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.

  • Full Autumn Moon at Il Convento

    MCZCDecember 18, 20151 min read

    It is dark outside and the barking of a dog echoes over the sleeping village In the distance the mountain covered chestnuts are shedding their leaves There has been great bounty this year and honey and flour are abundant Above all in the clear sky the full autumn moon stares down untouched by human life   Alone I stand in the convento's courtyard my frozen breath raising to the sky I climb the stairs to...

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  • Teisho: Case 19 Book of Equanimity, Unmon’s Mt. Sumeru, Part 1 of 3

    MCZCDecember 17, 20151 min read

    Description: In this teisho, Henry begins an exploration of the compact koan, Unmon’s Mt. Sumeru: A monk asked Unmon, "Not a single thought arises: is there any fault or not?" Unmon said, "Mt. Sumeru!"   Henry probes the dangers of quietism, the hazards of self-assessment in meditation practice, and Unmon’s startling singular response, “Mt Sumeru" — which means center of the universe. We begin to learn about Unmon’s famous and powerfully effective one-word teachings. Post and Featured Image...

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  • Message from Henry: Subject and Object

    MCZCDecember 15, 20155 min read

    To reach the treasures of meditation practice and training, we all have to pass through a thicket of thorns. I used to think growing up meant becoming an adult. We spend the first nine or ten months in our mother’s womb. If we’re lucky, we spend the next seventeen years or so in the womb of an immediate family which is a supportive enough environment for us to grow and develop. Then we leave and...

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  • Discover your Hidden Treasure: Part 2 of 2

    MCZCDecember 14, 20157 min read

    We are invited to...enter a mode of being wherein we are able to...behold the treasures that are right there in the midst of those “ordinary” things in our day to day life. Written by Ruben L.F. Habito  Click to read Part 1 of Discover your Hidden Treasure. The Buddha, in the second of the Four Ennobling Truths, invites us to examine the root cause of our dissatisfactory state of being. It can be summarized in...

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  • Discover Your Hidden Treasure, Part 1 of 2

    MCZCDecember 11, 20156 min read

    ... instead of devoting ourselves to seeking that one thing necessary that can fill our hearts with true peace and joy, we spend our time and energy in the pursuit of many things we... think are “necessary” for us. Written by Ruben L.F. Habito One of my favorite Zen kōans is about a monk named Qingshui (pronounced Seizei in Japanese), who asks his teacher, Caoshan, “Master, I am alone and poor. Help me to become prosperous.”...

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  • Teisho: Father John Dear brings his message of peace to Mountain Cloud

    MCZCDecember 10, 20151 min read

    Description: Father John Dear speaks at Mountain Cloud about his compelling vision for a nonviolent world. Father John is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence who has dedicated his life to working for peace as an organizer, lecturer, author, and retreat leader. He has organized and participated in nonviolent campaigns for over three decades and been arrested some 75 times in acts of civil disobedience against war and injustice. Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated Father...

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  • Message from Henry: Two Kinds of Love?

    MCZCDecember 9, 20154 min read

    Realization is the grace of the “original face” appearing at every moment. During the recent Mountain Cloud retreat I left time at the end for l’esprit de l’escalier (the perfect response coming to one only after one has left the party…) Yet as I drove home I remembered something I had been meaning to say all week. The tradition of Zen Buddhism not only has depth of wisdom, but also breadth. The teachings embedded in...

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  • Rohatsu: Buddha’s Awakening

    MCZCDecember 7, 20151 min read

     The True Gate of Awakening... As the year moves toward its darkest phase; in the darkness the light of awakening was discovered by Shakyamuni, and the lamp has been passed down from his time to ours. Rohatsu sesshin, always in early December, commemorates the awakening of the whole universe, through Buddha’s awakening – and ours.  To “encounter the heart” (ses-shin) is to taste the reality of awakening for ourselves. It is to taste our original nature,...

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  • “NOT YET” AND “ALREADY”

    MCZCDecember 4, 20154 min read

    The underlying approach of Soto Zen is "already"; the underlying approach of Rinzai Zen is "not yet". Soto Zen’s main practice is shikantaza, or “just sitting.” The main plus side of shikantaza is that it is completely natural and inherently personal. We find our own way to the fact that our sitting is the expression of the whole universe when we sit in shikantaza. At the same time it is completely universal. The injunction, "just...

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  • Teisho: Case 18 Book of Equanimity, Does A Dog Have Buddha Nature? Part 3 of 3

    MCZCDecember 3, 20151 min read

    Description: “Why should I, being subject to birth and death, seek what is likewise subject to birth and death?” Launching from these words of Shakyamuni Buddha, Henry concludes his series on the koan Mu and his exploration of Buddha nature. He explores the monk’s question to Joshu, “Why would Buddha nature crawl into a dog?” by looking at Tozan’s realization that all animate and inanimate things are preaching the Dharma. Henry reads a poem he wrote...

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  • Message from Henry: Sangha and Koans

    MCZCNovember 30, 20154 min read

    ...the job of the koan is to propel us into the heart of life, the heart of this moment, here and now... SANGHA I recently read an open letter from a college-age young woman working far away from home in Africa, sent to her friends and family. She said: “I had this idea I was kind of a self-made girl - but that’s not really true. I’m here because of so many people. I am...

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  • Pilgrimage

    MCZCNovember 30, 20151 min read

    Pilgrimage is Body and mind Drop off. Dogen Eihei Koroku Image by Rosa Bellino Featured image, Shoes, CC0 Public Domain, from Pixabay.com

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  • A Flash of Lightening

    MCZCNovember 27, 20151 min read

    Once, inspired by the beautiful autumn evening, the Master was strolling through a sweet potato field. A farmer, thinking he was bent on stealing the crops, surprised him and struck him with his fist. Not content with this, he then tied the Master to a pine tree and continued to pummel him with blows. Begging forgiveness, the Master declared: “I never intended to steal!” The farmer, shocked to recognize the Master’s voice, promptly untied him,...

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  • Teisho: Case 18 Book of Equanimity, Does A Dog Have Buddha Nature? Part 2 of 3

    MCZCNovember 26, 20151 min read

    Description: Henry continues his lively exploration of the the Book of Equanimity’s version of the Mu koan. In this koan, Joshu replies to the monk’s question, “Does a dog have Buddha nature?” first by saying “U” or yes, then later by saying, “Mu” or no. Henry addresses Joshu’s apparently contradictory responses by paraphrasing from the Buddha, “If you are looking for big cosmic answers, you have come to the wrong place.” Joshu is baiting the monk...

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