in the Cloud

Mountain Cloud Zen Center

Welcome to the Mountain Cloud Zen Center "in the Cloud" podcast. Here, we'll be sharing our weekly Teisho's exploring classical Zen Koans, offered by Mountain Cloud teachers, and some guest teachers. Additionally, we have a conversation series, titled Path(less), which explores the "pathless path" of practice and life.

Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud Zen Center through donation and membership, both of which allow us to offer these and other programs. Visit mountaincloud.org for our daily meditation schedule, weekly talks, upcoming retreats, and more.

Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments/suggestions.

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#489
Today · 44 min
Dharma Talk: "Loving the World as Our Body: The nondual path in a dangerous time" with David Loy
David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as Tikkun and Buddhist magazines including Tricycle, Lion's Roar, and Buddhadharma, as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. Many of his writings, as well as audio and video talks and interviews, are available on the web. He is on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation. David is one of the founding members of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. Please visit the website at rockymountainecodharmaretreat.org for more information. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/
#488
October 25 · 38 min
Teisho: "Cutting the Two into One" with Valerie Forstman
This talk begins with an exploration of the first grave precept in Mahayana Buddhism, not-killing. Valerie then turns to case 14 in the Mumonkan or Gateless Gate, the next koan in the collection. This famous case, "Nansen Kills the Cat," is often described as a difficult koan, opaque to understanding and troubling to our sensibilities. Would a Zen master actually slay a cat in an all-out effort to awaken his monks? What are we to make of the startling image of Nansen holding up an innocent creature in one hand, a knife in the other, and addressing us: "Say a word and I will spare the cat." Faced with the matter of life and death in the hands of a great master, what would you say? The koan unfolds with Joshu, Nansen's student of 40 years, hearing what happened and offering his response. We smile as he walks through the koan and leaves us with questions: What is the cat? What is cut through and what, possibly, spared? What is the turning word in a story that asks us to drop everything and enter in? Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/
S1 · E13
October 20 · 1 hr 7 min
Path(less): Will & Lucie Brennan
For this episode, we're reaching back in time with Will & Lucie Brennan, two of the original founders and builders of Mountain Cloud. So fun to take a trip down memory lane with them. I hope you enjoy hearing the 'origin stories'. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#487
October 4 · 37 min
Teisho: "On the Way Without Ever Leaving Home" with Valerie Forstman
Freshly returned from the annual Sanbo Zen teacher training in Germany and a sesshin she led there, Valerie reflects on these experiences and on the many gifts of practice. How do we find our way on this path of practice exactly where we are, lacking nothing, and, at the same time, called ever more deeply into the freedom and compassion that is our native ground? The talk offers a tribute to Patty Underbrink, a longtime practitioner who died on Sunday, three years to the day she was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Patty was deaf and fluent in American Sign Language. In celebration of Patty's life and her tireless encouragement to others, the talk turns to case 89 in the Book of Equanimity, with its question: "What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?" Let our practice be a portal and a response. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
September 16 · 1 hr
Path(less): Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
Such a delight to chat with Vanessa Zuisei Goddard. Zuisei has a fascinating pathless path. She joined me online, from her home in Panama City. You, too, can join Zuisei online, with the Ocean Mind Sangha. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#486
September 13 · 42 min
Teisho: "Three Bright Pearls: Honoring our Masters" with Shana Smith
Shana reflects upon the recent Kenshukai in Germany, and examines Case 86 of the Blue Cliff Record, "Unmon's Bright Light." Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E11
August 28 · 1 hr 6 min
Path(less): Daisy Lin
We're back with another episode of Path(less)! Today with the lovely Daisy Lin. We had a great time chatting about a whole host of interesting topics. Please enjoy! If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#485
August 6 · 39 min
Teisho: "Falling into the Heart of the World" with Valerie Forstman
As our 30 Days of Dogen course comes to an end, Valerie invites a return to Dogen's seminal awakening: Body and mind fallen away. What geography of awakening does Dogen's experience lay bare for us and can it be anywhere but here? Looking into this, the talk turns to case 27 in the Blue Cliff Record, "Unmon's 'Complete Exposure.'" The koan asks, 'When everything falls away, what then?' Our practice itself offers a response. Fallen away, fallen away and simultaneously falling headlong into the heart of this beautiful, broken world. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E10
July 29 · 56 min
Path(less): Henry Shukman
What a pleasure and a privilege to sit down with Henry Shukman for a conversation in the Study at Mountain Cloud. Henry's app, The Way, is a single-path meditation program designed to bring the depth of traditional practice into the digital age. He's also the author of the excellent books, One Blade of Grass and Original Love. Henry and The Way offer opportunities to gather in-person around the world, as well. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#484
July 27 · 53 min
Teisho: "Walking Into Wholeness" with Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
Many of us come to spiritual practice because of a persistent feeling that there's something wrong—something off about us or about the world. Perhaps we struggle with loneliness or a sense of alienation. Perhaps we crave intimacy but are afraid to get close. Perhaps we wonder why there's so much conflict everywhere. Is there a better way to relate to others and to ourselves? In this Teisho, Zuisei Goddard, Guiding Teacher of Ocean Mind Sangha, takes up the koan of Senjo and Her Soul to show that when we look closely, we realize that our sense of separation is an illusion. That when we wake up to ourselves, we see that we've always been perfect and whole. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E9
July 13 · 1 hr 3 min
Path(less): Light Watkins
A real joy chatting Light Watkins from his home in Mexico City. Light's latest book, The Year You Transform, is a wonderfully practical guide to how small, daily behaviors can have truly transformative power. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#483
July 6 · 33 min
Teisho: "Abundance in an Undivided World" with Valerie Forstman
In this talk, Valerie begins with a look into Dogen's phrase, "mountain-still sitting," asking how this practice of divesting ourselves – "dropping away body and mind" – is, at the same time, an invitation to realize the inexhaustible abundance that runs through all things. The talk then turns to a koan that embodies this realization: case 10 of the Gateless Gate, "Seizei the Poor." In the case, a seasoned monk presents himself to a renowned master: "I am solitary and poor." This is no lament but the meeting ground for an exchange that freely illumines the awake world and invites us to taste and see. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E8
June 22 · 1 hr 7 min
Path(less): Sarah Giffin
So nice to chat with Sarah Giffin, the Executive Director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center. Sarah's had an interesting pathless path to her current role at the Center, and has such a gift for storytelling. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#482
June 9 · 33 min
Teisho: "In coming and going we never leave home" with Valerie Forstman
Returning to the zendo after co-leading a monthlong 'mini-ango' at a beautiful Zen center in the Black Forest region of Germany, Valerie reflects on travel and long sitting and Zen's ever-present invitation to come home to what we truly are. The talk then turns to case 9 in the Gateless Gate or Mumonkan, "Daitsu Chisho," another name for the essential wisdom that pervades all places. This koan hinges on the question, can you - or can anyone - "attain Buddhahood"? More to the point, can you become anything? If not, what is awakening? What liberating wisdom is it that is ours to discover without ever leaving home? Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#481
June 3 · 30 min
Teisho: "Wild Thing!" with Scott Thornton
Scott explores Case 53 of the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku: "Hyakujo and the Wild Ducks." Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E7
May 28 · 1 hr 4 min
Path(less): Eric Zimmer
Really enjoyed this conversation with Eric Zimmer. Eric was in Santa Fe while touring in support of his latest book, How A Little Becomes A Lot. Also check out his incredibly popular podcast, The One You Feed. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#480
May 18 · 40 min
Dharma Talk: "Touching the Earth" with David Loy
When the Buddha touched the Earth (bhumisparsha), was the Earth touching him? What does our nonduality with the Earth really mean? Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E6
May 14 · 52 min
Path(less): Elena Brower
Such a pleasure to sit down with Elena Brower in the Study at Mountain Cloud for a beautiful conversation around the pathless path of practice and life. Please check out Elena's latest book, Hold Nothing, as well as her Substack, where she writes on practice, study, and listening. Elena also hosts a wonderful podcast called Practice You. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
#479
May 11 · 32 min
Teisho: "The Circle Game" with Shana Smith
Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member, so we can continue to offer these programs freely. Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/ Membership: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/ Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.
S1 · E5
May 1 · 58 min
Path(less): Tias Little
Such a joy to sit down with Tias Little (during a break from writing his latest book) on the beautiful grounds of Prajna Yoga. Tias and Surya offer amazing courses and classes, both in their temple in Santa Fe, as well as online. If you're enjoying these conversations, please consider supporting Mountain Cloud through donation and membership. Your contribution is a meaningful way for us to continue offering these programs freely. Donation Membership Reach out to grant@mountaincloud.org with any comments or suggestions.

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