Series: Awakening Streams

Teacher: Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen)

Location: One River Zen | Ottawa, Illinois

Title: Escaping the "Faint Copies" of Reality | Mumonkan Case 19

Episode Summary

Are we living in the vivid, forceful reality of the present, or are we stuck in the "faint copies" of our own minds? In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner explores the intersection of 18th-century Western Enlightenment philosophy and 13th-century Japanese Zen.

Drawing on the radical empiricism of David Hume, Sensei Brunner identifies a "glitch" in the human operating system: our habit of prioritizing conceptual shorthand (ideas) over direct, raw experience (impressions). By weaving Hume’s skepticism with the Four Reliances and the classic Mumonkan Case 19, this teisho offers a diagnostic tool for the "shadowboxing" of the discursive mind and an invitation to return to the Ordinary Mind.

Key Highlights

The "Glitch" in the Operating System: How David Hume’s distinction between impressions (vivid reality) and ideas (faint memories) mirrors the Zen struggle on the cushion.

The Four Reliances: A calibration of the spiritual compass. Why we must rely on meaning over words and the definitive over the provisional.

Shadowboxing with the Mind: Understanding why trying to "think" our way to enlightenment is like a dog running in its sleep—busy, but ultimately going nowhere.

Ordinary Mind is the Way: A deep dive into Mumonkan Case 19. Why Nansen tells Joshu that "knowing is delusion" and how "not-knowing" leads to intimacy with reality.

The Scaffold vs. The Reality: Moving beyond the "Buddhistic notions" and dusty tomes to find the blooming, eternal spring of direct experience.

Featured Quote

"We listen to the inner critic and miss the vivid, forceful reality that is always present right here and right now. We turn practice into a laboratory of faint copies, compressing raw experience into stale narratives: good sit, bad sit, good practitioner, bad practitioner. Hume warns us that these are just shadows."

Scriptural & Philosophical References

David Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature (Impressions vs. Ideas)

The Four Reliances: (Catuḥpratisaraṇa)

The Mumonkan (The Gateless Barrier): Case 19, "Ordinary Mind is the Way"

Dōgen Zenji: Contemporary studies of the Shōbōgenzō

About One River Zen

One River Zen is a center for rigorous Dharma study and direct realization located in Ottawa, Illinois. Under the guidance of Sensei Michael Brunner, the Sangha bridges ancient Soto Zen lineage with contemporary intellectual inquiry. Our mission is to provide a "scaffold" for practitioners to reach the direct reality of Buddha-nature in the modern world.

Connect with us:

Website: oneriverzen.org

Join the Sangha: Weekly sittings, study groups, and sesshins.

Support the Podcast: oneriverzen.org/donate

Keywords: Zen Philosophy, David Hume, Mumonkan Case 19, Ordinary Mind, Michael Brunner, One River Zen, Soto Zen, Mindfulness, Radical Empiricism, Ottawa Illinois Zen

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

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In this episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Michael Brunner explores the Zen koan “Mayoku Thumps His Staff,” Case 16 of the Book of Equanimity. The story appears simple: Mayoku performs the same gesture before two different Zen masters. One responds “right.” The other responds “wrong.” The question is not which master is correct — but what this reveals about our tendency to interpret life through fixed ideas.

This teaching examines how easily the mind replaces direct experience with shorthand: right and wrong, good and bad, success and failure. Zen practice invites us to release those conceptual filters and respond directly to the living circumstances of our lives.

Rather than solving the koan as a puzzle, Sensei Brunner shows how it exposes the way we cling to judgments and inherited narratives. When those stories fall away, a deeper responsiveness — what Zen calls wisdom — becomes available.

Recorded at One River Zen in Ottawa, Illinois, this teishō connects a classic Zen koan with the ordinary challenges of daily life.

Topics in this Episode

• The Zen koan Mayoku Thumps His Staff
• Book of Equanimity (Shōyōroku), Case 16
• How the mind creates right and wrong
• Conceptual thinking vs. direct experience
• The danger of borrowed understanding in spiritual practice
• Seeing through judgments and mental shorthand
• Responding to life with clarity and wisdom

Practice with One River Zen

One River Zen offers Soto Zen meditation practice, Dharma study, and Zen training in Ottawa, Illinois. Practitioners from outside the area may also train online.

Schedule an introductory meeting with Sensei Michael Brunner:
https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/8bdd737a26734dbf94c8e7021f9136d9@oneriverzen.org?anonymous&ismsaljsauthenabled&ep=plink

Learn more:
https://oneriverzen.org

Daily Zen teachings:
https://oneriverzen.org/daily-zen

Awakening Streams Podcast

Awakening Streams shares Zen teachings, koan reflections, and conversations on practice with Sensei Michael Brunner of One River Zen. Each episode explores how classical Zen teachings illuminate the challenges of modern life.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

The Case

Attention! As Ungan was sweeping the ground, Dogo said, “You’re hard at it!”
Ungan replied, “You should know there’s one who isn’t hard at it!”
Dogo said, “So, is there a second moon?”
Ungan held up the broom saying, “Which moon is this?”
Dogo desisted.
Regarding this, Gensha remarked, “Indeed, this is the second moon.”
Ummon also said, “The butler watches the maid politely.”

In This Episode

In this teishō, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner explores one of the most subtle dynamics in Zen practice: the split between activity and commentary.

How ordinary activity becomes self-conscious effort

The moment identity forms around striving

What Zen calls the “second moon”

Why spiritual self-improvement can reinforce duality

The difference between immersion and evaluation

How intention functions without becoming self-centered

Why “just keep sweeping” is not passivity

This talk examines how commentary quietly replaces functioning. When Dogo says, “You’re hard at it,” heaven and hell separate—not because sweeping changes, but because narration enters the field.

Ungan’s response points beyond both effort and non-effort, yet the trap remains: if there is “one who isn’t hard at it,” has a second self appeared?

Gensha’s and Ummon’s remarks sharpen the point. Even subtle spiritual refinement can become a second moon—an observer watching itself practice.

Key Themes

Activity vs. identity

Commentary as subtle duality

The “board on your shoulder” metaphor

Bodhisattva intention vs. spiritual self-making

Dogo’s desisting as embodied response

Mara and the 108 distractions

Returning to functioning

Practice Reflection

Where does commentary replace action in your own life?

When you are working, are you working—or evaluating yourself working?

When you are practicing, are you practicing—or narrating the one who practices?

The koan does not eliminate effort. It exposes the tightening around effort.

Just keep sweeping.

About the Teacher

Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner is the founding teacher of One River Zen in Ottawa, Illinois. Through teishō, koan study, and daily practice, he emphasizes direct experience, embodied insight, and the transformation of suffering in everyday life.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner offers a Zen teishō on Mumonkan Case 9, “Daitsu Chishō.” The koan presents a striking paradox: Daitsu Chishō Buddha sat in meditation for ten kalpas, yet did not attain Buddhahood. The monk’s question—why not?—reveals a deeply rooted assumption about practice, effort, time, and spiritual arrival.

The teishō opens by naming a common experience in Zen practice. When life feels reactive, misaligned, or difficult, we assume something essential is missing. We take up practice with sincerity—sitting, studying, meeting in dokusan, working with koans—often carrying a quiet belief that if we practice long enough or purify ourselves enough, something will finally click. Awakening is imagined as a future result, produced over time.

Turning to the case, Sensei Sōen examines how this assumption shapes the monk’s confusion. Ten kalpas—an unimaginably long span of time—should be more than sufficient if Buddhahood were something attained through effort. Rather than correcting the amount of time, Priest Jō of Kōyō steps completely outside the framework of cause, effect, and spiritual progress. His response—“Because he is a non-attained Buddha”—reorients the entire question.

The teishō explores how the name Daitsu Chishō itself points beyond a personal narrative. Daitsu (“pervading everywhere”) and Chishō (“wisdom”) describe not an individual accomplishment, but the nature of reality itself: a wisdom already complete, already functioning, and never absent. From this essential point of view, Buddhahood is not something produced by practice or time, even though wholehearted practice remains vital and necessary.

Drawing on classical Zen teaching and lived examples, Sensei Sōen points to how reality responds immediately and completely, without deliberation or attainment. Life itself answers—before thought, before explanation, before spiritual achievement. What obscures this is not a lack of effort, but the assumption that awakening must arrive later, under different conditions.

As the talk unfolds, the structure of attainment begins to collapse. Questions and answers lose their footing. The context of the koan shifts from abstract doctrine to lived life itself—work, relationships, the body, and time unfolding as it is. The non-attained Buddha is revealed not as a failure, but as the expression of enlightenment that has never needed to be acquired.

The teishō concludes by returning the koan to the listener. If nothing was ever missing, what does practice mean now? The case does not offer an answer to think through, but an invitation to see directly—by letting go of how awakening is supposed to look and allowing it to manifest exactly where one stands.

Key Themes

Mumonkan (Gateless Gate), Case 9

Daitsu Chishō and the non-attained Buddha

Practice and the assumption of spiritual arrival

Time, effort, and the illusion of progress

Buddhahood as function, not achievement

Koan practice as lived encounter

Letting go of how awakening “should” appear

About Awakening Streams

Awakening Streams is the Zen teaching podcast of One River Zen, a Soto Zen practice community based in Ottawa, Illinois. The podcast features teishō, koan teachings, and reflections grounded in classical Zen and everyday practice.

🔹 Learn more: https://oneriverzen.org
🔹 Teaching archive: https://oneriverzen.org/daily-zen

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Soen Michael Brunner offers a Zen teishō on Mumonkan Case 8, “Ketshū Makes Carts.” This koan from the Gateless Gate raises a deceptively simple question: when the wheels and axle are removed, what is made clear about the cart—and what is revealed about our own lives and practice?

The teishō opens by addressing a common mistake in practice and daily life: confusing foreground and background. We privilege explanation, judgment, and conceptual understanding while losing contact with direct, lived experience. Sensei Sōen explores how this reversal happens moment by moment—how labeling, evaluating, and interpreting quietly replace intimacy with what is actually present.

Turning to the case itself, the talk examines why Gettan’s question resists conceptual resolution. Rather than negating the cart or dissolving it into abstraction, the koan points to function. Without "wheels" and "axle", nothing "rolls", nothing "carries", nothing "works". But, what fails is not existence, but our idea of how something should function. This distinction becomes central to understanding the verse and Mumon’s commentary.

Drawing on dokusan encounters and everyday examples, the teishō shows how concepts—even subtle or “correct” ones—can immobilize practice. Presence itself is examined carefully, not as something to be possessed or stabilized, but as an activity that must remain alive and responsive. The “active wheel” described in the verse moves freely in all directions, collapsing the distance between self and other, practice and life.

Mumon’s commentary—likening realization to a shooting star and spiritual activity to catching lightning—is explored not as poetic imagery, but as a description of immediacy and function. When conceptual separation drops away, nothing is excluded and practice is no longer confined to formal settings or special states.

The episode concludes by returning the question to the listener. What happens when expectations fall apart? When the cart of our assumptions no longer holds together, how do we respond? The koan is not answered for us; it must be met directly through practice and lived engagement.

Key Themes

Mumonkan (Gateless Gate), Case 8

Keichū and the meaning of function

Foreground and background in Zen practice

Conceptual thinking vs. direct experience

The “active wheel” and movement in all directions

Presence as activity, not possession

Koan practice in everyday life

About Awakening Streams

Awakening Streams is the Zen teaching podcast of One River Zen, a Soto Zen practice community based in Ottawa, Illinois. The podcast features teishō, koan teachings, and reflections grounded in classical Zen and lived practice.

🔹 Learn more about One River Zen: https://oneriverzen.org
🔹 Zen teachings & archive: https://oneriverzen.org/daily-zen

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner explores how ancient Zen practice and modern neuroscience converge on the same insight: we often begin to act before we consciously decide.

Drawing on Benjamin Libet’s famous readiness-potential experiments, Sartre’s account of prereflective consciousness, and the Zen kōan Chinyu and the Rice Pail–碧巌録 HEKIGANROKU (BLUE CLIFF RECORD) Case 74, this teaching reveals how karmic momentum moves through the body before thought arises — and how Zen practice opens a brief but powerful space of freedom.

This is the heart of awakening in everyday life: not controlling experience, but learning how to interrupt habitual reactions and allow wiser action to emerge.

Key Themes

Free will and the brain

Benjamin Libet and “free won’t”

Karma and karmic momentum

Sartre’s prereflective self

Blue Cliff Record, Case 74

Chinyu and embodied action

Zen practice in daily life

About the Teacher

Sensei Michael Brunner is a transmitted Sōtō Zen priest and the founder and guiding teacher of One River Zen, a Zen Buddhist community in Ottawa, Illinois offering daily meditation, retreats, and Dharma study grounded in classical Zen and contemporary life.

Learn more at oneriverzen.org

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Primary Text: Emperor Dōkō’s Cap — Shōyōroku, Case 97

Core Theme: Awakening is not achieved through improvement or performance, but revealed when self-seriousness drops away.

Key Teaching Points

Zen practice often becomes another form of identity management: spiritual roles, competence, insight, and authority.

The kōan stages a meeting between political power and spiritual authority—and dissolves both through an ordinary, unguarded gesture.

Emperor Dōkō’s simple act of pulling down his hat strings reveals Buddha-nature precisely because it is unperformed.

True freedom in Zen is not becoming something new, but ceasing to protect an imagined self.

Koan Insight

The emperor’s “treasure” is not insight he possesses, but what appears when he forgets who he is supposed to be.

Master Kōke does not challenge or correct the emperor; he invites direct demonstration.

Awakening here is mutual recognition, not victory or defeat.

Sutra Connection

Parable of the hidden jewel from the Lotus Sutra:

We live as though lacking, despite already carrying what we seek.

Nothing changes except the story we believe about ourselves.

The jewel represents inherent completeness, not earned attainment.

Practice Implications

Notice where practice becomes performance.

Observe how self-protection hardens identity and drains joy.

Experiment with dropping the act in small, human moments.

Let spontaneity, play, and ordinary gestures reveal what is already present.

Closing Reflection

Buddha-nature is not solemn or staged.

Awakening moves, laughs, stumbles, and keeps going.

The invitation is simple: stop pretending and see what remains.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Title: The Garuda Trap: How to Master Karmic Momentum and Sustain Presence

Speaker: Sensei Michael Brunner (Founder, One River Zen, Ottawa, IL)

Summary: What happens to your hard-won peace the moment you step off the cushion and back into your life? In this essential Zen talk, Sensei Michael Brunner dives into the perennial struggle of maintaining clarity against the immediate pull of habit energy. Using the compelling imagery of Case 44 of the Shōyōroku (Kōyō’s Garuda Bird), Sensei Michael reveals the Garuda Trap: that instantaneous surge of karmic consciousness that seizes the Dragon (our true, calm nature) the moment it "leaves the ocean" of direct experience. Learn to distinguish between the "imperial order of presence" and the "general's order of strategy," and discover a powerful, non-avoidant method for working skillfully with your reactive patterns. Stop being the "blind turtle pinned under Mount Sumeru" and learn how to make friends with the inner scoundrel to sustain authentic presence in your everyday world.

Key Concepts & Metaphors:

The Ocean (Dragon King): Your natural domain; the calm, steady depth of your true nature, or original mind. The practice is to stay home in direct experience (body, breath, sensation).

The Garuda/Falcon: Karmic Momentum or Karmic Consciousness. The instantaneous surge of thought forms and old habits that seize you. The trap is sprung the moment the "head sticks out"—so drop back in immediately.

The Balcony Test: Identifying the edge where your peaceful presence meets your old habits. A place of revelation, not punishment.

Blind Turtle under Sumeru: A warning against repeating painful, habitual patterns. Do not repeat the pattern.

Imperial Order vs. General's Order: The Imperial Order is the stillness of presence. The General's Order is reaction and strategy. Stay in the Imperial Order; stop chasing the General.

Core Insight: Skillful Action

The practice is not about eliminating karma, but working skillfully with it.

Make Friends with the Inner Scoundrel: Meet all facets of yourself (the aloof one, the avoidant one) from presence.

The Bullfighter Analogy: Don't avoid the "bull" (karma), and don't run into it. Work nimbly with it.

The Practice: If an old pattern surges, look at it carefully. Engage it, but not from your reactive self. Drop back into the body, into the breath, into direct sensation.

Connect with One River Zen:

Sensei Michael Brunner is the Abbot and founding teacher of One River Zen in Ottawa, Illinois.

Website: oneriverzen.org

Location: 121 E Prospect Ave, Ottawa, IL

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Title: ZEN KOAN: The 2 Secrets of True Compassion | Sensei Michael Brunner

Teacher: Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner, Sōtō Zen Buddhist Priest (Lineage: Dainin Katagiri Roshi through Rev. Dr. Sojun Diane Martin Roshi).

Community: One River Zen, Ottawa, Illinois.

—

CORE TEACHING: Throughout the Body

This talk, given by Sensei Michael Brunner, challenges the idea that Zen practice is limited to the cushion. He connects the deepest spiritual teachings to the tangible work of One River Zen's community missions, Karuna Pantry and the soon-to-open David’s Clubhouse in Ottawa, Illinois.

Dōgen's Teaching: Sensei Brunner grounds the talk in Dōgen's famous quote: "To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by the ten thousand things." The practice is about being a true person, not a perfected image of a Buddhist.

The Koan of Spontaneity: We explore Shōyōroku, Case 54: Ungan’s Great Compassionate One. The Koan uses the image of Avalokiteśvara (Bodhisattva of Great Compassion) to ask how boundless compassion functions.

Dōgo’s Pointer: Dōgo likens it to "a man who reaches behind him at night to search for his pillow." This is spontaneous, intuitive action, free of thought or strategy.

The Critical Difference: The key is the subtle yet profound difference between two phrases:

Ungan's Partial View: "All over the body are hands and eyes." (Implies compassion is something "I" do or applyas a tool—80% there).

Dōgo's Complete View: "Throughout the body are hands and eyes." (Implies compassion is what this life is—the unobstructed functioning of original nature. It is not applied; it is simply how life operates when the self-story is not in the way).

The Final Invitation: The talk concludes with the understanding that "supernatural" functioning is simply reality without the distortion of the ego. The true Koan for the listener is: "How will you spend the very real currency you possess with your next breath—this currency that is your life?"

—

Connect with Sensei Michael Brunner:

Website: brunnerzen.org

Organization: oneriverzen.org

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

When a monk asks, “When not producing a single thought, is there any fault or not?” Ummon replies, “Mount Sumeru.”
What does it mean to encounter life’s difficulties as the mountain itself rather than something to climb over or escape?

Sensei Michael unpacks this question through the lens of the Three Transformative Touchstones — maintaining wonder, including everything, and transforming suffering. Each offers a way of seeing how awakening arises through, not apart from, the very conditions of our lives.

🪷 Taught by: Sensei Michael Brunner 
🏯 From: One River Zen Center | 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350
🌐 Learn more: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

Keywords / Tags:
Sensei Michael Brunner Ottawa | One River Zen | Ummon Mount Sumeru | Shōyōroku 19 | Zen koan | Zen Buddhism | Sōtō Zen | Dharma Talk | Zen Teaching | Sōen Michael Brunner  | Ottawa IL

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

When every movement of the heart leans toward I want or I don’t want, how do we know what direction is true? In this Dharma talk, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner turns to the final case of the Book of Equanimity — Rōya’s Mountains and Rivers — to explore how ego, will, and awakening unfold in daily life.

Through the unlikely pairing of Aleister Crowley’s dictum “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” and John the Baptist’s “He must increase, I must decrease,” Sensei reveals how Zen transcends both self-assertion and self-erasure. This kōan becomes a living invitation to see the original nature that breathes through mountains, rivers, thoughts, and every ordinary moment.

💠 Recorded live at One River Zen, a Soto Zen Buddhist temple rooted in the lineage of Dainin Katagiri Roshi.
🎧 Learn more, view upcoming retreats, or join practice at www.oneriverzen.org.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

The exchange between Hōgen and Shuzan becomes a mirror for our own practice: Hōgen questions, Shuzan repeats, Hōgen presses, Shuzan answers “I am just this,” and the line is spoken again — the same words, but now alive. The closing bow seals their intimacy. Sensei points to how this same movement appears in our zazen, relationships, fear, frustration, and aspiration; how even a fly landing on the scale can tilt the whole heart; and how the work is not to fix the tilt but to see the tilting mind clearly, without measuring or interference.

This episode asks the listener to locate the hair’s-breadth in their own life and to entrust the mind before division — allowing heaven and earth to bow together in the very act of seeing.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Having built the hut, opened it to vastness, and rested in stillness, the hermit now turns the light inward and returns to what was never apart. This is the completion of the circle — the end of seeking, the recognition that practice and enlightenment are not two.

Through Sekitō’s closing verses, Sensei reflects on the humility of not-knowing, the intimacy of self-forgetfulness, and the quiet joy of living freely within the very conditions we once tried to escape.

In this episode:
– Turning the light to shine within
– The return to simplicity and ordinariness
– The end of striving and the fullness of now
– The undying person in the hut
– The dissolution of host and guest

Recorded live during sesshin at One River Zen, this talk completes the Postcards from Sesshin series — reminding us that awakening is not found elsewhere, but right here in the skin bag of our own fleeting life.

Sekitō Kisen — Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

I’ve built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.

When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it’s been lived in—and it’s covered with weeds.

The person in the hut lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.

Places worldly people live, he doesn’t live.
Realms worldly people love, he doesn’t love.

Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten square feet, an old man illumines forms and their nature.

A great vehicle Bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can’t help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?

Perishable or not, the original master is present,
Not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed.

A shining window below the green pines—
Jade palaces or vermilion towers can’t compare.

Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn’t understand at all.

Living here, he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?

Turn around the light to shine within,
Then just return.

The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers; be familiar with their instructions.
Bind grasses to build a hut and don’t give up.

Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.

Thousands of words, myriad interpretations,
Are only to free you from obstructions.

If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
Don’t separate from this skin bag here and now.

🪷 Learn more: https://oneriverzen.org
 

#Zen #DharmaTalk #SekitoKisen #SongOfTheGrassRoofHermitage #MichaelBrunner #OneRiverZen #SotoZen #Zazen #AwakeningStreams #Sesshin #GrassRoofHut #TurningTheLightWithin #NotKnowing #Freedom #NonDuality #Fushiryo #Awakening #Stillness

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Having built the hut and opened it to the vastness of the world, the hermit now abides within it — steady, simple, and free. From here, Sekitō speaks of the life that remains after awakening: a life of ordinariness, quiet joy, and deep compassion.

Through verses such as “Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed” and “Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest,” Sensei explores the humility of not-knowing, the luminous beauty of sufficiency, and the natural freedom that arises when we stop striving to be free.

In this episode:
– Stability and ease as the ground of compassion
– The shining window beneath the green pines
– Not-knowing (fushiryo) as the heart of intimacy
– Living freely within delusion
– The host and guest returning to oneness

Recorded live during sesshin at One River Zen, this talk invites us to rest in simplicity — to sit, breathe, and allow life to express itself completely through us.

Sekitō Kisen — Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

I’ve built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.

When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it’s been lived in—and it’s covered with weeds.

The person in the hut lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.

Places worldly people live, he doesn’t live.
Realms worldly people love, he doesn’t love.

Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten square feet, an old man illumines forms and their nature.

A great vehicle Bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can’t help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?

Perishable or not, the original master is present,
Not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed.

A shining window below the green pines—
Jade palaces or vermilion towers can’t compare.

Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn’t understand at all.

Living here, he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?

Turn around the light to shine within,
Then just return.

The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers; be familiar with their instructions.
Bind grasses to build a hut and don’t give up.

Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.

Thousands of words, myriad interpretations,
Are only to free you from obstructions.

If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
Don’t separate from this skin bag here and now.

🪷 Learn more: https://oneriverzen.org
🎧 Awakening Streams: Teachings from One River Zen

#Zen #DharmaTalk #SekitoKisen #SongOfTheGrassRoofHermitage #MichaelBrunner #OneRiverZen #SotoZen #Zazen #AwakeningStreams #Stillness #NotKnowing #Fushiryo #Sesshin #GrassRoofHut #Embodiment #Dogen #Awakening

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Where Part One built the hut — the dwelling of simplicity — Part Two opens its doors. The small hut now contains the entire world. The hermit’s heart, once enclosed by self and circumstance, dissolves into vastness.

Through Sekitō’s verses, Sensei explores how realization naturally unfolds — how renunciation becomes inclusion, how separation softens into compassion, and how the whole world can dwell within a ten-foot space.

In this episode:
– The hut as a metaphor for boundless mind
– Dwelling in vastness while living simply
– The difference between worldly love and awakened love
– Letting the weeds grow as a form of practice
– Living in freedom where nothing is outside the Way

Recorded live during sesshin at One River Zen, this talk invites listeners to recognize that the true hermitage is not built apart from the world, but realized through it — in every sound, every breath, every fleeting moment of life.

Sekitō Kisen — Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

I’ve built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.

When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it’s been lived in—and it’s covered with weeds.

The person in the hut lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.

Places worldly people live, he doesn’t live.
Realms worldly people love, he doesn’t love.

Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten square feet, an old man illumines forms and their nature.

A great vehicle Bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can’t help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?

Perishable or not, the original master is present,
Not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed.

A shining window below the green pines—
Jade palaces or vermilion towers can’t compare.

Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn’t understand at all.

Living here, he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?

Turn around the light to shine within,
Then just return.

The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers; be familiar with their instructions.
Bind grasses to build a hut and don’t give up.

Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.

Thousands of words, myriad interpretations,
Are only to free you from obstructions.

If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
Don’t separate from this skin bag here and now.

🪷 Learn more: https://oneriverzen.org
 

#Zen #DharmaTalk #SekitoKisen #SongOfTheGrassRoofHermitage #MichaelBrunner #OneRiverZen #SotoZen #Zazen #AwakeningStreams #Compassion #NonDuality #GrassRoofHut #Stillness #Sesshin #Awakening

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sekitō’s first line, “I’ve built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value,” becomes a gateway into the mind of practice — simple, transparent, and unbound.

In this episode:
– Who Sekitō Kisen was and why his teaching endures
– The meaning of the “grass hut” as the dwelling of awareness
– How simplicity reveals true abundance
– Letting go of the stories we build around permanence and worth
– Living where there’s nothing to defend

Recorded live during sesshin at One River Zen, this talk begins the journey through Sekitō’s poem — a path from building, to dwelling, to awakening in the very heart of impermanence.

Sekitō Kisen — Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

I’ve built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.

When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it’s been lived in—and it’s covered with weeds.

The person in the hut lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.

Places worldly people live, he doesn’t live.
Realms worldly people love, he doesn’t love.

Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten square feet, an old man illumines forms and their nature.

A great vehicle Bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can’t help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?

Perishable or not, the original master is present,
Not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed.

A shining window below the green pines—
Jade palaces or vermilion towers can’t compare.

Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn’t understand at all.

Living here, he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?

Turn around the light to shine within,
Then just return.

The vast inconceivable source can’t be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers; be familiar with their instructions.
Bind grasses to build a hut and don’t give up.

Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.

Thousands of words, myriad interpretations,
Are only to free you from obstructions.

If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
Don’t separate from this skin bag here and now.

🪷 Learn more: https://oneriverzen.org
🎧 Awakening Streams: Teachings from One River Zen

#Zen #DharmaTalk #SekitoKisen #SongOfTheGrassRoofHermitage #MichaelBrunner #OneRiverZen #SotoZen #Zazen #AwakeningStreams #Simplicity #Impermanence #GrassRoofHut #Dharma

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

When a monk once answered that “the enlightened person does not fall under cause and effect,” he was reborn as a fox for 500 lifetimes. Through this story, Sensei examines how easily we misunderstand karma—as punishment, fate, or escape—and how true freedom is found by meeting life exactly as it is.

This talk invites listeners to stop seeking freedom elsewhere, to step fully into their circumstances, and to discover that cause and effect are not chains, but the living fabric of awakening itself.

🪶 Themes explored:

Karma and the creative law of cause and effect

The illusion of spiritual escape

Meeting life directly as the field of practice

Freedom within ordinary circumstances

Listen, reflect, and join us in practice at OneRiverZen.org

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this Dharma talk, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner takes us deep into the Platform Sūtra and the legendary verse contest between Jinshū and Daikan Enō. Through vivid storytelling and lived insight, Sensei explores how the desire to “polish the mirror” of the self can subtly undermine our realization of Buddha Nature.

The talk is both grounded and profound, moving from a humorous account of a temple bat rescue to the core question that still echoes through Zen halls today:
“Where did you get this dust?”

🧘 Key Themes

The story of Daikan Enō and the Sixth Ancestor transmission

Jinshū’s verse and the trap of self-perfection

Why true Zen practice dissolves form, hierarchy, and ambition

The nature of awakening as already complete

Practice as everyday life: pounding rice, catching bats, being present

📿 Practice With Us

Join our meditation community:
🕣 Monday–Friday at 6:30 AM CT
🌙 Wednesday Evening at 6:00 PM CT
🌅 Saturday Morning at 9:00 AM CT
💻 https://oneriverzen.org

Everyone is welcome—no experience needed.

🙏 Support the Teachings

If you find these talks meaningful, consider sharing with a friend or leaving a review to help others discover One River Zen.

🔗 Stay Connected

🌐 Website: https://oneriverzen.org
📷 Instagram: @oneriverzen
 

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

What happens when the desire to be seen replaces the desire to connect?

Sanshō comes to Seppō with the declaration that he has passed through all the nets—the traps of Dharma, koans, concepts. But Seppō replies, “I’ll wait until you get out of the net, then I’ll tell you.”

What follows is not a philosophical debate, but a complete refusal to participate in spiritual theatrics. Seppō doesn’t reward the display. He doesn’t try to win. He just returns to what’s real: the responsibilities and humility of the present moment.

Main Themes

🪶 The Dust of Words
We often speak not to connect, but to perform, to be right, or to relieve internal pressure. But unless someone truly wants to hear—and unless we genuinely want to communicate—our words are just dust, stirring up confusion.

🎭 The Trap of Performance
Sanshō isn’t asking a real question—he’s performing realization. “What will you feed a golden carp like me?” Seppō sees this and refuses to feed the ego, even a “spiritual” one. Realization that demands applause is still caught.

🪓 The Compassionate Cut
Seppō’s response—“For this old monk, affairs do multiply”—isn’t a dodge. It’s a clear sword stroke that ends the game. He refuses to escalate, refuses to shame. He just stays rooted in his responsibility. That’s letting the dust settle.

🌊 What Is the Net?
Even when we think we’ve broken through—gotten free—the hook might still be in our mouth. The net we must slip is the one made of pride, identity, and the need to be affirmed.

🙏 Real Practice Begins Without Applause
When there’s nothing left to prove, no recognition coming, and no place to rest—can you still practice? That’s the entry point into real awakening.

Key Quotes from the Talk

“When there’s already heat and tension and pride that’s been bruised, trying to communicate from a platform of spiritual certainty is worse than useless.”

“You think you're free? You’re tangled up in yourself. I’m not going to feed this.”

“Seppō doesn’t reward the performance. He just keeps to the real: ‘I have things to do.’”

“There’s no food for the ego in true realization.”

“If there’s no safe place to rest, no recognition coming—can you still practice?”

Practice Reflection

This week, reflect on these questions:

When you speak, are you trying to connect—or to be right?

Where do you still crave recognition for your insight or experience?

Can you let the dust settle—internally and relationally—before speaking or acting?

Sit with this kōan. Watch your words. Notice the net.

Resources

The Book of Serenity (Shōyōroku), Case 33 – Sanshō’s Golden Carp

One River Zen – www.oneriverzen.org

Learn more about retreats, classes, and our upcoming Ango practice period.

Connect with Us

🧘‍♂️ Subscribe for weekly Dharma talks and Zen teachings.
🌐 Website: www.oneriverzen.org
📸 Instagram: @oneriverzen
📍 Visit us in Ottawa, IL – or join us online.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Topics covered in this talk include:

The liberating power of wonder over mere knowing

The vision of radical interdependence found in Indra’s Net

Karmic momentum and how it conditions our experience

Dōgen’s teaching on traceless enlightenment

The parable of the hidden jewel from the Lotus Sutra

How even confusion, pain, and delusion can be gateways to awakening

The importance of practice-enlightenment in everyday life

“Your life, just as it is, is that jewel sewn into your robe.”

Let go. Sit down. Realize what has always been yours.

–––

🪷 Learn more: https://oneriverzen.org
🧘‍♀️ Join us for morning meditation: 6:30am CST M–F, online and in-person

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this Dharma talk delivered during a Zen retreat, Sensei Michael Brunner reflects on the deeply ordinary yet radically transformative nature of awakening.

A monk asks Master Umon, “What is the speech that transcends the Buddhas and goes beyond the ancestors?” Umon answers with stunning simplicity: “Farm rice cake.”

What unfolds from that exchange is an invitation to stop chasing the extraordinary and instead awaken to the sacred already embedded in our everyday lives.

Topics covered include:

Why we struggle to see the value in the ordinary

The spiritual danger of dividing life into sacred and profane

The hidden costs of striving for “spiritual” experiences

Dōgen’s teaching on painted rice cakes and realization

How to bring the whole of your life—including your shadow—to the table

The meaning of true inclusion and embodied awareness

You’ll hear references to meal gathas, latrine flies, and rice cakes—all pointing back to one thing: there’s nothing outside the Dharma.

🧘‍♀️ Join the community at: https://oneriverzen.org
📩 Get weekly practice updates: [Join the Students of the Way mailing list]
🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to support the spread of the Dharma.

Quote from the episode:

“You stop being the one who’s turning the Dharma, and you recognize the Dharma turning you.”

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

🪷 Episode Summary:
Ryūge asks the same question twice and gets struck twice. His response? “There’s still no meaning in the Patriarch’s coming from the West.” But what if even that response is still part of the trap?

In this talk, Sensei Michael explores how we turn realization into a fixed stance—how we cling to the language of awakening instead of living it. Through the lens of Case 80, we examine how subtle grasping masquerades as freedom, and how the Dharma keeps working on us, even when we think we’ve figured it out.

🔍 Topics Covered:
– Ryūge’s karmic repetition and the illusion of insight
– How “no meaning” can become a new doctrine
– The power of spontaneous action over conceptual understanding
– Why real freedom leaves nothing to declare
– The difference between answering and responding
– What finally opens Ryūge—and what might open us

📚 Key Koan:
Book of Equanimity, Case 80 – “Ryūge Passes the Chin Rest”

🧘 Practice Invitation:
Where in your life are you still trying to “name the void”?
Where have you turned insight into identity?

💬 Favorite Line:

“You can’t draw a picture of a strawberry and eat it.”

📌 Subscribe for weekly talks and meditative teachings from One River Zen.
Website: oneriverzen.org
Instagram: @oneriverzen
Retreats & Offerings: Visit our site for upcoming events.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

This episode explores:

The “great death” as the dropping away of the constructed self

Why patching the old narrative keeps us bound

Dōgen’s teaching: “When you encounter hardships, think of them as the body of the Buddha”

The silence that follows suffering—not as absence, but as vast, integrated presence

The difference between surviving and being reborn

Through koan, story, and lived truth, this talk invites us to reenter the world not edited, not hidden—but awake and unafraid in the daylight.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner
Hekigan-roku – Case 23: Hofuku’s Summit of Mystic Peak

In this talk, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner guides us into the subtle terrain of Blue Cliff Record Case 23, where a seemingly simple exchange—“Right here is the summit of Mystic Peak” / “What a pity”—opens the entire question of realization, intention, and embodiment.

Drawing from the rich imagery of Hofuku, Chōkei, and Setchō’s commentary, this episode explores:

How conceptualizing awakening turns it into “smelly saltwater”

The essential role of great intention in true Zen practice

Why form doesn’t erase individuality—it reveals it

What it means to walk the path in your actual life, not in some idealized version

Sensei’s reflections connect the ancient case to daily practice, from Zoom calls to food pantries, from bowing in the zendo to ending an argument with your partner.

“You don’t need to act out the koan—you need to show up for your life.”

🔖 Mentioned in this episode:

Hekigan-roku (Blue Cliff Record), Case 23

Chōkei and Isan Reiyū

Suzuki Roshi on the power of form

The saltwater-in-a-jar metaphor

Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi and the true peak of practice

💬 Quotes to Take With You:

“The form takes care of the self-conscious mind. Then walking is just walking.”
“Cherish your time. Cherish what is rising.”
“Instead of bowing—we’re the ones who are bowed.”

🌐 Stay Connected:

One River Zen: https://www.oneriverzen.org

Upcoming Retreats & Events: https://www.oneriverzen.org/retreats

Support the Center: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Through humor, direct insight, and Zen practice, we examine:

• The six windows and the monkey—what they represent in Yogācāra thought
• How the mind constructs narratives and why we get caught in them
• What happens when we step beyond concepts into direct experience
• How Zen practice helps us meet life fully, without waiting for "perfect" conditions

Key Takeaways

✔ The mind’s chatter isn’t reality—it’s just the monkey making meaning
✔ True practice isn’t about escaping life but meeting it fully
✔ Direct experience is beyond analysis—drop the stories and be present
✔ The monkey loves puzzles, but awakening isn’t something to solve

Quotes from the Episode

🌀 "If you ask the monkey who you are, it’ll dress you up and stand you in front of a mirror."
🌀 "Zen isn’t about finding the right answer—it’s about stepping beyond the need for one."

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

What did the monk miss? What was the old woman revealing? And why does seeking so often blind us to what’s already here?

This teisho dives into how our grasping for certainty obscures direct experience. When we let go of expectations and stop searching for confirmation, what remains?

Topics Covered in This Episode:

✅ The nature of seeking and how it blinds us
✅ How labels and assumptions obscure direct perception
✅ The role of upekkhā (equanimity) in seeing clearly
✅ Why Jōshū doesn’t explain—he simply sees through
✅ How to approach Zen practice without clinging to "knowing"

🔔 Subscribe for more Dharma talks and Zen insights.
🌿 Follow for more teachings on practice, perception, and awakening.
🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast platform and share with others on the path.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner explores Hekiganroku Case 20: Ryūge Asks Suibi and Rinzai, where a monk asks the age-old question, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?" Instead of receiving an answer, he is struck. Why? Because Zen does not deal in intellectual understanding—it points directly to what is.

We chase meaning, we grasp for certainty, we wrap our suffering in stories. But when we stop clinging, when we drop the second arrow of suffering, we discover something beyond all explanations—the immediacy of life itself.

In this episode, we explore:

• How the search for meaning can become another form of attachment
• Why we cling to spiritual concepts, even in Zen
• What Suibi and Rinzai’s blows reveal about the trap of intellectual grasping
• How the two arrows teaching shows us the way out of suffering
• Why true freedom is found not in explanations, but in direct experience

We do not practice Zen to uncover meaning—we practice to let go of the need for meaning altogether. The Dharma is not something to hold onto. It is not a theory. It is alive, immediate, and always present.

🌀 Let go of the search, and the path will rise to meet you.
🔔 Subscribe for more Dharma talks & Zen teachings!
📖 Join our upcoming classes & retreats: oneriverzen.org

💬 What resonated with you most? Share your reflections in the comments!

#Zen #DharmaTalk #Buddhism #KoanStudy #Rinzai #Shoyoroku #Hekiganroku #ZenPractice #Meditation #Mindfulness #LettingGo #SpiritualFreedom

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

We spend our lives constructing a self, reinforcing it with experiences, roles, and beliefs. But what happens when that self collapses? What remains when there’s nothing left to defend?

🔹 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• How pain and fear shape our identities
• Why our self-image is an illusion reinforced by others
• Rinzai’s direct teaching on cutting through the construct of self
• Why awakening is not an attainment but a constant practice
• The danger of clinging to spiritual accomplishments

This talk is a confrontation with the illusion of self and an invitation to step into the freedom that has always been here.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

🔹 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• The power of chanting beyond intellectual understanding
• How Kanzeon embodies both deep listening and action
• The role of rhythm, breath, and resonance in dissolving the small self
• Why compassion is not something we do—but something we become
• The transformative impact of chanting in Zen practice

Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo (延命十句観音経)

Kanzeon
Namu Butsu
Yo Butsu U In
Yo Butsu U En
Bu Po So En
Jo Raku Ga Jo
Cho Nen Kanzeon
Bo Nen Kanzeon
Nen Nen Ju Shin Ki
Nen Nen Fu Ri Shin

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

The talk explores how our judgments shape perception, how the gap between self and other is self-imposed, and how true compassion arises naturally when separation dissolves. Using Mumonkan Case 36, Sensei Michael challenges us: If we meet a fully awakened being, how do we greet them? More importantly, how do we meet this very moment?

Key Takeaways:

🔹 Cease from Evil – Not about moral judgment, but releasing attachment to narratives that distort direct experience.
🔹 Practice Good – A call to bear witness rather than impose labels and categories.
🔹 Practice Good for Others – Stepping beyond self/other duality to act from unity.
🔹 Perception Shapes Reality – Our judgments are not distant objects, they are our experience.
🔹 Compassion Beyond Calculation – Action arises freely when we no longer hesitate.
🔹 Mumonkan Case 36 – A koan that forces us to drop the idea of a "right" response and instead fully meet reality.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction: The precepts as a process, not rules
05:10 – How our judgments shape perception
12:30 – The Three Pure Precepts in daily life
18:45 – Self and other: Seeing through the same eyes
24:15 – Mumonkan Case 36: How do you greet an awakened being?
32:00 – Letting go of the constructed self and showing up fully

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

But what does this mean for our daily lives? How do we move beyond conceptual thinking and into the uncontrived, effortless action of compassion? Sensei Michael unpacks this koan with insights from Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyōkun, showing us how our practice isn’t about accumulating knowledge—it’s about being actualized by the moment itself.

Key Takeaways:

🔹 Compassion is not something we do—it is what we are.
🔹 The small self limits our response; letting go allows us to move freely.
🔹 Like reaching for a pillow in the dark, true compassion arises without calculation.
🔹 Dōgo’s final response shifts the perspective: “Throughout the body are hands and eyes.” There is no longer a self at the center—only action and awareness as one.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction to the talk
02:30 – Shōyōroku Case 54: Ungan & Dōgo
07:15 – The legend of Avalokiteśvara’s thousand hands and eyes
12:40 – Moving beyond conceptual thinking into embodied practice
18:10 – How karmic conditioning shapes our response to suffering
22:45 – Letting go of the small self to allow compassion to move
27:30 – Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyōkun and the seamless unity of practice and action
32:00 – Closing reflections

Resources & Further Study:

📖 The Book of Serenity (Thomas Cleary)
📖 Genjōkōan by Dōgen – “That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening.”

Connect with One River Zen:

🌿 Website: oneriverzen.org
📍 Visit Us in Ottawa, IL
📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@oneriverzen
 

💬 What resonated most with you in this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments!

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei Michael shares how we fence ourselves in with judgments, create barriers with our thoughts, and how “Mu” clears the way for us to reconnect with the wonder and curiosity we were born with. Through vivid examples, he illustrates how working with this koan can help us embody wisdom and compassion, allowing us to meet life’s challenges with courage and presence.

Whether you’re new to Zen or deep in your practice, this teisho offers an inspiring perspective on how to live fully and freely through the practice of Mu.

Key Themes Addressed:

• The significance of Joshu’s “Mu” and its place in Zen training.
• How we create and reinforce barriers with thoughts, fears, and labels.
• Moving beyond concepts to experience true clarity and freedom.
• The balance between surrender and active engagement in Zen practice.
• How the practice of Mu transforms our relationship with suffering and invites us to respond with wisdom and compassion.

🌟 Join Us for Meditation at One River Zen 🌟
🧘‍♀️ Morning Meditation: Monday–Friday, 6:30–7:15 AM
🧘 Evening Meditation: Wednesdays, 6:00–6:45 PM
🧘‍♂️ Weekend Meditation: Saturdays, 9:00–10:00 AM

Come in-person or join online to deepen your practice, connect with our sangha, and explore the path of Zen.

Resources Mentioned:

• Mumonkan (Gateless Gate)
• Joshu’s “Mu” (Case 1)

#ZenBuddhism #JoshuMu #Mumonkan #ZenPractice #KoanTraining #DharmaTalk #OneRiverZen #MindfulnessJourney #WisdomAndCompassion

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

• The interplay between practice and realization
• The dynamic balance of relative and absolute truths
• Moving beyond dualistic thinking to embody the Dharma
• The transformative power of cutting through illusions
• Actualizing wisdom and compassion in the present moment

Sensei Michael also reflects on the nature of karmic momentum, the importance of embracing life's challenges, and how true practice allows us to meet life fully. This talk invites us to see the Buddha not as a distant idea but as a living, moving force that manifests through us when we step beyond concepts and into direct experience.

This talk was recorded live at One River Zen, where mindfulness, community, and awakening come together.

🌟 Join Us for Meditation at One River Zen 🌟
🧘‍♀️ Morning Meditation: Monday–Friday, 6:30–7:15 AM
🧘 Evening Meditation: Wednesdays, 6:00–6:45 PM
🧘‍♂️ Weekend Meditation: Saturdays, 9:00–10:00 AM

Come in-person or join online to sit in stillness, connect with our sangha, and deepen your practice.

Key Themes Addressed:

• The paradox of emptiness and form: How Zen teaches us to hold both perspectives without clinging to either.
• Kasan’s directive to “slash with a sword”: Cutting through attachments and delusions.
• Sekisō’s response: “He has no country. Where could he be met?”: The boundlessness of absolute reality.
• The inseparability of relative and absolute truths: Why both must manifest together.
• How practice transforms karmic patterns and helps us engage with life skillfully.

Resources Mentioned:

• Shōyōroku (Book of Equanimity)
• The teachings of Kasan and Sekisō

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Drawing from Joshu’s koan in the Shoyoroku (Case 57), “Genyo’s One Thing,” and Wittgenstein’s insights in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations, Sensei Michael examines the limits of language, the pitfalls of clinging to concepts, and the liberating power of letting go. Through stories, teachings, and even a nod to Tom Petty’s song “I Need to Know,” this episode highlights how our attachment to knowing obscures the direct experience of life.

Key themes explored in this episode include:

• Wittgenstein’s idea that the limits of language define the limits of our world.
• Joshu’s razor-sharp responses, pointing beyond conceptual thinking to direct experience.
• Dōgen’s reminder that “a picture of a rice cake cannot nourish us.”
• The connection between clinging to ideas and missing the fullness of the present moment.

Sensei Michael invites listeners to reflect on their own dependence on knowing and consider what it means to throw away preconceived notions and truly be the One. This episode is both a philosophical and practical guide to stepping beyond the confines of the conceptual mind and embracing life as it is.

Join us for daily meditation at One River Zen:

• Monday to Friday: 6:30–7:15 AM
• Wednesday: 6:00–6:45 PM
• Saturday: 9:00–10:00 AM

Visit www.oneriverzen.org for more information on upcoming events, meditation sessions, and teachings.

✨ Subscribe for more episodes exploring Zen practice, philosophy, and mindful living! ✨

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Seizei’s plea to Master Sōzan, "I am solitary and poor. Help me become prosperous," opens a powerful teaching on the nature of time, the stories we tell ourselves, and how stepping beyond dualistic thinking transforms our experience.

Key topics explored in this talk:

• The role of contradiction in shaping ideas and concepts (self/other, up/down, rich/poor).
• How practice transforms time into something boundless and malleable.
• Recognizing the “Hakka wine” of life—savoring the richness of this moment.
• Why saying, "I don’t have time to practice," is no different from saying, "I don’t have time to live."

This episode invites you to let go of judgments, conjectures, and refutations and step fully into the gap where life becomes whole, complete, and free.

Join Us for Practice
Meditation sessions:

• Monday-Friday: 6:30 AM CST
• Saturday: 9:00 AM CST

Visit oneriverzen.org to learn more about One River Zen and the teachings we offer.

Connect & Support

• Subscribe to Awakening Streams for more Dharma talks and meditative reflections.
• Share this episode to bring these teachings to others.

#AwakeningStreams #ZenBuddhism #Mumonkan #Meditation

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Key topics discussed in this episode include:

• Dōgen’s teachings on mistakes: How even a “false step” is part of being-time (uji) and an opportunity for transformation.
• Joshu’s “Wash Your Bowls” koan: The profound simplicity of practice and finding awakening in everyday actions.
• The role of Sangha: How witnessing one another falter strengthens community and deepens practice.
• Facing suffering directly: How moving through, rather than avoiding, challenges reveals the compassionate Way.

This talk also includes reflections on the photos from Sensei’s trip to Paris, highlighting the care of Roshi Diane, the strength of Vanessa, and the resilience of the Sangha. Through this lens, Sensei shares how practice unfolds in all aspects of life, transforming even deep sorrow into joy, compassion, and wisdom.

Connect with One River Zen:

• Join our open meditation sessions:
  • Monday to Friday: 6:30-7:15 AM
  • Wednesday: 6:00-6:45 PM
  • Saturday: 9:00-10:00 AM
• Explore Zen teachings and practice resources at One River Zen.

If this talk resonates with you, share it with others, and let us know your thoughts in the comments. Together, we walk the path of awakening.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

With the holiday season as a backdrop, Sensei Michael explores how karmic grooves, old patterns, and unresolved dynamics can dominate our lives—and how to find the Master within to navigate these challenges with clarity and compassion.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Zuigan’s daily practice mirrors Jung’s transcendent function.
• The power of integrating our fragmented selves, from the wounded child to the estranged partner.
• Practical ways to engage with introspection, navigate karmic patterns, and awaken to the present moment.

Sensei Michael also shares personal stories and actionable tools for reconnecting with your true nature, reminding us that the wisdom we seek is always here, waiting for us to call on it.

🎧 Tune in now to explore the dialogue within and discover the path to wholeness.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan) – Case 12: Zuigan Calls Himself Master
• Carl Jung’s Red Book
• Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe to Awakening Streams for more Dharma talks and teachings. Share this episode with friends and loved ones who are walking their own path of self-discovery.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Key Points Discussed:

• The Gravity of Knowing: How our questions about existence often become tangled in conceptual clinging, keeping us trapped within the limits of reason.
• Heidegger’s Insight: An introduction to das Man (“the They” or “the One”), inauthentic being, and the Kehre(radical turning) toward authenticity.
• Sozan’s Journey: Sozan Kyōnin’s 1,000-mile trek to Isan, seeking clarity about the nature of words and meaning.
• The Koan’s Depth: Isan’s laughter, the prophecy of the one-eyed dragon, and Sozan’s eventual realization—“From the first, Isan’s laughter had a sword!”
• Practical Takeaways: What roles, judgments, or certainties are we clinging to? How can we release them and see through the one-eyed dragon of clarity?

Reflection Questions for Listeners:

1. What question brought you to this moment in your life, and how might it be shaped by conceptual clinging?
2. What happens when the "tree of knowing" falls? What remains?
3. How can you step beyond the pull of reason’s gravity and experience the Way directly?

Join Sensei Michael Brunner as he guides us through this profound koan and the teachings of Heidegger, inviting us all to laugh with Isan, awaken the one-eyed dragon within, and see the Way that is always right here.

Links & Resources:

• Learn more about Shoyoroku and other koans: https://oneriverzen.org
• Explore upcoming retreats and talks with Sensei Michael: https://oneriverzen.org
• Follow Awakening Streams for more episodes
  Share your reflections and thoughts in the comments or connect with us on social media!

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei dives deep into the heart of this story, exploring:

• The nature of ego and how it binds us to repetitive patterns.
• Why true freedom lies not in control but in letting go of judgments and expectations.
• How obedience in Zen is about aligning with reality rather than submitting to authority.
• Practical insights for recognizing and releasing resistance in your daily life.

This episode invites us to see beyond our rigid ideas of self and other, good and bad, and discover the boundless essence of who we truly are.

💡 “Freedom isn’t found in control—it’s found in letting go.”

Mentioned in this episode:

• Sanshekishu, Case 4: "Obedience"
• Daily meditation at One River Zen: Mon–Fri 6:30–7:15 AM, Sat 9:00–10:00 AM
• Awakening Streams podcast available on all major platforms

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei shares insights from Zen teachings, including Dōgen's concept of uji (being-time), reminding us that every moment—including those we might label as failures—is a complete and perfect expression of our path. Through stories, reflections, and practical advice, you'll learn how to:

• Reframe mistakes as integral parts of your journey.
• Let go of perfectionism and self-judgment.
• Cultivate curiosity and compassion toward yourself and others.

Tune in to discover how to transform stumbles into stepping stones and walk the path with open-heartedness and clarity.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• The role of mistakes in practice and daily life.
• Dōgen’s teaching on uji (being-time).
• Practical tips for reframing mistakes as opportunities for growth.

Connect with Us:

• Visit One River Zen for upcoming events and retreats.
• Share your reflections or feedback on this episode by emailing us at [outreach@oneriverzen.org].

Support the Podcast:
If you find these talks meaningful, consider supporting One River Zen with a donation or by sharing this episode with friends. Your support helps us continue offering these teachings freely to all.

Thank you for listening—and for embracing every step, and misstep, on your journey!

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Through the lens of "Muddy Road," we learn how to soften these boundaries, letting go of rigid ideas and allowing compassion to arise naturally. This practice becomes a way of moving beyond discursive thinking, helping us to actualize our Buddha nature in our daily lives.

Key points include:

• Recognizing and releasing attachment to guilt and shame
• Embracing the present moment without labels or preconceptions
• Allowing compassion to flow freely, unhindered by fixed judgments
• Practical guidance on embodying compassion in real-world situations

Tune in to deepen your understanding of how Zen practice teaches us to "put it down" and engage with life from a place of clarity and kindness.

For those interested in joining us for live meditation and Dharma talks, visit One River Zen for more information on schedules and events.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

This talk explores how labels and judgments shape our experience, often controlling us, and how letting go of these limitations can open us up to the vast possibilities of life. With anecdotes and teachings, Sensei reminds us that the practice is not about routine but about intentional presence and responding to the moment as it is, from the depth of our true nature.

Tune in to learn more about how we can live with greater clarity and embrace the simplicity of each moment as the gateway to awakening.

Join our meditation practice: Monday - Friday: 6:30 AM - 7:15 AM
Wednesday: 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Visit One River Zen for more details and to join us in person or online.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Through the virtues of honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness, we can see clearly, move beyond our old patterns, and allow the vast and boundless self to emerge. This talk reminds us that awakening isn't just for our own peace, but it has far-reaching implications for everyone we meet and everything we touch. Each of us has the potential to bring healing to the world, but first, we must realize that it is up to us to step forward and lead the way.

Join us for this episode, where Sensei challenges us to let go of preconceived notions and walk the path of transformation. The world needs your awakened self now more than ever.

Meditation Schedule:

• Monday to Friday: 6:30-7:15 AM
• Wednesday Evening: 6:00-6:45 PM
• Saturday Morning: 9:00-10:00 AM

All are welcome to join us for meditation. For more details and links to the live sessions, visit One River Zen.

#Zen #DharmaTalk #Awakening #Gudo #Compassion #Recovery #Koan #Mindfulness #Buddhism #ZenRetreat #AwakenTheMaster #SanshekiShu #Meditation #12steps

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Rather than getting caught up in the endless cycle of judgment and labeling, Sensei encourages us to let go of our grasping and dwell in the seamless reality of the present moment. When we stop splitting our awareness, we begin to see that enlightenment and delusion arise from the same root. By dropping our notions of attainment and separation, we can fully embrace our lives as they are, walking into both joy and suffering with compassion and clarity.

Key Takeaways:

• The mind’s tendency to categorize is what creates the illusion of separation.
• True insight requires us to drop our conceptual thinking and experience life directly.
• Enlightenment and delusion are two sides of the same coin, rooted in the same essence.
• Practicing presence and compassion requires letting go of the desire to label experiences as "good" or "bad."

Join Sensei Michael Brunner in this exploration of Nansen’s teaching, and discover how to walk freely in the undivided reality of your own life.

For more teachings and to join us in meditation, visit One River Zen online or stop by for our scheduled sits.

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei shares the deeper meaning behind Mahakashyapa’s instruction to “knock down the flagpole,” explaining that enlightenment isn't something to be achieved or worn like a garment—it’s about stepping into the gap between knowing and unknowing, and allowing ourselves to be fully present, free from the narratives we cling to.

Join Sensei as he reflects on the challenges of facing the unknown, the beauty of practicing from a place of curiosity and openness, and how we can bring the lessons of sesshin into our daily lives.

Key points:

• The story of Ananda, Mahakashyapa, and the Buddha’s robe
• The gap between call and response as pure awareness
• Letting go of ego and fixed ideas to truly live in the present moment
• Understanding positive samadhi and the practice of showing up for life
• Knocking down our internal flagpoles to embrace the reality of our existence

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner reflects on the kōan from the Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record), Case 36: Chōsha Wandering in the Mountains. Through this powerful teaching, Sensei explains the difference between positive samadhi—the experience of fully living in the present—and absolute samadhi, which signifies the dissolution of the self in death.

Sensei discusses how Zen practice is about embracing life as it unfolds, without getting caught up in expectations or intellectual judgments. He encourages us to stop living in the storylines we’ve created and to show up for the present moment, using the energy and compassion available to us right now.

Key Topics Covered:

• The distinction between positive and absolute samadhi
• Chōsha's journey in the mountains: how to live without attachment to outcome
• The fleeting nature of life and the importance of engaging fully in each moment
• The significance of the scroll in the zendo: “The autumn leaves dance on the wind”
• Zen practice as a way to confront suffering with compassion, in both life and death

Quotes from the Episode:

• "If you're going to practice, you have to practice now. The autumn wind is blowing, friends. Don’t squander your life."
• "Positive samadhi is engaging with life, while absolute samadhi is the end of life as we know it. We must live fully before that final moment."

Listen to this episode for:

• Insights on how to integrate Zen practice into everyday life
• Reflections on the kōan and how it applies to your personal journey
• Encouragement to let go of self-judgment and embrace positive samadhi

Connect with One River Zen:

• Join us for live meditation: Monday-Friday 6:30-7:15 AM, Wednesday 6:00-6:45 PM, and Saturday 9:00-10:00 AM CST
• Visit our website for more teachings and events: OneRiverZen.org
• Follow us on social media for updates and daily reflections!

Hashtags:
#ZenPractice #PositiveSamadhi #Hekiganroku #Chosha #ZenMeditation #SotoZen #BuddhistWisdom #OneRiverZen #Mindfulness #PresentMoment

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

In today’s episode, Sensei Michael Brunner offers a powerful teisho based on Shoyoroku Case 14, "Attendant Kaku Serves Tea." Through this ancient Zen encounter, Sensei explores the core teaching of letting go of our habitual stories, judgments, and expectations to embrace the clarity of the present moment.

Key insights include:

• The practice of bearing witness to our lives without the filters of the small self
• The dynamic exchange between teacher and student as a mirror for wisdom
• How compassion naturally arises from emptiness and present-moment awareness
• Practical reflections on how we can drop preconceived notions in our daily lives and respond to suffering with compassion

This episode encourages listeners to let go of their clinging to stories and to embody compassion in the simplicity of each moment. Whether you're new to Zen practice or have years of experience, this talk will offer fresh perspectives on living with greater awareness.

Resources:

• Explore Shoyoroku Case 14: "Attendant Kaku Serves Tea"
• More talks and resources from One River Zen: oneriverzen.org

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

The episode also weaves in the teachings of Carl Jung from his Red Book, emphasizing the importance of letting go of fixed ideas and embracing the natural growth of our true selves. Just as Jung encourages growth without knowing the law of it, Sensei Michael reminds us that our practice is about meeting life as it is—not as we think it should be.

Join us as we explore how to shift beyond intellectual understanding and step into the boundless nature of being. Remember, once you’ve seen your true nature, you can’t unsee it—but continued practice is essential, as the weeds of delusion can quickly grow back.

Key Points:

• The seductive power of personal stories and how to step beyond them
• Reflections on Shōyōroku Case 32 and Kyōzan's guidance on observing thought
• Insights from Carl Jung’s Red Book on natural growth and letting go of the small self
• The importance of continued practice to prevent delusions from creeping back in

Takeaway: Let go of who you think you should be, and find your life where it is, right here and now. But don’t stop practicing—true insight requires ongoing effort.

Tune in and reflect with us at oneriverzen.org!

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Attention! A monk asked Master Seirin, “How about when a student proceeds on the trail?” Seirin replied, “The dead snake hits the great road. I advise you not to bump into it.” The monk said, “When it’s bumped into, then what?” Seirin answered, “You lose your life!” The monk continued, “When it’s not bumped into, then what?” And Seirin said, “There’s no place to dodge to.” The monk said, “At that very moment, then what?” Seirin replied, “It has been lost.” The monk then said, “I wonder where it’s gone.” And Seirin responded, “The grass is so deep there’s no place to seek.” The monk replied, “Shield yourself, Osho! Then you’ll be all right!” Finally Seirin clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Your poison is equal to mine!”

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Case:

Master Sekiso said, “How will you step forward from the top of a hundred-foot pole?”

Another eminent master of old said, “Even though one who is sitting on the top of a

hundred-foot pole has entered realization, it is not yet real. He must step forward from the

top of the pole and manifest his whole body throughout the world in ten directions.”

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast
Teachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350.

🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org
🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast
🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate

#SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen