Dharma Talk: “The ‘Such-as-this’ Sutra” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
Opening with a reading of Mountain Cloud’s Land Acknowledgment, this talk is framed by a tribute to Joanna Macy through poetry that helped to inspire her deep and abiding support for the earth and all forms of life. Within this frame, Valerie turns to a koan about Prajnatara, teacher of Bodhidharma and an ancestor who may well have been a woman. Case 3 of the Shoyoroku or Book of Equanimity presents Prajnatara embodying the way by “always reciting the ‘Such-as-this’-sutra” and opening our eyes to what that is. Recorded on January 22nd, 2026 Please consider supporting Mountain...
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Dharma Talk: “Sitting in the Midst of Tragedy” with Scott Thornton
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
Scott takes up Case 6 of the Blue Cliff Record, Unmon’s “Every Day is a Good Day.” Recorded on January 15th, 2026 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: Become a member:
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Dharma Talk: “Begin Again: The timeless gift of a new day” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this first Dharma talk of the new year, Valerie reads from a recently published collection of poetry, Begin Where You Are, then turns to the question, ‘Where Are You?’ Issuing from our practice, this question is not a matter of geographical location but a pointer to the fundamental reality of who and what we truly are. Centuries ago, Master Tosetsu Etsu famously addressed his monks with this fundamental question: Right in the midst of your seeking and searching, where is your self-nature at this very moment? Addressed to us, how will we respond – right now in ‘this very moment,’...
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Dharma Talk: “One Treasure – Endlessly Functioning” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In the wake of the Rohatsu sesshin at Mountain Cloud and our deep dive into Hakuin’s Song of Zazen, Valerie begins this talk with a painting by Hakuin, an image of three blind men crossing a precarious log bridge. What does Hakuin’s vision of ‘crossing over’ say about our practice, about awakening, and about the leap or fall right into the heart of this broken open world? By way of response, Valerie takes up case 62 in the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, “Unmon’s ‘One Treasure.’” In the case, Master Unmon/Yunmen quotes a famous passage about the one treasure that is always...
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Dharma Talk – Illumined; Illumining: The Full Moon of Our Lives
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
On the occasion of the last full moon of this calendar year, Valerie turns to case 100 in the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku. Speaking directly to our life and practice, Master Haryo (Baling), asks, “What is the sharpest sword? He himself answers, “Each branch of coral reflects the moon.” How does that sharpest sword function and what does it have to do with the light of the moon? In the course of her talk, Valerie reflects on a recent sesshin in Germany then makes the turn toward Rohatsu, the deepest ingathering of the year at Zen centers around the world. The talk also includes a...
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Dharma Talk: “The Boundless Way” with Maria Habito
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
Maria turns to Mumonkan Case 7, Joshu’s “Wash your Bowl”, his advice to a newcomer who earnestly asked him for instruction about the way. How does this simple instruction reflect the boundless way that Joshu himself asked his own teacher Nansen about when he first entered the monastery? Recorded on November 20th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Donations: Become a member:
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Dharma Talk: “Freedom and the Sound of the Bell” with Carolyn Seburn
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
How do we reconcile the wondrous and borderless reality of the essence with the messiness of our everyday lives? Are changing diapers, checking a phone or driving to work really compatible with “vast and void, no holiness?” Carolyn explores this question as it was posed by Unmon in 10th century China (Case 16 of the Mumonkan) “the world is vast and wide like this. Why do we put on our seven-panel robe at the sound of the bell?” Delve in to see how there is no contraction here. Recorded on November 13th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member...
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Dharma Talk: “Nothing Lacking” with Scott Thornton
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this talk, Scott takes up Case 10 of the Mumonkon, “Seizei the Poor.” Recorded on November 6th, 2025 Donations: Become a member:
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Dharma Talk: “Bring me the Rhinoceros” with Valerie Forstman and Natalie Goldberg
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
For this talk, Valerie is joined by friend, author, artist, and dharma teacher, Natalie Goldberg. Together, Natalie and Valerie take up case 25 in the Book of Equanimity or Shoyoroku as a way of exploring the dharma that is at the heart of every koan – this world that is at once broken and utterly complete. Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this. Recorded on October 30th, 2025 Donations: Become a member:
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Dharma Talk: “How to See in the Dark” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
This talk begins with the question, ‘What is it to be human?’ When Siddhartha Gautama was 29 years old, he leapt beyond the palace walls of his rarified life in search of an answer to this question. One of Shakyamuni Buddha’s earliest teachings points the way towards what he discovered: Stop and see. Stop the conditioned activity of our discursive minds, our habitual ways of framing the world, our fixed concepts about who and what we are. Put down the artifice of that narrow flashlight. Turn off the projector and see. See what remains. In effect, see in the dark. In response to this...
info_outlineScott'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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