there is ONE who is completely free and untroubled. Dogen called it “untrammeled.” In this talk,...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Opening the Floodgates” with Shana Smith

    Xander MoffatFebruary 10, 20261 min read

    Shana delves into Case 9 of the Hekiganroku and Case 15c of the Miscellaneous Koans as pointers to navigating the polycrisis. Recorded on February 5th, 2026 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/

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  • Dharma Talk: “Sun-faced Buddha, Moon-faced Buddha” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatFebruary 3, 20261 min read

    This talk begins with the question of how to embody the freedom and ease of Zen’s empty hands while being fully attuned to the cries of the world – including the cries of our own hearts. As a prelude to a koan, the talk turns to the great lay disciple of the Buddha, Vimalakirti, who lies ill and says, “I am sick because the whole world is sick.” What wholeness has Vimalakirti seen that allows...

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  • Dharma Talk: “The ‘Such-as-this’ Sutra” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatJanuary 27, 20261 min read

    Opening with a reading of Mountain Cloud’s Land Acknowledgment, this talk is framed by a tribute to Joanna Macy through poetry that helped to inspire her deep and abiding support for the earth and all forms of life. Within this frame, Valerie turns to a koan about Prajnatara, teacher of Bodhidharma and an ancestor who may well have been a woman. Case 3 of the Shoyoroku or Book of Equanimity presents Prajnatara embodying the way...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Sitting in the Midst of Tragedy” with Scott Thornton

    Xander MoffatJanuary 20, 20261 min read

    Scott takes up Case 6 of the Blue Cliff Record, Unmon’s “Every Day is a Good Day.” Recorded on January 15th, 2026 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/

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  • Dharma Talk: “Begin Again: The timeless gift of a new day” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatJanuary 13, 20261 min read

    In this first Dharma talk of the new year, Valerie reads from a recently published collection of poetry, Begin Where You Are, then turns to the question, ‘Where Are You?’ Issuing from our practice, this question is not a matter of geographical location but a pointer to the fundamental reality of who and what we truly are. Centuries ago, Master Tosetsu Etsu famously addressed his monks with this fundamental question: Right in the midst of...

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  • Dharma Talk: “One Treasure – Endlessly Functioning” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatDecember 23, 20251 min read

    In the wake of the Rohatsu sesshin at Mountain Cloud and our deep dive into Hakuin’s Song of Zazen, Valerie begins this talk with a painting by Hakuin, an image of three blind men crossing a precarious log bridge. What does Hakuin’s vision of ‘crossing over’ say about our practice, about awakening, and about the leap or fall right into the heart of this broken open world? By way of response, Valerie takes up case...

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  • Dharma Talk – Illumined; Illumining: The Full Moon of Our Lives

    Xander MoffatDecember 9, 20251 min read

    On the occasion of the last full moon of this calendar year, Valerie turns to case 100 in the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku. Speaking directly to our life and practice, Master Haryo (Baling), asks, “What is the sharpest sword? He himself answers, “Each branch of coral reflects the moon.” How does that sharpest sword function and what does it have to do with the light of the moon? In the course of her talk,...

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