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.

  • 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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  • Dharma Talk: “The Boundless Way” with Maria Habito

    Xander MoffatNovember 25, 20251 min read

    Maria turns to Mumonkan Case 7, Joshu’s “Wash your Bowl”, his advice to a newcomer who earnestly asked him for instruction about the way. How does this simple instruction reflect the boundless way that Joshu himself asked his own teacher Nansen about when he first entered the monastery? Recorded on November 20th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Freedom and the Sound of the Bell” with Carolyn Seburn

    Xander MoffatNovember 18, 20251 min read

    How do we reconcile the wondrous and borderless reality of the essence with the messiness of our everyday lives? Are changing diapers, checking a phone or driving to work really compatible with “vast and void, no holiness?” Carolyn explores this question as it was posed by Unmon in 10th century China (Case 16 of the Mumonkan) “the world is vast and wide like this. Why do we put on our seven-panel robe at the sound...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Nothing Lacking” with Scott Thornton

    Xander MoffatNovember 11, 20251 min read

    In this talk, Scott takes up Case 10 of the Mumonkon, “Seizei the Poor.” Recorded on November 6th, 2025 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: “Bring me the Rhinoceros” with Valerie Forstman and Natalie Goldberg

    Xander MoffatNovember 4, 20251 min read

    For this talk, Valerie is joined by friend, author, artist, and dharma teacher, Natalie Goldberg. Together, Natalie and Valerie take up case 25 in the Book of Equanimity or Shoyoroku as a way of exploring the dharma that is at the heart of every koan – this world that is at once broken and utterly complete. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online...

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  • Dharma Talk: “How to See in the Dark” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatOctober 29, 20252 min read

    This talk begins with the question, ‘What is it to be human?’ When Siddhartha Gautama was 29 years old, he leapt beyond the palace walls of his rarified life in search of an answer to this question. One of Shakyamuni Buddha’s earliest teachings points the way towards what he discovered: Stop and see. Stop the conditioned activity of our discursive minds, our habitual ways of framing the world, our fixed concepts about who and what we are. Put down the artifice of that narrow flashlight. Turn off the projector and see. See what remains. In effect, see in the dark. In response to this invitation, Valerie turns to case 89 in the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, ‘Unmon’s Bright Light.’ Addressing the assembly, Unmon says, “Everyone has their own bright light. When you look at it, you can’t see it; it is complete darkness. Now, what is the bright light of you all?” Unmon’s own reply is a pointer to who we truly are and to how that matters in our lives.

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  • Dharma Talk: “Everywhere You Turn” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatAugust 12, 20251 min read

    This talk takes up case 34 in the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku, “Kyozan’s ‘Not Wandering,’” as a guide to that exploration. Kyozan (Yangshan) asks a monk, “Where have you come from?” It’s a common question – a fundamental question – that the monks of record repeatedly fail to realize. Here, the monk responds in terms of geography, the distance between here and there, near and far, coming and going. The exchange unfolds with a...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Zen Practice: Sweeping the Ground of our Lives” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatAugust 5, 20251 min read

    In this talk, Valerie returns to the basics of Zen practice beginning with a beloved verse by the renowned 8th century Chinese poet, Li Po. The poem is both a practice pointer and an expression of the fundamental reality we can discover along the way as practice unfolds: the essential world that is empty, boundless, and one, while, at the same time, exactly the world of our everyday lives. As a pointer to this one reality,...

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  • Dharma Talk: “The humanity of our life in a borderless now” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatJuly 29, 20251 min read

    In this talk, Valerie begins with the poetry of love and loss as a portal to a saying from the eminent 9th century Chan/Zen master Joshu (Zhaozhou) about the timelessness of our everyday lives. The talk explores Joshu’s response to a monk who asks, “During the 24 hours, how is mind put to use?” Joshu offers a response that calls us into the immeasurable dynamism of each present moment. We are creatures inured to time....

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  • Dharma Talk: “It’s Alive!” with Scott Thornton

    Xander MoffatJuly 22, 20251 min read

    Scott's talked is based on one of Joshu’s sayings. When asked “What is meditation?” he responded, “Non-meditation.” When asked how that could be, he said, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” Recorded on July 17th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide...

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  • Dharma Talk: “The Great Matter: Arriving in the Light of Day” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatJuly 15, 20251 min read

    Fresh home from a memorial service for a beloved mentor and on the heels of the flooding in Texas, Valerie turns to case 41 of the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, “Joshu’s ‘Great Death.’” How does this case speak to the root of our human experience? What does it say about the coming and going of life and death? Might this ancient exchange between two masters – a generation apart in age – offer a...

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  • Dharma Talk: “The World and Us” with Henry Shukman

    Xander MoffatJuly 8, 20251 min read

    In this talk, Henry explores our place in the world through koans and poems. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. 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: “Falling into the Heart of the World” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatJuly 1, 20252 min read

    In this first teisho since returning from the North American Sanbo Zan sesshin led by Yamada Ryoun Roshi, Valerie takes up Case 4 in the Shoyoroku or Book of Serenity, ‘The World-honored One Points to the Ground.’ “Here is a good place to build a temple,” says the Buddha, pointing to the ground at the place where we stand. Manjusri bends down, picks up a blade of grass and sticks it in the ground. The...

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  • Dharma Talk: “The Practice of Insight Dialogue” with Nicola Redfern

    Xander MoffatJune 24, 20251 min read

    Insight Dialogue (ID) is a relational meditation practice for developing awareness, compassion and wisdom. It is designed to help us awaken together and integrate our understanding of Dharma teachings in a direct and immediate way. Nicola's talk was followed with a brief period of Q&A. Nicola Redfern is an Insight Dialogue Retreat Teacher with an extensive background in both Zen and Vipassana meditation. With a strong belief that awakening is not simply a solo endeavor,...

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