Mountain Cloud Zen Podcasts

Dharma Talk: The Benevolence of Awakening with Valerie Forstman

Apr 17, 2025

37:34

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Quick takeaways

The essence of awakening reveals a fundamental purity and clarity that underscores the interconnectedness of all existence, inviting deeper appreciation of our role within it.

Through personal anecdotes, the transformative journey towards awakening emphasizes the shared humanity and benevolence that fosters a sense of belonging in the world.

Deep dives

The Nature of Awakening

The essence of awakening is explored as a realization of the fundamental state of purity and clarity that encompasses all existence. It emphasizes the vast, interconnected nature of reality, where mountains, rivers, and the earth arise from this essential state. This connection invites individuals to appreciate their role within this unity, as the fundamental nature of all things remains empty yet full of potential. The talk resonates with the listener's journey towards awakening, prompting reflection on their relationship with the world around them.

Intro

24min

Awakening Through Simple Moments: Zen Insights and Personal Reflections

12min

Awakening to the Inherent Clarity of Existence

2min

In this early spring talk, Valerie turns to the way of awakening, discovered and explored as this world – in the midst – just as it is. Not-two.

The talk weaves together a cross-section of experiences of homecoming with case 100 of the Book of Equanimity (Shoyoroku). In the case, Master Kaku of Roya receives the student’s question and responds in kind: “The essential state is pure and clear; how are mountains, rivers, and the great earth produced at once?”

How, indeed. Can we enter the wonder and embody it to the full?

Recorded on April 10th, 2025

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