in the Cloud

In this talk, Valerie returns to the basics of Zen practice beginning with a beloved verse by the renowned 8th century Chinese poet, Li Po. The poem is both a practice pointer and an expression of the fundamental reality we can discover along the way as practice unfolds: the essential world that is empty, boundless, and one, while, at the same time, exactly the world of our everyday lives. As a pointer to this one reality, the talk takes up case 21 in the Shoyoroku or Book of Equanimity, "Ungan Sweeps the Ground." Two dharma brothers meet each other eye to eye and invite us into the dance where form and emptiness are not two. Not even one.

Recorded July 31st, 2025

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In this talk, Valerie begins with the poetry of love and loss as a portal to a saying from the eminent 9th century Chan/Zen master Joshu (Zhaozhou) about the timelessness of our everyday lives. The talk explores Joshu's response to a monk who asks, "During the 24 hours, how is mind put to use?" Joshu offers a response that calls us into the immeasurable dynamism of each present moment.

We are creatures inured to time. What happens when, in a moment of zazen, time stands still? Or all time is suddenly nothing but now?

Recorded on July 24th, 2025

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Scott's talked is based on one of Joshu's sayings. When asked "What is meditation?" he responded, "Non-meditation." When asked how that could be, he said, "It's alive! It's alive!"

Recorded on July 17th, 2025

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Fresh home from a memorial service for a beloved mentor and on the heels of the flooding in Texas, Valerie turns to case 41 of the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, "Joshu's 'Great Death.'" How does this case speak to the root of our human experience? What does it say about the coming and going of life and death? Might this ancient exchange between two masters – a generation apart in age – offer a word to us about the great matter?

Recorded on July 10th, 2025

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In this talk, Henry explores our place in the world through koans and poems.

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In this first teisho since returning from the North American Sanbo Zan sesshin led by Yamada Ryoun Roshi, Valerie takes up Case 4 in the Shoyoroku or Book of Serenity, 'The World-honored One Points to the Ground.' "Here is a good place to build a temple," says the Buddha, pointing to the ground at the place where we stand. Manjusri bends down, picks up a blade of grass and sticks it in the ground. The Budda acknowledges, "The temple has been built."

Why turn to this case at a time when wars are raging, people are starving, and the ground where we stand is on fire? What do the Buddha's pointing and Manjusri's gesture in response have to do with our sense of falling down and our longing for a world made whole? Might there be a radically different kind of falling – a falling away of self and other – that brings us home to the whole heart of the world right where we are?

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