MC Podcasts – Mountain Cloud Zen Center: Recent Episodes
Henry Shukman: Associate Master Sanbo Zen
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 event
June 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click hereThursday Evening Event May 25th with Guest Speaker Diana ClarkMeditation: 5:30pm MT
Dharma talk: 6:00pm MT
Click here for detailsOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
Clouds, River’s Lakes and Seas Weekend Workshop is coming up this weekend, May 27-28
Register here.
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 event
June 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click hereThursday Evening Event May 11th with Maria Reis HabitoMeditation: 5:30pm MT
Dharma talk: 6:00pm MT
Click Here for DetailsOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
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 event
June 26 – July 2: Details and registration, click hereThursday Evening Event May 4th with Carolyn SeburnMeditation: 5:30pm MT
Dharma talk: 6:00pm MT
Click Here for DetailsOriginal Love: Clouds, Rivers, Lakes and Sea, with Henry Shukman
April 30 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pmClick Here for DetailsOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
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:
Zazenkai / Daylong Sit
Seeds of Practice with Valerie Forstman
Saturday April 22 – Hybrid Event
Click Here for DetailsOriginal 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
“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 Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie ForstmanOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
For this final Rohatsu talk, Henry looks at three questions. What are we doing here, just sitting with each other? What is awakening? and What then? We are living “it” every moment.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Spring Online Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie ForstmanOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
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 Heart Sutra. Turning to the figure of Kannon, Kanzeon, or Avalokiteshvara, bodhisattva of great compassion, Valerie asks, “What is compassion?” In response, she lifts up the phrase, “Just compassion,” then turns to a koan that addresses the heart of the matter: who we truly are. The deep Sea of Ise – the sea of the world – calls to us, as does a single stone lying on its floor, a stone that cannot get wet and can never get dry; a single stone with one name inscribed on it. The koan asks, “How will you pick up that stone without wetting your hands?” And once you have it in the palm of your hand, what is the name?
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Spring Online Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie ForstmanOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
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 first lines of the central document of Mahayana Buddhism, The Heart Sutra. This document is a story about Avalokiteshvara going from contracted view, to full view.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Daylong Sit / Zazenkai Saturday February 18, 2023
Join Valerie Forstman and our Sangha for a Zazenkai. The Zazenkai will be both on-site and on-line.Spring Online Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie ForstmanOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
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 Way.” The invitation of this practice is to taste and see: Our sitting, standing, bowing, walking is nothing but that awakening – fully expressing it in every breath, every gesture.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Daylong Sit / Zazenkai Saturday January 21, 2023
Join Valerie Forstman and our Sangha for a Zazenkai. The Zazenkai will be both on-site and on-line.Spring Online Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie ForstmanOriginal Love 2023: Click here for full details
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 what is it to be alive? And… who is having this experience? Watch this exploration of what actually matters and why.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Daylong Sit / Zazenkai Saturday January 21, 2023
Join Valerie Forstman and our Sangha for a Zazenkai. The Zazenkai will be both on-site and on-line.Spring Online Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie Forstman
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 life will be December 8. Drawing on the experience Sr. Elaine described as “light sitting in light,” Valerie turns to the koan, Mu – a tiny spark that can ignite an inexhaustible flame, opening our eyes to a world of boundless clarity and infinite love.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Daylong Sit / Zazenkai Saturday January 21, 2023
Join Valerie Forstman and our Sangha for a Zazenkai. The Zazenkai will be both on-site and on-line.Spring Online Retreat
Thursday-Sunday, March 23-26
Four-day online retreat led by Valerie Forstman
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 1000 years and is the origin of our Sanbo Zen lineage. Stephen offers an introduction: what is Jhana practice? How are the lineages entwined?
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Thursday Evening Events
December 15, Sangha Listening Session led by Valerie. This will be a hybrid event.Original Love
Stay tuned for Original Love 2023 details
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 a small part of everything that exists. Understanding this can help break the pattern of seeing meditation and mindfulness practices as a solution to suffering, rather than a practice worth immersing yourself in. While there is suffering in this world, this world is not all suffering. Rick invites all listeners to embrace this and examine their own experiences with suffering in a new light.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Thursday Evening Events
December 15, Sangha Listening Session led by Valerie. This will be a hybrid event.Original Love
Stay tuned for Original Love 2023 details
“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 practice, for her. In this talk she explores Case 3 from the Gateless Gate, Gutei’s Finger. Peggy’s work as a pediatrician informs her interest in this koan. Babies become interested in their finger from a young age; first simply pointing upward then, then pointing at things they want, expressing curiosity, often expecting a response.
Peggy asks, where is this finger when you are living your life? Don’t underestimate the universe of one finger. Stay with just one; with just this breath, with Mu, with this finger, with just sitting. When going about your daily activitiesy, how do you present one finger?
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Thursday Evening Events
December 15, Sangha Listening Session led by Valerie. Stay tuned for more details. This will be a hybrid event.Original Love
Stay tuned for Original Love 2023 detailsRohatsu Sesshin, December 5-12. Hybrid Event. Online space available for full and part time participation.
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
In this talk – an offering of gratitude for the life of a beloved sangha member, Valerie turns to Case 41 in the Transmission of Light or Denkoroko. A monk
Scott explores Case 32 from the Gateless Gate, A non-buddhist questions the Buddha. The non-buddhist says, in all earnestness to the Buddha: I do not ask about words, I do
In this talk from our Thursday night series, Valerie takes up Case 26 of the Gateless Gate, Hogen’s “Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds.” The setting is in Master Hogen’s
“Your sitting is not for the world, it is the world.” How can our practice be an offering to the world? asks meditation teacher Shana Smith. The question arose from
“Showing their backs then their fronts – falling maple leafs.” ~ Ryokan “Resolving the matter of Life and death is of prime importance.” To explore this phrase which is recited
“Your consciousness does not exist separately from what it contains” Henry explores presence from several different angles, including Internal Family Systems (IFS). The word presence includes some of what mindfulness
Guest Speaker Karin Kempe of the Zen Center of Denver joins our Thursday Night Sit to offer a talk on Dogen’s statement, “Practice is Enlightenment, Enlightenment is Practice.” While this
Valerie takes up case 29 of the Denkoroku, the record of the ‘transmission of light’ from Bodhidharma to Eka or Huike, as a way to explore the boundless clarity that
“Love sitting in Zazen, as if putting out a fire on top of your head” ~ Dogen Valerie Forstman gives the second talk during the April Intro to Meditation weekend.
Description: This is Question & Answer session 1 from the Introduction to Meditation Virtual Weekend. Valerie Forstman is the speaker and teacher for this session. And, here’s a link to
Listen to this talk by Valerie Forstman from the April 2021 Introduction to Meditation Weekend Retreat. A talk at a Zen retreat is traditionally called a teisho which means, Presentation
Valerie examines beginner’s mind and explores the question”what is Zen?” during our March one-day Introduction to Meditation retreat. Suzuki Roshi – a Japanese Zen master who brought Zen teaching to
“Zen is awakening to the dynamic reality of the present moment…..Zen is finding love in all things at ”~ Ruben Habito Valerie’s first talk of our Valentine’s weekend Intro retreat
“… Zazen has been described as silently not influencing anything …” Koans can provide helpful perspectives for dealing with the uncertainty of current world events. In this talk, Valerie Forstman
Description: Senior Student Will Brennan gives a dharma talk, offering reflections on Dogen’s Fukanzazengi. And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk. Also, check out our Upcoming
“Anyone who wants to gain enlightenment, do not enter.” Description: Valerie turns to Love, which knows nothing of rank and order. She looks at a koan from Keizan’s Transmission of Light
“Who would waste the spark from a flint stone?” – Dogen Description: Anything could be that spark. Ryoun Roshi says “koans are a message from the oneness world.” They offer
Description: This is the Question & Answer companion to Encounter of the Heart Retreat: Zen’s Origin Story, Part 3. Valerie Forstman is the speaker and teacher for this session. And,
Description: Valerie explores Zen’s origin story about the flower, a smile and universal space, case six from the Gateless Gate. And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this
To be able to hear the dharma is truly rare. To do so we must: Stop and see, sit still and let go. Description: This is the Question & Answer
Empty, new and utterly fleeting, arriving now but already done. Description: In this first Teisho from the Encounter of the Heart Retreat, January 2021, Valerie Forstman reminds us that this
“… Does Nansen really kill the cat? …” Description: Maria Reis Habito gives a teisho on Case 14 from the Gateless Gate, Nansen Kills the Cat. And, here’s a link
Description: Natalie Goldberg gives an inspiring talk about Zen in action. She describes some of her background experiences in both Zen and writing and how they interact and nourish each
Description: Dosho Port teaches with the Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training and at the Nebraska Zen Center in Omaha, and he has been practicing Zen since 1977.
“We are always looking for the lack, like Eka (Huike) searching for his mind – this lack is so convincing and so untrue. It blinds us to who we really
Description: Senior Student Will Brennan gives a dharma talk, offering reflections on Dogen’s Fukanzazengi. Note: The recording segment from ~ 3:15 until ~41:00 has lower volume level. It has been
Description: Natalie speaks about her new book Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku. The final section includes a short exchange with Sanbo Zen
“May each and everybody whether staying still or standing up have ten thousand blessings….Today I have advantage after advantage, now, please practice.” ~ Dogen Description: Valerie explores the dharma hall discourse
“When you sit, the whole world is sitting… We really don’t have to do anything, just show up”. Description: The invitation of Zen practice is to sit with the world,
Description: Valerie and Henry explore Unmon’s Bright Light, Case 84 from the Blue Cliff Record in this final talk from our 2020 winter solstice retreat. Valerie opens with the Great
“… The knot of self has become untied …” Description: Henry returns to the basics of practice in this third talk from the 2022 winter solstice retreat picking up on
“… the awakening of Shakyamuni Buddha and the simultaneous awakening of all existence, past, present and future …” Description: To explore the origin point of practice in this second talk
“… This moment – just as it is – is our reality. …” Description: Henry describes how meditation practice exclusively focused on awakening (kensho) can bypass the enormous gains practice
Description: Valerie Forstman explores the silence when Vimalakirti is asked, what is the bodhisattva entering the dharma-gate of non-duality (or the gate of not two)? Vimalakirti opens a portal to
Description: Henry reminds us that training is our own work, effort, commitment and investment of time and energy. Yet the context of practice pulls us outside of ourselves, out of
The unadjusted step is a way of naming this moment. Valerie Forstman Description: Valerie Forstman offers this post-election talk and acknowledges our deeply divided nation. She introduces the taoist
“… samadhi … bringing together or unification …” Description: Our Sanbo Zen lineage has traditionally focused on kensho (sudden awakening) experiences which offer a complete, though often brief, shift in
“… This very moment is awakening ...” Description: Valerie Forstman’s dharma talk probes Case 23 from the Blue Cliff Record, Hofuku and Chokei on an Outing. Hofuku says “This very moment
“… ultimate meaning of the holy truth … Vast and void, no holiness ...” Description: Guest speaker and Sanbo Zen teacher Hannelore Mueller opens this beautiful talk recognizing the seriousness
“… has a strange power to remove and delete delusions, concepts and unnecessary attachments ...” Description: Listen to this personal and powerful talk from Carmen Afable, Sanbo Zen teacher from
“… The beauty of Zen is its simplicity. The challenge of Zen also is its simplicity ...” Description: This Sunday morning talk by Henry Shukman starts with a guided meditation
“… When we find a path and follow it … we will be able to say, this was a precious path ...” Description: Henry describes the heart break and love
Description: Dr Maria Reis Habito describes her experiences and work with dharma Master Hsin Tao. Maria Reis Habito is the International Program Director of the Museum of World Religions, the
“… from a Zen perspective God is indeed everywhere ...” “… Does a practice lead to God where one forgets about God?. ...” Description: Sanbo Zen teacher Marlis Muting discusses
“… Have courage. Have trust. Let go. Surrender. Grow. ...” Description: Traditionally in Buddhism, there were three phases in the growth of practitioners. One must move beyond sati and samadhi
“… how modern-day bodhisattvas may direct their efforts toward the benefit of all beings ...” “… Nondual, non-selfish engagement with the world is an essential part of our practice ...”
“… the silence that is our very essence ...” “… The reality of silence knows no birth and no death ...” Description: In this talk, Migaku Sato Roshi discusses how
“… What holds us back from experiencing the boundless freedom of who we truly are? ...” Description: In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in 2020, Valerie takes
Description: Henry talks about the corona-virus pandemic and endemic racism in America and what our practice offers as a solution to racism; bearing witness from deep realization of inseparability. And,
“… Zen is a mechanism for letting go ...” “… One fruit of wisdom is not being so caught up in having our desires met ...” Description: Zen draws its
“… The capacity to awaken is not something you have. It’s what you are ...” Description: In this talk given jointly by Valerie and Henry on the last day of
“… Mu cuts through our false sense of separation...” Description: A monk asked Haryo, “What is the sharpest sword?” He replied, “Each branch of corral reflects the moon.” Taking up
“… we must drop all the schemes and agendas we may bring to our sitting ...” “… I want to devote myself to the capaciousness of my heart ...” Description:
“… how we can make significant changes in our lives if we start out small ...” “… Little by little, a little becomes a lot ...” Description: Behavioral coach
“… Focusing on the breath, we learn how to tame the delusive mind ...” Description: Master Joshu features in several important koans in the Zen canon. He is often heard
*“… Reflect now whether any being or any world is left out of this present moment ...”*
Description: Valerie Forstman leads us through an examination of what it means to use time, and to be used by time. Whether regretting lost time, feeling rushed because we don’t have enough time, or ruing that we may run out of time; of all the anxieties that we grapple with, time is often central to them. Our sitting practice gives us the opportunity to bring ourselves into accord with the Buddha’s “seal” — the boundless, present moment.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
Original Love Fall 2021 Program.
Circle of the Way: October 21-23 Three-day Retreat.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Autumn landscape, mountain river and trees by mihai_tamasila, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… The image of mountains is common to many spiritual traditions but is especially fitting for Zen practitioners ...*
*“… This truth knows no obstacles anywhere...”*
Description: This talk was originally given in Spanish by Berta Meneses Roshi and is here translated into English. She discusses the koan that starts by telling us, “A thousand mountains are covered in snow;” then goes on to ask, “Why is only one peak not white?” The image of mountains is common to many spiritual traditions but is especially fitting for Zen practitioners when we embody silent stillness in our sitting.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
October 2: Saturday Morning Stillness: Learn to Meditate.
Oct 3: Original Love Fall 2021 Program.
Circle of the Way: October 21-23 Three-day Retreat.
Post & Featured Image (edited): High mountains under snow by SergeyNivens, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… Bodhidharma Puts the Mind at Rest...”*
Description: Ruben Roshi has been both Henry and Valerie’s teacher. He is the guiding teacher at the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas Texas and Dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.
Ruben focuses on anxiety, stress and near-despair within the context of the pandemic and our human condition. He explores what Zen practice offers our growing anxiety, pain and suffering using the koan, Bodhidharma Puts the Mind at Rest.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
October 2: Saturday Morning Stillness: Learn to Meditate.
Oct 3: Original Love Fall 2021 Program.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Scenery of Three Sisters Mountain with autumn forest reflection on pond in Canmore at Banff national park, Canada by mumemories, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… how everyday experience is actually as vast and boundless as outer space ...”*
*“… By letting everything be, things have the intrinsic capacity to release themselves ...”*
Description: Resuming the discussion about the koan that tells us “ordinary mind is the way,” this talk from the second day of a weekend retreat examines how everyday experience is actually as vast and boundless as outer space. Many of us who have come to Zen as spiritual seekers will be surprised one day when we find that the Way we have been seeking is right here in front of us. It is us, and has been all along.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
September 24-26: Three-day Virtual Retreat.
Oct 3: Original Love Fall 2021 Program.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Couple preparing dinner by ArturVerkhovetskiy, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… Many flavors of awakening exist, constituting one mountain range …”*
*“… If you’re lucky enough to get up the mountain, you’ve still got to come down again ...”*
Description: A novice asks his master, “What is the way?” The master responds, “Ordinary mind.” This koan expresses how ultimate reality can be found in something as commonplace as a cup of coffee. When someone experiences awakening in Zen, they will not need to look beyond their ordinary reckoning to discern a vast range of peaks and valleys as really just one mountain. Many flavors of awakening exist, constituting one mountain range.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
September 24-26: Three-day Virtual Retreat.
Oct 2 & 9:Yoga and Zen – Not Two – Online Classes with Henry and Tias – Prajna Yoga.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Beautiful sunrise time of Mountain Fuji and sea of mist in autumn season seen from Mountain Takayama , Shizuoka prefecture by torsakarin, purchased from 123rf, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… a world that is so near to us yet so well able to maintain itself that we needn’t do anything to influence it …”*
*“… Zazen has been described as silently not influencing anything ...”*
Description: Koans can provide helpful perspectives for dealing with the uncertainty of current world events. In this talk, Valerie Forstman discusses Case 20 from the Book of Equanimity, in which Jizo tells his student that not knowing is most intimate. She deeply explores the intimacy revealed through this koan of a world that is so near to us yet so well able to maintain itself that we needn’t do anything to influence it.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, about our Upcoming Events:
Multi-Day Virtual Retreats in September & October Weekend Retreat
We will hold a multi day virtual retreat in September and in October. The exact dates will be confirmed soon and registration will then open. Dates will be published in an upcoming newsletter and on the website.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Autumn landscape, mountain river and trees by mihai-tamasila, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… subjectivity of deeper states of meditation …”*
*“… What is the price of rice?’ Why is that the totality of the human experience of awakening?” ...”*
Description: Following a guided meditation, a discussion of one of the Vedic Upanishads points out how the old Zen masters, whose terse teachings come down to us through the koans, expressed profound truths by referring to very mundane things. Questions from sangha members then pertain to the subjectivity of deeper states of meditation and how one might conceptualize emptiness prior to having an awakening.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, about our Upcoming Events:
Multi-Day Virtual Retreats in September & October Weekend Retreat
We will hold a multi day virtual retreat in September and in October. The exact dates will be confirmed soon and registration will then open. Dates will be published in an upcoming newsletter and on the website.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Beautiful woman sitting on the lake at sunset by Tuchong-Microstock1, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… Sitting is the vehicle for discovering innate “awakened-ness.” ...”*
Description: Case 1 of the Book of Equanimity offers a beautiful example of how an awakened person might expound the dharma from the Zen perspective. We cannot hope to understand it through verbal teachings, rational guidelines or instructions. It has to come through experience, and can be demonstrated in even the most simple, mundane action. The lecture is followed by questions from sangha members about awakening through sitting practice.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, about our Upcoming Events:
Four-Day Virtual Retreats in September & October Weekend Retreat
We will hold a four day virtual retreat in September and in October. The exact dates will be confirmed soon and registration will then open. Dates will be published in an upcoming newsletter and on the website.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Meditation by yanc, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… Practice wears thin the veil between non-awakened and awakened experience ...”*
Description: The questions raised after this Sunday sitting and lecture touch upon kensho, or Zen awakening, and what might be the causes and conditions for it. A practitioner asks about how the true self and the no-self are reconciled in Zen. The session closes with a look at what wisdom and love, both of which may result from kensho, may show us about our original nature.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Event:
August 14-15 Original Love Weekend Retreat
This virtual weekend with Henry Shukman will bring together the zones of mindfulness, support and meditative absorption into a comprehensive approach to healing and awakening. We will also begin to explore the fourth “zone” of practice – awakening.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Light abstract background with airy mesh fabric by Muskoviya, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… to learn to surrender to forces beyond our control ...”*
*“… From the Zen point of view, every moment is holy ...”*
Description: In continuing the discussion about levels of Zen practice, tHenry looks at the level of tariki, “other power.” Whether we adhere to a religious outlook or not, it is easy to see how our existence depends on the functioning of many and various organisms and processes. Amidst the widespread uncertainty of the pandemic, we are faced with a rare opportunity to let go of our need for everything to be just so, and to learn to surrender to forces beyond our control.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Also, check out our Upcoming Events:
August 7 Saturday Morning Stillness: Learn to Meditate
The class with Valerie Forstman will include detailed meditation instruction, a talk by Valerie, an opportunity to ask questions and several periods of meditation. If you are brand new to meditating, want to hone your posture, or need support focusing your practice, this is a good class for you.
August 14-15 Original Love Weekend Retreat
This virtual weekend with Henry Shukman will bring together the zones of mindfulness, support and meditative absorption into a comprehensive approach to healing and awakening. We will also begin to explore the fourth “zone” of practice – awakening.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Colorful coral reef with many fishes and sea turtle by Vlad61, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
*“… Koans are invitations to pass through the gate of separation ...”*
Description: How can we learn through the pandemic crisis to let go of the sense of separateness that is the source of so many of the world’s problems? This talk takes Case 87 from the Blue Cliff Record, where Unmon states that “Medicine and disease correspond to each other,” and asks what the disease might be if the whole world, including current events like the pandemic, is medicine. Koan practice reveals that identification with a separate self is the only part of us that requires healing.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Post & Featured Image (edited): New opportunities by SergeyNivens, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
“… koan Mu can give us a glimpse of the boundless love that pervades the whole universe …”**
*“… Whatever we’re not welcoming, that’s our great teacher ...”*
Description: Continuing on the theme of uncertainty, this talk considers koan practice as a way of helping us find our true home in a world where nothing is ever certain. We look at how Case 45 from the Book of Equanimity and the famous koan Mu can give us a glimpse of the boundless love that pervades the whole universe. It is a love which is always available in the present moment once we let go of the identification with the self that occludes our awareness.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Post & Featured Image (edited): World in which lives love by suravid, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).
“… join with human beings around the world in unravelling the great, global koan …”**
*“… Oneness is a property of all phenomena ...”*
Description: This talk contains some practical advice for using mindfulness to deal with the global health crisis. Lockdown measures may afford us the opportunity to go deeper into our practice, where we may find the inflexion point between outer circumstances and our internal reactions to them. Once we shift our perspective from one of fear and aversion to acceptance and love, we may join with human beings around the world in unravelling the great, global koan that the crisis represents.
And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.
Post & Featured Image (edited): Different people walk the planet together by alina.ill.mail.ru, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).