Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts

Mar 11 2025 50 ep. 40 mins 2.1k
Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts artwork

Zen Podcast series based on Mountain Cloud Zen Center’s Thursday evening dharma talks that explore classical koans of Zen. The podcasts help us in our mission of offering core Zen training in the lineage of Sanbo Zen to create healthier and kinder lives for all, while also supporting our Three Treasures Prison Project in which we work with inmates in a maximum security prison, as well as serving the immediate community of Santa Fe, New Mexico, our international sangha, and the broader world community of all beings.

  Religion & Spirituality  Education
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Dharma Talk: “Waking up to this threshold moment” with Valerie Forstman

Mar 11 2025 33 mins  
In this talk, Valerie begins with poetry as a portal to the language of koans, a language that uses words to go beyond words. Koans don’t just describe or express

Dharma Talk: “What Moves?” with Valerie Forstman

Mar 06 2025 46 mins  
In the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan) case 29, two monks watch a temple flag flapping in the wind. They argue back and forth: is it the flag that moves or the

Dharma Talk: Love and Loss in a Seamless World with Valerie Forstman

Feb 25 2025 39 mins  
This talk is offered in gratitude for the life of Johanna Sindelar, a long-time sangha member who dedicated over a decade of service to Mountain Cloud. As a tribute to

Dharma Talk: “Meeting Challenge with Equanimity” with Scott Thornton

Feb 19 2025 30 mins  
In this talk, Scott draws from the Gateless Gate case 13, “Tokusan Carries His Bowls” as a case study for how we can meet mistakes, challenges, and misunderstandings with equanimity.

Dharma Talk: “Listen to the Heart of Things” with Maria Reis Habito

Feb 11 2025 30 mins  
In this talk, Maria sheds light on how listening to the voice of a bird or the sound of rain can bring us fully back home to our true nature.

Dharma Talk: “The Year of the Snake” with Valerie Forstman

Feb 05 2025 36 mins  
On this first day of the Lunar New Year with the world in turmoil, Valerie turns to case 22 of the Blue Cliff Record, “Seppo’s ‘Poisonous Snake.’” What life-giving poison

Dharma Talk: “What Meets the Eye” with Valerie Forstman

Jan 28 2025 31 mins  
This talk begins with a look at Zen’s parable of the second arrow. What does the story say to us now when we may find ourselves despairing about despair? In

Dharma Talk: “The Path to Discernment” with Carolyn Seburn

Jan 22 2025 22 mins  
Carolyn discusses Mumonkan case 11: Jôshû Examines the Hermits as an invitation to examine and trust our own discernment.

January 9th Dharma Talk from Valerie Forstman

Jan 15 2025 31 mins  

2025’s First Dharma Talk with Valerie Forstman

Jan 08 2025 39 mins  
Welcome in the new year with this Teisho offered by Mountain Cloud’s Guiding Teacher, Valerie Forstman. To see what Mountain Cloud has planned for the upcoming year, visit www.mountaincloud.org/newyear/