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/

During the season of Rohatsu, Solstice, Christmas and Hanukkha, Maria takes up the psalm of Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” This psalm becomes a starting point to reflect on how darkness and light feed our practice of seeing our true nature.

At this time when many of us may be feeling daunted and uncertain, we gather in the zendo to tap into our shared deeper nature that meditation can open up, drawing sustenance and new perspectives from it.

In this talk, Henry explores breakthrough experiences — sudden shifts in how we understand and experience this life. They can show up in many forms, and in many areas, both personal and collective. Zen’s history is full of stories of sudden awakenings — moments when practitioners found they had broken out of familiar ways of perceiving and understanding their lives, into new ways of experiencing time, space, a profound sense of belonging, and of participating in the life of this world and all its beings.

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Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/

Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/

Check out our website: https://www.mountaincloud.org/

All are welcome to join us for sitting and dharma talks. Use this link to join us: https://sit.mountaincloud.org

David Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy—all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking. This widely-acclaimed work has earned Hinton a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from NEA and NEH, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently, Hinton received a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this.

Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/

Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/

Check out our website: https://www.mountaincloud.org/

All are welcome to join us for sitting and dharma talks. Use this link to join us: https://sit.mountaincloud.org

This week's talk was offered by Mountain Cloud's Guiding Teacher, Valerie Forstman. It was recorded on October 31st at the Zendo in Sante Fe.

Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this.

Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/

Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/

Check out our website: https://www.mountaincloud.org/

All are welcome to join us for sitting and dharma talks. Use this link to join us: https://sit.mountaincloud.org

Kali invites us to examine the wide array of features that comprise “The Practice Field,” the many aspects of our path of practice. She states that as a species we are quite proficient at ignoring our “shadow side of life,” those parts of us that help inform the richness of the practice field. Through this avoidance of difficult experiences, we contribute to our own suffering. Kali suggests that, with kindness and insight, we can lovingly examine how we are responsible for much of our suffering – not blaming (which consciously assumes we are creating harm) but rather taking responsibility for what we bring into our moments of practice. The invitation is to relax into being with whatever we are experiencing, whatever we have the opportunity to meet, with wonder and curiosity, grounded in our connection with our basic goodness.

Recorded on October 24

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Please consider supporting Mountain Cloud with a donation or becoming a member so we can continue to provide online programs such as this.

Donations: https://www.mountaincloud.org/donate/

Become a member: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership

Check out our website: https://www.mountaincloud.org/

All are welcome to join us for sitting and dharma talks. Use this link to join us: https://sit.mountaincloud.org