Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast

On the final morning of retreat at One River Zen, Sensei Michael Brunner takes up Case 40 of the Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku), “Nansen’s ‘This Flower.’”

In the case, Riku Taifu quotes Jō Hōshi:

“Heaven and earth and I are of the same root. All things and I are of one substance.”

Nansen responds not with another teaching or explanation, but by pointing to a flower in the garden and saying:

“People these days see this flower as though they were in a dream.”

The case raises a central question of Zen practice: What is the difference between understanding something and actually seeing it?

Sensei Michael explores how conceptual understanding can become rigid, even when the concepts themselves are profound. Buddhist teachings, koans, precepts, philosophies, and spiritual ideas can all become another layer between us and direct experience when we begin treating them as fixed explanations of reality.

Nansen’s flower points in the opposite direction: toward intimacy with what is actually present.

The talk also examines the pointer to Blue Cliff Record Case 40:

“When the action of the mind is stopped and swept away, the iron tree will bloom.”

From this, Sensei Michael discusses samadhi and the settling of conceptual consciousness, not as an escape from thought, but as a way of placing thought back in its proper relationship to lived experience. When cognition is no longer constantly interpreting everything for us, even a single blade of grass can be encountered directly.

The teaching then turns to prajna, wisdom, and the importance of meeting life before our habitual knowing takes over. Rather than forcing experience to conform to an ideology, belief system, or preconceived story, Zen practice asks us to show up for what is actually happening.

As retreat comes to an end, Sensei Michael offers a final image: our ordinary cares, concerns, stories, and identities are like backpacks waiting for us on the porch. We do not have to mindlessly strap every one of them back on. We can examine what we are carrying, leave behind what no longer serves, and walk back into our lives with open hands.

In this episode:

• Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku), Case 40: “Nansen’s ‘This Flower’”
• Riku Taifu, Nansen, and Jō Hōshi
• The limits of conceptual understanding
• Beginner’s mind and direct experience
• Koan practice and the Zen precepts
• Samadhi and the “iron tree” coming into bloom
• Prajna and wisdom before knowing
• The danger of turning spiritual teachings into ideology
• Returning from retreat with open hands
• Bringing Zen practice into everyday life

Awakening Streams is the podcast of One River Zen, offering Zen Buddhist teachings, dharma talks, koan commentary, meditation practice, and reflections on awakening in everyday life.

Learn more, practice with us, or support One River Zen 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

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In this episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Michael Brunner takes up Blue Cliff Record Case 36, “Chōsha Roams the Mountains.”

When Chōsha returns from roaming in the mountains, the congregation leader asks where he has been. Chōsha replies:

“First, I followed the fragrant grasses on the way out. Then I came back, pursuing the falling flowers.”

The congregation leader responds, “Very much like the sense of spring.”

Chōsha answers, “It even surpasses the autumn dew dripping on the lotuses.”

Sensei Michael explores this exchange as a teaching on forgetting the self and returning directly to life as it is. Chōsha follows the fragrant grasses and later returns with the falling flowers, not as someone standing outside experience and interpreting it, but as someone fully immersed in what is present.

The talk contrasts this direct intimacy with the congregation leader’s more conceptual response. To describe Chōsha’s experience as merely “like the sense of spring” is, as Sensei puts it, like trying to bottle the ocean or referring to a worn picture postcard rather than actually making the journey.

The point is not to admire awakening from a distance.

It is to penetrate life directly.

This talk reflects on dropping away, presence, awakening, direct experience, and the ways our ideas about how life should be can separate us from the life that is actually unfolding.

Sensei Michael returns again and again to the simplicity of the case: the fragrant grasses, the falling flowers, the wind, the warmth of the sun. These are not symbols pointing somewhere else. They are invitations to wake up here.

As the talk concludes, Chōsha’s roaming becomes a way of understanding practice itself. We may think we need to travel far in search of awakening, but with every step we are already home.

In this episode:

• Blue Cliff Record Case 36, “Chōsha Roams the Mountains”
• Chōsha and the congregation leader
• Fragrant grasses and falling flowers
• Forgetting the self
• Direct experience and awakening
• Dropping away
• The limits of conceptual understanding
• Returning to the life that is already here
• “Take heed. Do not squander your life.”
• Coming home with every step

Awakening Streams is the podcast of One River Zen, featuring Zen Buddhist teachings, dharma talks, koan commentary, meditation practice, and reflections on bringing practice into everyday life.

Learn more, practice with us, or support One River Zen 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

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In this episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Michael Brunner takes up Case 36 of the Book of Equanimity and Case 3 of the Blue Cliff Record, “Master Ma Is Unwell.”

The case is brief:

Great Master Ma is ill. A temple priest asks, “Oshō, how is your health these days?”

Master Ma replies:

“Sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha.”

From this short exchange, Sensei Michael explores what it means to meet life directly, without retreating into abstraction, story, or expectation.

The talk first places Master Ma, or Mazu Daoyi, in context as a legendary Zen teacher known for vigorous training methods, extraordinary presence, and deep ardor for the Dharma. But in this case, that larger-than-life figure is seriously ill and facing decline. His response, “Sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha,” draws on traditional names of Buddhas associated with radically different spans of life.

One lives for an immense period of time.

The other for only a day and a night.

The teaching is not about choosing one over the other.

It is about being awake to both.

Sensei Michael connects Master Ma’s response to the practice of equanimity, not as emotional distance or indifference, but as the ability to remain present with the full range of experience. Health and illness, strength and weakness, pleasure and pain, gain and loss all belong to the awakened way when they are met directly.

The talk then turns toward the question:

Who am I?

Practice brings us face-to-face not only with our ideals, but with the full complexity of ourselves: the monkey mind, the grasping mind, the saintly self, the difficult self, the part of us that gets things wrong.

Rather than rejecting those parts, Sensei Michael emphasizes learning to meet ourselves honestly and compassionately. Mistakes are not a reason to abandon practice. They are part of practice.

The teaching then moves into not knowing, self-trust, and the intimacy that appears when we loosen our fixed ideas about who we are. Drawing on Aitken Roshi and Taizan Maezumi, Sensei Michael reflects on the importance of trusting the very life through which realization occurs.

The second major question is:

“Is that so?”

To explore it, Sensei Michael recounts the well-known story of Zen Master Hakuin, who is falsely accused of fathering a child. Rather than defend his reputation or cling to his innocence, Hakuin simply responds, “Is that so?” He accepts responsibility for caring for the child, and when the truth is later revealed and the child is taken back, he again responds, “Is that so?”

The story becomes an example of what can remain when narrative, defensiveness, and self-protection fall away:

Compassion.

Compassion for the mother.

Compassion for the parents.

Compassion for the child.

Compassion for Hakuin himself.

The talk closes by returning to Master Ma.

Sun-faced Buddha. Moon-faced Buddha.

Both rise together.

Both belong to the awakened way.

The invitation is not to secure a life free from difficulty, but to remain open to the life that is actually here.

In this episode:

• Book of Equanimity Case 36
• Blue Cliff Record Case 3
• “Master Ma Is Unwell”
• Mazu Daoyi / Master Ma
• Sun-faced Buddha and moon-faced Buddha
• Equanimity and direct experience
• Practice beyond conceptual understanding
• “Who am I?”
• Making friends with yourself
• Mistakes and compassionate responsibility
• Not knowing
• Aitken Roshi and Taizan Maezumi
• Hakuin’s “Is that so?”
• Letting go of narrative
• Compassion as lived practice
• Training wholeheartedly
• “How are you spending this life?”

Awakening Streams is the podcast of One River Zen, featuring Zen Buddhist teachings, Dharma talks, koan commentary, meditation practice, and reflections on bringing practice into everyday life.

Learn more, practice with us, or support One River Zen 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

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In this episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Michael Brunner takes up Case 63 of the Book of Serenity (Shōyōroku), “Jōshū Asks About Death.”

Jōshū asks Tōsu:

“When one who has experienced the great death returns to life, then what?”

Tōsu replies:

“It’s not permitted to go at night. One must get there in the daylight.”

The koan raises a central question of Zen practice: What happens after the self we thought we were begins to fall away?

Sensei Michael reflects on the “great death” as the dropping off of body and mind, the loosening of the concepts, identities, and narratives we use to define ourselves. But the talk also warns against turning that experience into another place to hide.

Drawing on his own early years of practice, Sensei Michael describes a period when professional success, money, status, and accomplishment had failed to resolve a deeper dissatisfaction. Entering Zen practice initially seemed like a way to find one final missing piece, perhaps enlightenment itself.

Instead, practice demanded something far more difficult: looking directly at the self.

What appeared was not a polished spiritual identity, but fear, insecurity, grasping, and layers of stories built to create a sense of solidity.

Seeing through those stories brought a taste of freedom.

But that freedom created another danger.

Sensei Michael describes withdrawing from work, money, relationships, and family life under the belief that if the self was merely a story, then none of those things really mattered. He identifies this as Zen sickness, or what is sometimes called spiritual bypassing.

The teaching then returns to the heart of the koan.

The point is not simply to die to the self.

It is to come back to life.

We cannot hide in ideas of emptiness, oneness, non-self, or transcendence. Practice asks us to return to the actual conditions of our lives, including the consequences of our actions, our relationships, our responsibilities, and the karmic patterns that remain.

From there, practice becomes a question of skillful activity.

How do we use this life?

How do we transform suffering into compassion?

How do we become what the circumstances require?

Sensei Michael encourages practitioners to become playful, creative, and fully engaged with life, even with the parts that seem ordinary, frustrating, or tedious. The undone chores, arguments, habits, and moments of self-importance all become opportunities for practice.

The talk also cautions against simply replacing one ideology with another. We can become trapped in the discursive mind, but we can become equally trapped in ideas about embodiment or following whatever feels right.

Instead:

Be what is needed.
Rise to the circumstances.
Be right here.
Do it now.

The episode concludes with a call to move beyond goal-seeking while becoming deeply clear about our intentions.

Zen practice is not an escape from suffering.

It begins by accepting suffering where we find it and turning directly toward it.

In this episode:

• Book of Serenity (Shōyōroku), Case 63
• “Jōshū Asks About Death”
• The great death and returning to life
• Dropping off body and mind
• Seeing through the constructed self
• Personal identity and spiritual practice
• Zen sickness and spiritual bypassing
• Returning to ordinary life
• Karma and responsibility
• Transforming suffering into compassion
• The limits of both discursive and somatic identification
• Intention versus goal-seeking
• Skillful action
• “This is no dress rehearsal”
• Turning directly toward suffering

Awakening Streams is the podcast of One River Zen, featuring Zen Buddhist teachings, Dharma talks, koan commentary, meditation practice, and reflections on bringing Zen practice into everyday life.

Learn more, practice with us, or support One River Zen 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 episode of Awakening Streams, Sensei Michael Brunner reflects on the five regrets of the dying and the five great fears that shape so much of human behavior.

The talk begins with the work of Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who spent years caring for people during the final weeks of their lives. From those conversations came five recurring regrets:

• “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not what other people expected of me.”
• “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
• “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
• “I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends.”
• “I wish I had let myself be happier.”

Sensei Michael uses these regrets as a mirror for practice. They reveal the consequences of living from habit, fear, and the expectations attached to the small self.

The talk then connects these regrets to five great fears:

• Death
• Illness
• Loss of face or esteem
• Loss of livelihood
• Public speaking, or more broadly, the fear of being heard

Each fear points to something we cling to as part of the story of who we are.

The fear of death exposes our attachment to the idea that the story of “me” must continue.

The fear of illness reveals how tightly we identify with the body.

The fear of losing face or esteem shows how much energy we spend defending a social identity.

The fear of losing livelihood exposes how deeply self-worth can become bound up with status, money, and security.

And the fear of public speaking can reveal an even deeper anxiety: that if we speak honestly, the story we have constructed about ourselves might begin to fall apart.

Sensei Michael emphasizes that these fears are not separate from practice.

They are practice.

What we repeatedly fear, avoid, defend, and rehearse becomes a form of training in itself. If those habits are practiced more consistently than meditation, courage, and self-inquiry, then regret becomes predictable.

The teaching repeatedly returns to the urgency of time.

Do not squander your life.

Practice means facing what is in front of us now rather than putting it off. If something keeps arising and we want to avoid it, that very avoidance may be pointing toward the place where practice is needed most.

The talk also reflects on failure, mistakes, and community. Sensei Michael reminds the Sangha that everyone will act unskillfully at times. Practice is not about creating an image of perfection, but about learning to see human frailty clearly, restore one another when we fall short, and resist the impulse to cast others aside.

The same applies to livelihood, relationships, friendship, and courage. None of what we accumulate is permanent. What continues is the effect of how we use this life.

The episode closes with a direct challenge:

Get up. Practice. Take on new responsibilities. Stretch your boundaries. Encourage other people.

If we spend more time feeding distraction than cultivating practice, compassion, and intention, the direction of our lives becomes increasingly clear.

The invitation is not to live in fear of regret.

It is to use regret as instruction.

To live more genuinely.

To face what we fear.

To stop making excuses.

And to use the time we have to live a life that matters.

In this episode:

• Bronnie Ware and the five regrets of the dying
• Living authentically
• Work, vocation, and misplaced values
• Expressing feelings
• Friendship and connection
• Choosing happiness
• The five great fears
• Fear of death and illness
• Fear of losing face or esteem
• Fear of losing livelihood
• Fear of being heard
• The small self and karmic habit
• Courage as practice
• Mistakes, restoration, and Sangha
• “Do not squander your life”
• Living with intention rather than regret

Awakening Streams is the podcast of One River Zen, featuring Zen Buddhist teachings, Dharma talks, meditation practice, and reflections on bringing the Way into everyday life.

Learn more, practice with us, or support One River Zen 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

Sensei Michael Brunner engages in a discussion with his formal students during the 2023 Ango Practice Period about Case #38 in the Mumonkan, or Gateless Gate: The Buffalo Passes Through a Window. 🪷 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 speaks during the 2023 Rohatsu Sesshin on case 31 of the Gateless Gate, Joshu Sees Through an Old Woman. Ultimately, we need to see past all of our ideas, judgements, and labels to really open to and appreciate our lives. 🪷 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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#ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei Michael speaks to students during day two of the 2023 Rohatsu Sesshin about Blue Cliff Record case forty-three: "No Cold or Heat". The importance of moving beyond our judgements and preferences and truly opening to our lived experience is discussed in this case of the Hekiganroku. 🪷 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 Shikan Brunner speaks during the 2023 Ango Sesshin to his students about case twenty-nine of the Gateless Gate: "Not the Wind, Not the Flag". The case inspires us to look beyond our ideas of how things are or should be and truly appreciate all that is present right here and now. 🪷 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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#ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei Michael Shikan Brunner Discusses case number thirty-seven from the Shaseki-shu - "Publishing the Sutras." Sensei teaches on the importance of living your life true to your intentions rather than some distant or lofty goals. 🪷 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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#ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

Sensei Michael discusses our inalienable intimacy with our lived experience through case fifty-seven of the Blue Cliff Record: "Joshu's Nondiscrimination." 🪷 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 gives a Dharma Talk about cutting through the rough turbulence of the mind to find our True Self in this very moment. Case eighty of the Blue Cliff Record is discussed: Joshu's Newborn Baby 🪷 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 gives a Dharma Talk about letting go of our judgements about self and others as a prerequisite to awakening. Case six of the Record of Stone and Sand is discussed: No Loving-kindness 🪷 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 once asked Baso, “Your reverence, abandoning the four propositions and wiping out the hundred negations, please point out to me directly the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West.” Baso said, “I don’t feel like explaining to you today. Go ask Chizo.” The monk then went to ask Chizo, and Chizo said, “Why don’t you ask the master?” The monk said, “The master told me to ask you.” Rubbing his head with his hand, Chizo said, “I’ve got a headache today. Go and ask Brother Kai.” The monk asked Kai, and Kai said, “Ever since I have been here, I don’t know.” The monk returned and told Baso what had happened, and Baso said, “Chizo’s head is white, Kai’s head is black.”

🪷 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 Shikan Brunner Discusses case number ninety-one from the Shaseki-shu - "The Taste of Banzo's Sword." Sensei teaches that when we devote ourselves fully to being open, we find the unexpected always bringing us joy and richness.
🪷 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 discusses the nineteenth case of The Gateless Gate: Ordinary Mind is the Way. He stresses the importance of not looking at a spiritual path as something extra - instead finding it in every moment of our lived experience. 🪷 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 46: Stepping Forward From the Top of a Pole

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

Case #59 of the Shoyoroku – Seirin’s Deadly Snake:

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

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In this episode, Sensei Michael shares reflections from the closing of a September 2024 sesshin at One River Zen. As the retreat draws to a close, he explores the powerful insights that arise when we step out of the stories we've created about ourselves and engage with the present moment. Drawing from Shōyōroku Case 32, "Kyōzan’s State of Mind," Sensei Michael invites us to observe our thoughts and experience life directly, without being swept away by mental constructs.

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 https://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

"Embracing the Present: Letting Go of Stories and Finding Compassion"

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: https://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