In this talk, David explores the idea of refuge. To take refuge is to run away to a hiding place…Is that what we should do?

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Recorded on April 17th, 2025

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Zen is a practice to deeply explore and fully live our true Self. Might the Koan about the stone deep down in the sea of Ise be a helpful pointer in this exploration?

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Recorded on April 17th, 2025

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In this talk, Shana takes us right into “don’t know mind” as a portal to discovering our true nature and the freedom inherent in simply being alive. By tasting this freedom, we become better able to live, function, and respond compassionately even through difficult times.

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Recorded on April 17th, 2025

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In this early spring talk, Valerie turns to the way of awakening, discovered and explored as this world – in the midst – just as it is. Not-two.

The talk weaves together a cross-section of experiences of homecoming with case 100 of the Book of Equanimity (Shoyoroku). In the case, Master Kaku of Roya receives the student’s question and responds in kind: “The essential state is pure and clear; how are mountains, rivers, and the great earth produced at once?”

How, indeed. Can we enter the wonder and embody it to the full?

Recorded on April 10th, 2025

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In this talk, Valerie begins by revisiting themes from our recent sesshin – the wellspring of zazen, the intimacy of not-knowing, the peace that passes all understanding. The talk explores these themes by taking a fresh look at case 51 in the Book of Equanimity, ‘Hogen’s “Boat or Land,”’ Master Hogen’s question to a visiting monk elicits a response that resounds with the homecoming that is available to us all.

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In this teisho, Shana uses Ruben Habito Roshi’s “ABC’s of Zen” as parallels for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She then explores Case 43 of the Shoyoroku as a pointer into finding our own unique ways to support the healing of a seemingly divided world.

Shana will be leading a weekend retreat at Mountain Cloud in April – for more visit https://www.mountaincloud.org/event/intro-retreat-april-2025/

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In this talk, Valerie begins with poetry as a portal to the language of koans, a language that uses words to go beyond words. Koans don’t just describe or express the reality of who we truly are. They offer a turning word – a seed of awakening – that can open our eyes to that fundamental reality right in our midst. The talk will turn to case 12 in the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate), a single word that “juts forth” with the capacity to render the world just as it is – intimate and immediate, at once empty and full of wonder.

Recorded on March 6th, 2025

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In the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan) case 29, two monks watch a temple flag flapping in the wind. They argue back and forth: is it the flag that moves or the wind that moves? Seeing this, the 6th Chinese ancestor, Huineng, intervenes: “It is not the wind that moves. It is not the flag that moves. It is your mind that moves.” Centuries of Zen students have taken up this case. What is mind? What is moving? What is the dharma that shows itself fully in movement and in stillness?

In this talk, Valerie traces the steps of Huineng’s teaching and looks into the question at hand in the context of practice. Busy mind, still mind. What moves? And what remains when all movement has stopped? How might these questions apply to us now as we sit in the midst of a deeply turbulent world?

Recorded on February 27th, 2025

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This talk is offered in gratitude for the life of Johanna Sindelar, a long-time sangha member who dedicated over a decade of service to Mountain Cloud. As a tribute to Johanna, Valerie begins with a look at the Heart Sutra in a rendering by Thich Nhat Hahn that was set to music in harmonies Johanna loved. The talk then turns to case 18 in the Blue Cliff Record, a koan that asks a renowned national teacher, “What shall I do to honor you after you die?” In response, the master implores each of us to realize who we truly are. “Make a seamless tomb for this old monk.”

The koan offers a turning word about love and loss, and about the seamlessness at hand that cannot be divided.

Recorded on February 20th, 2025

In this talk, Scott draws from the Gateless Gate case 13, “Tokusan Carries His Bowls” as a case study for how we can meet mistakes, challenges, and misunderstandings with equanimity.

Recorded on February 13th, 2025

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All are welcome to join us for sitting and dharma talks. Use this link to join us: https://sit.mountaincloud.org