Dharma Talk: “Zen Practice: Sweeping the Ground of our Lives” with Valerie Forstman
Release Date: 10/15/2025
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...
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Dharma Talk: “Everywhere You Turn” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
This talk takes up case 34 in the Blue Cliff Record or Hekiganroku, “Kyozan’s ‘Not Wandering,’” as a guide to that exploration. Kyozan (Yangshan) asks a monk, “Where have you come from?” It’s a common question – a fundamental question – that the monks of record repeatedly fail to realize. Here, the monk responds in terms of geography, the distance between here and there, near and far, coming and going. The exchange unfolds with a turning word addressed to the student and to us: Can you wander in the mountains without ever leaving home? Can you not? Recorded on August 7th,...
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Dharma Talk: “Zen Practice: Sweeping the Ground of our Lives” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this talk, Valerie returns to the basics of Zen practice beginning with a beloved verse by the renowned 8th century Chinese poet, Li Po. The poem is both a practice pointer and an expression of the fundamental reality we can discover along the way as practice unfolds: the essential world that is empty, boundless, and one, while, at the same time, exactly the world of our everyday lives. As a pointer to this one reality, the talk takes up case 21 in the Shoyoroku or Book of Equanimity, “Ungan Sweeps the Ground.” Two dharma brothers meet each other eye to eye and invite us into the...
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Dharma Talk: “The humanity of our life in a borderless now” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this talk, Valerie begins with the poetry of love and loss as a portal to a saying from the eminent 9th century Chan/Zen master Joshu (Zhaozhou) about the timelessness of our everyday lives. The talk explores Joshu’s response to a monk who asks, “During the 24 hours, how is mind put to use?” Joshu offers a response that calls us into the immeasurable dynamism of each present moment. We are creatures inured to time. What happens when, in a moment of zazen, time stands still? Or all time is suddenly nothing but now? Recorded on July 24th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain...
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Dharma Talk: “It’s Alive!” with Scott Thornton
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
Scott'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 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: “The Great Matter: Arriving in the Light of Day” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
Fresh home from a memorial service for a beloved mentor and on the heels of the flooding in Texas, Valerie turns to case 41 of the Hekiganroku or Blue Cliff Record, “Joshu’s ‘Great Death.’” How does this case speak to the root of our human experience? What does it say about the coming and going of life and death? Might this ancient exchange between two masters – a generation apart in age – offer a word to us about the great matter? Recorded on July 10th, 2025 Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online...
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Dharma Talk: “The World and Us” with Henry Shukman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this talk, Henry explores our place in the world through koans and poems. 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: “Falling into the Heart of the World” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this first teisho since returning from the North American Sanbo Zan sesshin led by Yamada Ryoun Roshi, Valerie takes up Case 4 in the Shoyoroku or Book of Serenity, ‘The World-honored One Points to the Ground.’ “Here is a good place to build a temple,” says the Buddha, pointing to the ground at the place where we stand. Manjusri bends down, picks up a blade of grass and sticks it in the ground. The Budda acknowledges, “The temple has been built.” Why turn to this case at a time when wars are raging, people are starving, and the ground where we stand is on fire? What do the...
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Dharma Talk: “The Practice of Insight Dialogue” with Nicola Redfern
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
Insight Dialogue (ID) is a relational meditation practice for developing awareness, compassion and wisdom. It is designed to help us awaken together and integrate our understanding of Dharma teachings in a direct and immediate way. Nicola's talk was followed with a brief period of Q&A. Nicola Redfern is an Insight Dialogue Retreat Teacher with an extensive background in both Zen and Vipassana meditation. With a strong belief that awakening is not simply a solo endeavor, Nic is particularly interested in getting meditation and dharma insight fully integrated and embodied in life, work,...
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Dharma Talk: “Homecoming: Not a single step taken” with Valerie Forstman
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts
In this first dharma talk after returning from a monthlong mini-ango in Germany, Valerie turns to the final case in the Mumonkan or Gateless Gate, “Kempo’s One Way,” a koan that presents the world of absolute immediacy and infinite capacity, and invites us to taste and see. 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: View our upcoming events:
info_outlineIn this talk, Valerie returns to the basics of Zen practice beginning with a beloved verse by the renowned 8th century Chinese poet, Li Po. The poem is both a practice pointer and an expression of the fundamental reality we can discover along the way as practice unfolds: the essential world that is empty, boundless, and one, while, at the same time, exactly the world of our everyday lives. As a pointer to this one reality, the talk takes up case 21 in the Shoyoroku or Book of Equanimity, “Ungan Sweeps the Ground.” Two dharma brothers meet each other eye to eye and invite us into the dance where form and emptiness are not two. Not even one.
Recorded July 31st, 2025
Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this.
Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this.
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