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.

  • Dharmatalk: Encounter of the Heart Retreat: The Invitation (Part 5 of 6)

    MC PodcastJuly 12, 20221 min read

    "Who would waste the spark from a flint stone?" - Dogen Description:  Anything could be that spark. Ryoun Roshi says "koans are a message from the oneness world." They offer an invitation into our deepest curiosity. Valerie explores Case 22 of the Gateless Gate: Kashyapa's Flagpole, and Ananda's awakening. And,

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Valerie: Choiceless Awareness

    Valerie ForstmanJuly 6, 20222 min read

    When you practice just sitting and continuously give up all thoughts and views, the way becomes more and more intimate.    ~ Eihei Dogen The earliest known Ch’an or Zen text, the Shinjinmei or Affirming Faith in Mind,’begins with the line, “The great Way is not difficult; it simply dislikes choosing.”  The ‘great Way’ is zazen, or what Dogen called ‘practice-realization.’ It is the root practice of silent sitting - at once focused and dynamic - with...

    Read more
  • Dharmatalk: Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Zen’s Origin Story Q&A (Part 4 of 6)

    MC PodcastJuly 5, 20221 min read

    Description:  This is the Question & Answer companion to Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Zen's Origin Story, Part 3. Valerie Forstman is the speaker and teacher for this session. And,

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Henry: Ten Thousand Year Journey

    Henry ShukmanJune 29, 20221 min read

    10,000-YEAR TRAVELER,isn’t it time to have a rest,to put your feet up at the inn, settle by the fire, have a welcome pint? Don’t you know your destination is reached only when you realizethere never was a destination, and your pilgrimage finds its end only when you understand the sacred shrine is notwaiting further down the road? Stand under the walls of your own citadel,watch them fall around you.See where you’ve been all along. Then you’ll know that every step of your way was already...

    Read more
  • Dharmatalk: Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Zen’s Origin Story (Part 3 of 6)

    MC PodcastJune 28, 20221 min read

    Description:  Valerie explores Zen's origin story about the flower, a smile and universal space, case six from the Gateless Gate. And,

    Listen to the talk
  • The Wisdom Podcast: Radical Simplicity

    MCZCJune 27, 20221 min read

    This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features poet, writer, and Sanbo Zen teacher Henry Shukman. Henry is Guiding Teacher at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, studying primarily with Joan Rieck Roshi, John Gaynor, Ruben Habito Roshi, and continuing his training under Yamada Ryo’un Roshi. He also trained in mindfulness practice with Shinzen Young, and has published nine books to date, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Henry and host Daniel Aitken discuss: his path to Zen,...

    Listen to the talk
  • Message from Valerie: Stilling

    Valerie ForstmanJune 22, 20222 min read

    Zazen ... A path of love that calls us home from the very first step, the first breath, even the first distraction. There’s an old English term for what birds do when they spread their wings, catch the wind current, and glide. It’s called stilling. Birds can glide for miles without moving a muscle, their wingspan riding the stream of undulating air; lifting them, carrying them along; now and then a feather fluttering, wafted by...

    Read more
  • Dharmatalk: Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Stop & See Q&A (Part 2 of 6)

    MC PodcastJune 21, 20221 min read

    To be able to hear the dharma is truly rare. To do so we must: Stop and see, sit still and let go. Description:  This is the Question & Answer companion to Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Stop & See, Part 1. Valerie Forstman is the speaker and teacher for this session.  And,

    Listen to the talk
  • Eight-Fold Path, Part 2: Bill Bruce (Video)

    MCZCJune 19, 20221 min read

    Senior Zen Student Bill Bruce gives the second part of his talk on the Eightfold Path. He begins with Right Livelihood which he calls a life of service. Then, the final three steps of the path - right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration - fold into a unified theme that creates balance and the middle way. Watch Part 1 of Bill's Talk on the Eight-Fold Path.

    Watch the video
  • Each is All, All is One: Valerie Forstman (Video)

    MCZCJune 17, 20221 min read

    Upon being welcomed home from Germany, Valerie describes briefly what it's like being thrown immediately into the chaotic activity of moving from her home in Dallas to Santa Fe: Constant activity... we are moving, all this activity and at the same time, so still. While taking a walk with co-teacher John Gaynor in Sonnenhoff, John offers Valerie this rather cerebral quote from Master Ummon, The manifestation of the great function, knows no laws. The great...

    Watch the video
  • Dharmatalk: Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Stop & See (Part 1 of 6)

    MC PodcastJune 14, 20221 min read

    Empty, new and utterly fleeting, arriving now but already done. Description:  In this first Teisho from the Encounter of the Heart Retreat, January 2021, Valerie Forstman  reminds us that this practice is much bigger than any events, or any circumstances. To be able to hear the dharma is truly rare. To do so we must: Stop and see, sit still and let go. And,

    Listen to the talk
  • Towards Healing, Peggy Sheehan (Video)

    MCZCJune 13, 20221 min read

    We don't study koans, we use koans to investigate our life. ~ Maezumi Roshi Guest teacher Peggy Sheehan from Zen Center Denver says that koans have been a life long practice, for her. In this talk she explores Case 3 from the Gateless Gate, Gutei's Finger. Peggy's work as a pediatrician informs her interest in this koan. Babies become interested in their finger from a young age; first simply pointing upward then, then pointing at...

    Watch the video
  • Message from Henry

    Henry ShukmanJune 8, 20222 min read

    Psychological / Spiritual Healing and Original Love The analogy with physiological healing is fair enough. The psyche reestablishes balance, homeostasis, centeredness, and is less pulled out of balance by emotional reactivity. Episodes of strong negative emotion start to diminish in frequency, intensity and duration (F.I.D.), the center becomes a more common place to reside in. But where the analogy breaks down is that psychological healing may not be so much about eradicating wounds as becoming...

    Read more
  • Dharmatalk: Nansen Kills the Cat

    MC PodcastJune 7, 20221 min read

    "... Does Nansen really kill the cat? ..." Description:  Maria Reis Habito gives a teisho on Case 14 from the Gateless Gate, Nansen Kills the Cat. And,

    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