“… In our right effort we are developing the capacity to work on the unwholesome …” Description: Ongoing series on basic Buddhism. Right effort in practice, the sixth fold in the Noble Eightfold Path, consists in working to diminish unwholesome states of mind or being. Likewise, the practitioner should work to cultivate states of mind that […]

Dharmatalks: Cultivating Meditative Awareness

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Dwelling no-where, mind comes forth~ from the Diamond Sutra

Heart mind directs us to the fundamental point of who and what we are. In Chinese there is one term for Heart Mind. No hyphen necessary, simply one. Contemporary Sanbo Zen teacher Migaku Sato wrote a poem with this line: In nothing at all-ness, there is endlessly everything. Out of nothing, here we are practicing, says Valerie or That thou art, says Ruben Habito. To further open, Valerie looks at goneness and oneness in Case18 from the Blue Cliff Record, The National Teacher’s Gravestone.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:



Mountain Cloud Summer Sesshin, hybrid eventJune 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click here
Thursday Evening Event May 25th with Guest Speaker Diana ClarkMeditation: 5:30pm MTDharma talk: 6:00pm MTClick here for details
Original Love 2023: Click here for full detailsClouds, River’s Lakes and Seas Weekend Workshop is coming up this weekend, May 27-28Register here.






Spring Retreat Talk 4, Gathering the Heart Mind with Valerie Forstman



Valerie explores the clarity and simplicity of Master Hogen who came to be known as the dharma eye of deep clarity. Focusing on Case 51 from Book of Equanimity, Valerie illuminates mind and consciousness through Hogan’s clarity. If you want to study buddha-dharma, everything you see is buddha dharma, a door, a window and the exquisite beauty of the boat is on the river. For Hogan there is no difference between phenomena (worldly dharma) and essential reality (Buddhist dharma). Everything is put to rest.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:



Mountain Cloud Summer Sesshin, hybrid eventJune 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click here
Thursday Evening Event May 11th with Maria Reis HabitoMeditation: 5:30pm MTDharma talk: 6:00pm MTClick Here for Details
Original Love 2023: Click here for full details






Spring Retreat Talk 3, The Boat is on the River with Valerie Forstman



Something puts our feet on this path, starting from the ordinary dualistic world. Gradually, as we practice and practice, in some unguarded moment, everything falls away, and it’s just this. Heaven and Earth: without any space for a conjunction. Then we practice, practice, practice…. and return to the ordinary world, but it’s upside down. This great return is a bridge, a crossing over.
Continuing with Joshu from the previous day’s talk on Mu, Valerie looks at Case 52 from the Blue Cliff Record, about a log bridge that is actually a stone bridge once you are able to really see it. Keep in mind that every koan is nothing but Mu and about you.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:



Mountain Cloud Summer Sesshin, hybrid eventJune 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click here
Thursday Evening Event May 11 with Maria HabitoMeditation: 5:30pm MTDharma talk: 6:00pm MT
Original Love: Clouds, Rivers, Lakes and Sea, with Henry ShukmanApril 30 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pmClick Here for Details
Original Love 2023: Click here for full details






Spring Retreat Talk 2, The Stone Bridge: Crossing Over with Valerie Forstman



Crossing over to the other shore is the heart of our practice and the heart of Buddha’s teaching. Eventually we realize that we were always on the shore, here and now, in the moment at hand. In this first talk of our Spring sesshin, Valerie looks at the famous koan: Does a dog have Buddha Nature? the traditional first teisho in a Zen sesshin.
Valerie mentions a choral chant version of the Heart Sutra from Plum Village. Here is a link if you are interested.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:



Mountain Cloud Summer Sesshin, hybrid eventJune 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click here
Original Love: Clouds, Rivers, Lakes and Sea, with Henry ShukmanApril 30 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pmClick Here for Details
Original Love 2023: Click here for full details






Spring Retreat Talk 1, Joshu’s Dog: Crossing Over, Fully Arrived with Valerie Forstman



“Abiding no-where mind comes forth.”
Maria Habito returns to Mountain Cloud’s zoom zendo and talks about the Diamond Sutra. When we enter deep silence, the diamond cuts through every notion we carry. It can show us intimate awareness of no self, no other, no sentient beings and no time.
In this talk, Maria focuses on Living Beings, which refers to those who are not yet enlightened. However many species of living beings there are, Bodhisattvas lead all these species/beings to liberation. However once all these many beings are liberated, we must not think that a single being is liberated. Maria untangles this contradiction.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:



Spring Online RetreatThursday-Sunday, March 23-26 Four-day online retreat led by Valerie Forstman
Original Love 2023: Click here for full details






Dharmatalks: Cultivating Meditative Awareness

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