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: Case 57, Book of Equanimity: Gon’yô’s One Thing

    MCZCSeptember 7, 20172 min read

    "... when you experience sight and sound with your whole body and mind, you are swallowed whole, so to speak. We are swallowed by the moment.” Description: The focus of this talk is Case 57 of The Book of Equanimity, “Gon’yô’s One ‘Thing.’” Henry begins by discussing the story of Jôshû’s life and cites James Austin’s article, “Old Jôshû Lives On,” which considers the aging process and recent research into the positive effect of meditation on...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Samu or Work Practice

    MCZCSeptember 5, 20172 min read

    I and Thou. Hence we take good care, the best we can. All life is samu. Samu is to take care of what needs to be taken care of. That is our life and practice. Taking care of the life of beings, and the life of all things. That is this life. That is what it calls for. Taking care of each being with whom we come into contact, allowing it be as it is...

    Read more
  • Retreat to the Mountains

    MCZCSeptember 2, 20171 min read

    [caption id="attachment_7427" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sonnenhof: A retreat to the mountains[/caption]   A thousand clouds, ten thousand streams, Here I live, an idle man, Roaming green peaks by day, Back to sleep by cliffs at night. One by one, springs and autumns go, Free of heat and dust, my mind. Sweet to know there’s nothing I need, Silent as the autumn river’s flood. Hanshan (literally: "Cold Mountain")   Photo and creation by Rosa Bellino....

    Read more
  • Teisho: Shukman: Case 1, The Blue Cliff Record, Bodhidharma’s “Clear and Void”

    MCZCAugust 31, 20171 min read

    "... Sitting is how we embody zen ... It is “the complete continuation of the practice of Bodhidharma in his cave … it is one, unbroken fact.”   Description: The focus of this talk is the first koan of The Blue Cliff Record, “Bodhidharma’s ‘Clear and Void.’” It begins with the story of Bodhidharma, who is traditionally said to have brought Zen meditation practice from India to China. This particular night, Henry wanted to choose a...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: End to Experience?

    MCZCAugust 29, 20172 min read

    ...when a master asks...about... “true nature,” perhaps she is not expecting description... she may be waiting for a shift in experience... even, possibly, an end to experience. Some teachers (this one included) maintain that their Buddhism doesn't make ontological or metaphysical claims about reality. But it can surely sound like it. Even the word “kensho,” for example, means “seeing into your own nature.” In other words, it would seem to claim that there is such...

    Read more
  • Dogen: Every Step is Home

    MCZCAugust 26, 20171 min read

    Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm, Without looking for the traces I may have left; A cuckoo's song beckons me to return home, Hearing this, I tilt my head to see Who has told me to turn back; But do not ask me where I am going, As I travel in this limitless world, Where every step I take is my home. ~ Eihei Dogen     Generally, this image (bird call) is used...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Koans & Why We Study Them

    MCZCAugust 24, 20171 min read

    "... the world that koans reveal grows evermore in wondrous beauty ..." Description: This teisho centers on koans and why it is worthwhile to study them. Henry likens koan study to a violinist playing a technically challenging piece like Bach’s Chaconne, in that both set a very high standard. Koans are saying to us that the awakening experience is not enough----they want us to go deeper. There is another order of our experience where there is...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Pointers

    MCZCAugust 22, 20172 min read

    A few pointers for new students -- and reminders for students of long standing: Please keep a journal of your practice – as brief and irregular as you like. Anything that feels significant at the time could be jotted down. If you are working on koans, please keep a record of each dokusan, and the main points covered. Please be a member of Mountain Cloud – this is a board policy. If you’re living remotely...

    Read more
  • Dogen: Portrait

    MCZCAugust 19, 20171 min read

    If you take this portrait of me to be real,
 Then what am I, really?
 But why hang it there,
 If not to anticipate people getting to know me?
 Looking at this portrait,
 Can you say that what is hanging there
 Is really me?
 In that case your mind will never be
 Fully united with the wall {as in Bodhdharma's wall-gazing
meditation cave}. ~ Dogen     Accompanying a portrait of the master painted at
 Kōshōji...

    Read more
  • Teisho: Case 46, The Gateless Gate: “Stepping Forward From the Top of a Pole”

    MCZCAugust 17, 20171 min read

    "... Our whole body is all things. Our entire existence is one practice ..." Description: This talk centers on the koan, “Stepping Forward From the Top of a Pole,” Case 46 of The Gateless Gate. Henry discusses the teachings of Master Chosa, relevant to this koan. Chosa points to the fact that our own body, our live flesh is all things. We are not just the sense of “me” that informs our view of the world,...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Mysterious Zero

    MCZCAugust 15, 20172 min read

    The self is a process of holding on and resisting. It holds on to its own imaginary self-ness. Sitting in an old stone shed among a compound of buildings dating from 1420, in southern Scotland… Outside, above and around the little room, trees sigh and hiss as the winds move through. Beech, sycamore, spruce mostly. Then rain comes – a gentle pixillated sound like a stream, composed of many soft points of sound. Sometimes it...

    Read more
  • Photos from the Mountain Cloud Garden, July 2017

    MCZCAugust 12, 20171 min read

    Enjoy these photos from our garden of earthly delights... [caption id="attachment_7351" align="alignleft" width="768"] Lettuce and Marigolds[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7352" align="alignleft" width="768"] Garden Art with Mary Ann[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7353" align="alignleft" width="1024"] Gardening with Uma[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7357" align="alignleft" width="336"] Jack and the Beanstalk?[/caption]                                                ...

    Read more
  • Video: The Moment That Still IS …

    MCZCAugust 12, 20171 min read

    I was given this greatest opportunity of all opportunities - to be a human being. ~ Henry Shukman Based on his own direct experience of dying without dying, Henry Shukman talks about ... the moment that still IS ... where there is no seer ... nothing but pure awareness. It is the pivotal  turning point of a human lifetime... the extraordinary shift is possible for us ... without a theistic context ... the greatest opportunity of all opportunities -...

    Watch the video
  • Teisho: Case 56, Book of Equanimity: “Misshi and the White Rabbit”

    MCZCAugust 10, 20171 min read

    "... “Just this” is waiting in the middle of our lives, of our existence ..." Description: The focus of this talk is the koan, “Misshi and the White Rabbit,” Case 56 of The Book of Equanimity. Master Tozan enters straight into dharma dueling with his student, Uncle Misshi. Tozan wants him to show him what he really understands. Tozan’s own deepening practice is reflected in his response to Misshi, “A noble of an ancient house is...

    Listen to the talk
footer support banner image

Support Mountain Cloud

You can show your gratitude for Mountain Cloud events, retreats, podcasts and other teachings by making a one-time gift, or by becoming a supporting member.

Donate to Mountain Cloud Become a Member