In this talk from day 5 of the Rohatsu sesshin, Valerie picks up on the previous day’s talk by Henry where he presents the title and first line of the

What is this practice? Why do it? Essentially, it’s all about slowing down and things falling away. Our very existence, our being gets simpler. Henry looks at the title and

In celebration of Shakyamuni Buddha’s awakening, Valerie takes up the Head Chapter of the Denkoroku or Transmission of Light. “I and the great earth and all beings simultaneously attain the

Henry asks the question, matters most? When you reflect on this question, have any open mind, beyond ordinary or day to day concerns. He asks, what is this experience and

In this talk from the first day of the Rohatsu sesshin, 2022, Valerie offers a tribute to Sr. Elaine MacInnes, Roshi, who died a week ago and whose celebration of

Guest speaker Stephen Snyder of the Jhana tradition visits Mountain Cloud and offers a teisho on the Buddha’s first and last practice. Jhana practice predates the Buddha by at least

It is said that the Buddha teaches only suffering and its end, but what is suffering? Guest speaker Rick Hanson attempts to define this suffering, challenging that suffering is only

“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

On this first day of Fall, Teshin takes up case 27 of the Blue Cliff Record, Unmon’s Complete Exposure. The Case reads as follows: A monk asked Unmon, “What is

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