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.
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Case 9: The Book of Equanimity; Nansen Kills the Cat
May 21, 20151 min read
Episode Description:Henry uses this startling koan about Nansen and a cat to explore questions about life, death and ultimate reality. Does Nansen really kill the cat? If so, what has he actually killed? What is this life we believe we are leading? Listen to how this koan beckons us to wake from the dream of subject and object, life and death. Henry quotes theologians, zen stories, and the Cloud of Unknowing to elucidate how this...
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The Dharma of Alienation: Part 2 of 2
May 17, 20157 min read
In response to the delusion of separation and alienation, Buddhist teachings emphasize interconnectedness. Overcoming Alienation All the above (click to read Dharma of Alienation Part 1) is an effort to understand some of the factors that cause people today, especially young people, to feel isolated and alienated. By emphasizing these issues, I do not mean to justify alienation. Alienation remains a problem, both for those who feel isolated and for the society - especially the...
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Shin-Jin-Mei (Verses on the Faith-Mind) by Sosan, Part 2 of 2
May 14, 20151 min read
Episode Description: Henry explicates the first six lines of the Verses on the Faith-Mind by focusing on the question, What is the great way? Henry quotes from the 14th-century Zen master Bassui, who insists we already are the great way, fully and completely. This talk grapples with the essence of Zen training; the three fires of greed, hatred and delusion; the first critical step of accepting our perceived separation from the great way; and finally, the distinction...
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Sanbo Zen Documentary: A Preview {VIDEO}
May 11, 20151 min read
Here's a preview {4:56} of the upcoming documentary feature film about Sanbo Zen. This preview features : Migaku Sato Roshi (Associate Zen Master), Ruben Habito (Roshi at Maria Kannan Zen Center), Brian Chisholm (Ottawa Sangha of Sanbo Zen), Valerie Forstman (Maria Kannan Zen Center), Ryoun Yamada Roshi (Abbot of Sanbo Zen), Pierre Philippon (Zen Association of Isle d'Abeau). Full details about the documentary will be forthcoming, in due time, here on our website.
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The Dharma of Alienation: Part 1 of 2
May 9, 20157 min read
New media technologies sometimes encourage a kind of "hyper-individualism" because we spend less and less time meeting and interacting with other people - often not even with members of our own families. We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness. - Thich Nhat Hanh The English word "alienation" is from a Latin word that means "to be other." To be alienated is to feel separate from. There are three issues involved in...
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Shin-Jin-Mei (Verses on the Faith-Mind) by Sosan, Part 1 of 2
May 7, 20151 min read
Episode Description: In part 1 of this 2-part series about the Shin-jin-mei (Hsing-Hsign Ming, Verses on the Faith-Mind), Henry provides background details about the second patriarch Sosan (Ch. Seng-T’san). We learn about his serious illness, his desire for release from karmic debt, and his awakening encounter with his teacher, the second Chinese Ancestor Eka (Ch. Huike). Henry begins to explicate the opening verse of this 6th century Zen document by questioning our daily lifelong habit...
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Enter…the Bodhisattva, Part 2 of 2
May 4, 20155 min read
Is there something specific within the Buddhist tradition that can bring these two types of transformation together in a new model of activism connecting inner and outer practice? Enter...the bodhisattva. Click to read Enter...the Bodhisattva, Part 1. According to the traditional definition, the bodhisattva chooses not to enter the state of perfect peace, nirvana, but instead remains in samsara, cyclic existence, to help all sentient beings end their suffering and reach enlightenment. Instead of asking,...
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Enter…the Bodhisattva, Part 1 of 2
May 2, 20154 min read
...when we do not acknowledge the importance of individual transformation, social transformation is repeatedly subverted by powerful elites taking selfish advantage of their position. David Loy on why the bodhisattva ideal is what the world needs now. Unless you're on a long retreat in a Himalayan cave, it’s becoming more difficult to overlook the fact that our world is beset by interacting ecological, economic, and social crises. Climate breakdown, species extinction, a dysfunctional economic system,...
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