Ecodharma May 

Mountain Cloud comes from a long lineage of Dharma practitioners who had deep ties to the natural world. Tucked away in their mountaintop temples, many monks’ practice was integrated with the surrounding landscape. The land wasn’t just a place to live or practice on; the land was a partner in practice, a teacher offering clear demonstrations of the nature of our reality: cycles of life, abundance and emptiness, freedom and belonging, and equanimity amid it all. 

For many of us, this deep connection with the Earth has been lost in the complexities of modern life. Ecodharma is a chance for us to reintegrate this connection back into our practice.

Ecodharma May is a full month of offerings inviting us to discover our true nature in the context of the one body – the Earth and all beings. This starts with bringing our meditation (zazen) outside. Being on the land is a direct practice – it brings the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of the natural world right into the heart of our experience. What might arise from this deep listening to the land? What might release, clarify, or awaken?

In addition to zazen on the land, we’re bringing in teachers beyond Zen to share their wisdom and modalities to help us connect more deeply with nature – and thus also to ourselves. From a weekend of relational Dharma to a daylong integration of Tribal and Buddhist wisdom to a full week of practice on the land, the Earth-ful Dharma gates are boundless.

Join us in this collective process of discovering what can transform in us when we listen and open to the land and all its beings – and how that may shift how we show up for our communities and the world.

Ecodharma May Includes:

There are 3 primary ways to engage with the month:

  1. Public Programs:
    • Daily Sitting with our residents and Tea & Toast M-F
    • Wisdom Wednesdays and Thursday Teishos will bring in Ecodharma speakers and themes
    • Our online Ecodharma community forum will share resources from the month and allow conversation to continue for those participating both in-person and online
  2. Retreats Bundle:
    • Join for one of our Ecodharma retreats – each with a different teacher and different format!
    • Want to do them all? We will be offering an Ecodharma Retreat Bundle so that you can attend all three at a discount. This option is is for retreat Commuters (or campers!) and is aimed to make this experience more accessible to our local sangha. You’ll receive 25% off the regular retreat prices when you bundle them. Click here to register.
  3. Residency: The residency (including onsite lodging and commuter options) will include all of the events listed above, PLUS a special action-learning project on the land, intentional communal living, co-created activities and visioning circles, workshops with local organizers and educators, daily meditation sits, 1-1 guidance with Zen Teachers, and extended time connecting with the land. Learn more about residency here.

Reconnecting with Life: An Insight Dialogue Weekend Retreat with Nic Redfern

Friday, May 8th – Sunday, May 10th

During this weekend retreat, we’ll deepen our connection with Earth by tuning into the experiences that arise when we open our hearts to the land and other-than-human kin. Silent meditation (zazen) will form the foundation for compassionately bearing witness to our experience, and then we’ll explore bringing our practice into the realm of the relational, a recognition that our spiritual path is not a solo endeavor but rather a collective process. 

Reciprocity with the Elements: Ecodharma Zazenkai (Daylong Retreat) with Karen Waconda-Lewis

Saturday, May 16th

In this Zazenkai (Day of Practice), Karen Waconda-Lewis will share her wisdom on permission and reciprocity, drawing from Buddhist teachings and her lineage of Native Medicine from Laguna Pueblo. She’ll guide us through a specific contemplative practice for building a relationship with each of the four elements: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.

Ecodharma in the Polycrisis: 6-Day Sesshin with David Loy

Monday, May 18th – Sunday, May 24th

Being with the land – listening, receiving, being held, with no agenda or plan – is an essential part of Ecodharma practice. In this retreat, we’ll devote six days to exactly this: deepening our relationship with the Earth, directly experiencing what relationship to the land and Ecodharma practice has to offer in a time of multiple intersecting crises.

Join the Conversation!

Those interested in convening around Ecodharma are invited to join our Ecodharma Explorations community forum. This is a place to share resources, explore questions, and discuss how the various tendrils of Ecodharma show up in our practice and lives. Click here or on the button below to join.

Ecodharma is Zen dharma.

Sanbo Zen offers lay practitioners a pathway for discovering our true nature; for coming home to our inseparability with Earth and all beings. Whether we’ve tasted this truth or not, the journey of practice continuously expands our capacity to live fully, and enlivens our motivation to take care.

As we allow the practice to open our hearts, many of us become more aware of the suffering in the world, and become more willing to help relieve that suffering. In Ecodharma, we turn towards the increasing instability of our environment and the intersecting crises impacting us, the land, and our more-than-human kin. But practice is more than a way to notice, and cope. It is a vehicle for us to transform our individual and community capacity to respond. Just as our practice calls us to ask, What’s mine to do?, Ecodharma teaches us how to listen for the answer.

This special month-long residency is a chance for us to do just that. It is a chance for us to gather together in an intentional community, exploring what each of our roles are on the Bodhisattva (or Ecosattva) path, and supporting one another as a collective.

Ecodharma is an ongoing exploration at Mountain Cloud

Check out our Ecodharma Page to learn about all the ways Mountain Cloud is engaging with Ecodharma on an ongoing basis.

Dharma Teachers of Ecodharma May

Scott Thornton (San’un-ken) is a Teacher in the Sanbo Zen lineage and a Teacher and Residency Advisor at Mountain Cloud. Scott provides practice guidance to residents and leads our weekly Book Group, monthly Aging Buddhas gatherings, and weekly Intro to Zen classes.

Scott and his wife, Guiding Teacher Valerie Forstman Roshi, came to work at Mountain Cloud in July of 2022. After an early career as an actor and singer, he turned to Clinical Psychology, a profession he has worked in for over 45 years (and from which he plans to retire in early 2026), though he still enjoys the occasional singer-songwriter gig! He began meditating on his own for 12 years before joining The Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas and beginning Koan study with Ruben Habito Rōshi in 2000. He continues his training with Henry Shukman Roshi.

Karen Waconda-Lewis is a tribal native of the Isleta and Laguna Pueblos. After her initiation into Native Medicine, she introduced traditional healing practices into an urban American Indian health clinic in Albuquerque, NM. She continues to expand this program into local hospitals, the Indian Health Service, the VA Hospital, and surrounding organizations. Karen integrates Western medicine with Native healing in preventive health, mental health, and overall well-being. She is the founder and director of the Center for Native American Integrative Healing, LLC, located in Albuquerque, where healers from various tribal nations practice their traditional medicine and extend their services to the community.

Karen is a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader program graduate and has been practicing mindfulness from a young age, guided by her grandparents in her traditional tribal practices of caring for the land, gardening, cooking and animals. She regularly provides dharma teachings incorporating Native teachings in her community and nationally. She has intertwined Native teachings with Vipassana meditation, incorporating these practices into ceremonies, sweat lodges, and her community at Laguna Pueblo. At Laguna Pueblo, the ancestral teachings of mindfulness have complemented the Buddhist teachings at the Detention Center, providing insight and wellness to inmates and their families. Additionally, Karen co-founded the Annual Indigenous and Native Healers Silent Retreat and the Albuquerque People of Color and Allies Sangha. She has also been appointed volunteer faculty at the University of New Mexico’s School of Medicine, where she guides faculty and staff on tribal health issues and wellness support to medical students and residents.

In her personal life, Karen enjoys spending time with her family, including her daughter and two grandchildren. She manages the family ranch and loves spending time with ancestral lands and caring for its inhabitants.

Nicola Redfern is an Insight Dialogue Retreat Teacher with an extensive background in both Zen and Vipassana meditation. With a strong belief that awakening is not simply a solo endeavor, Nic is particularly interested in getting meditation and dharma insight fully integrated and embodied in life, work, social justice, and all relationships. She has taught multiple courses on eco-dharma, unlearning racism, and Nonviolent Communication, as well as programs for LGBTQIA+. Nicola is originally from the UK and now lives near Santa Fe, NM.

David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as Tikkun and Buddhist magazines including Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, and Buddhadharma, as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. Many of his writings, as well as audio and video talks and interviews, are available on the web. He is on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation. David is one of the founding members of the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. Learn more about David at https://www.davidloy.org/


To receive an update when registration opens, fill out this form.


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