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

    Xander MoffatFebruary 3, 20261 min read

    https://vimeo.com/1161507381?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci 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...

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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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  • 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: “Teisho Takeover: Amazing Grace” with Valerie Forstman

    Xander MoffatOctober 21, 20252 min read

    This talk comes in response to the winning bid for the “teisho takeover” opportunity that was part of Mountain Cloud’s 40th anniversary celebration auction. The topic proposed: ‘How does the Christian notion of grace relate to or resonate with the teachings of Buddhism?’ In her talk, Valerie draws on theological resources to look into the question, ‘What is grace?’ And she explores the question, ‘Is there a corollary in our practice?’ The talk touches on...

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  • Dharma Talk: “Cosmological Ecodharma?” with David Loy

    Xander MoffatOctober 14, 20251 min read

    Does the earth’s ecological crisis reveal a universal problem? Astronomers have recently detected thousands of exoplanets circling nearby stars. It seems highly unlikely that none of the other countless planets in the universe has evolved a biosphere with intelligent life. Wouldn’t their own technological evolution tend to produce the same bottleneck? What would that mean for us?

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

    Xander MoffatOctober 7, 20251 min read

    Henry explores ways Zen and poetry can illuminate our relationship with this world. Recorded on October 2nd, 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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