Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast

Episode Notes: David Hume’s Zen 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 intersect...

Right and Wrong — The Zen Koan of Mayoku Thumping His Staff Book of Equanimity (Shōyōroku), Case 16 With Sensei Michael Brunner — One River Zen 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 “ri...

Ungan Sweeps the Ground — The Second Moon and the Problem of Effort Book of Equanimity (Shoyoroku), Case 21 With Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner Recorded at One River Zen (Ottawa, Illinois) 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 br...

Daitsu Chishō — Mumonkan Case 9 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. T...

Keichū Makes Carts — Mumonkan Case 8 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 com...

The 200-Millisecond Gap: Free Will, Karma, and Zen with Sensei Michael Brunner (One River Zen) 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...

Episode Notes 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...

🎧 Episode Notes: The Garuda Trap 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...

🎧 Awakening Streams Episode Notes 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 Z...

In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner of One River Zen Center in Ottawa, Illinois explores Shōyōroku Case 19 — Ummon’s Mount Sumeru , a profound Zen koan on how we meet the obstacles of the mind. 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 s...

Zen Kōan on Ego and Original Nature — Mountains, Rivers, and the True Will with Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner, Abbot of One River Zen (Ottawa, Illinois) 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 explor...

In this talk Sensei Michael Brunner turns to Case 17 of the Shōyōroku — Hōren’s Hair’s-Breadth. The koan pivots on a single line from the Shin Jin Mei : “If there’s even a hair’s-breadth of difference, heaven and earth are clearly separated.” Rather than analyzing the line, Sensei shows how this “hair” is born in the instant we prefer, resist, explain, or try to understand. The moment we step back...

In the final talk of this four-part series, Sensei Michael Brunner concludes his exploration of Sekitō Kisen’s Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage — the poem that traces the building, opening, and dissolving of the hermit’s mind of practice. 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 comp...

In the third talk of this four-part series, Sensei Michael Brunner turns to the stillness at the heart of Sekitō Kisen’s Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage . 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 compassi...

In the second talk of this four-part series, Sensei Michael Brunner continues his exploration of Sekitō Kisen’s Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage , turning to the widening vision of the awakened hermit. 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, dissolv...

In the opening talk of this four-part series, Sensei Michael Brunner introduces Sekitō Kisen’s Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage — a timeless Zen poem about dwelling freely in the world just as it is. 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 an...

In this opening talk for the Ango Practice Period, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner explores Hyakujo’s Fox (Mumonkan Case 2), one of Zen’s most mysterious and instructive koans. 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,...

🔔 Overview 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...

In this episode of Awakening Streams , Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner reflects on the often unnoticed energy behind our words and the subtle traps we fall into when speaking from pride, performance, or certainty. Through the lens of Case 33 from the Book of Serenity , we’re invited to confront the question: What happens when the desire to be seen replaces the desire to connect? Sanshō comes to Seppō...

In this teisho from sesshin, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner explores Case 67 of the Book of Equanimity : The Avatamsaka Sutra’s Wisdom . Shakyamuni Buddha proclaims that all sentient beings are already endowed with the Tathagata’s wisdom and virtue—but due to deluded thoughts and attachments, they fail to realize it. Topics covered in this talk include: The liberating power of wonder over mere knowin...

Title: The Taste of the Ordinary: Beyond Buddhas and Ancestors Teacher: Sensei Michael Brunner Koan Source: Case 78 of the Shōyōroku (Book of Equanimity) – “Umon’s Farm Rice Cake” 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 th...

🎧 Ryūge Passes the Chin Rest: When Even "No Meaning" Becomes a Trap Series: Dharma Talks from One River Zen Speaker: Sensei Michael Brunner Koan Source: Book of Equanimity , Case 80 🪷 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 Brunner works with Case 41 from the Blue Cliff Record , where Joshu asks: “When one who has experienced the great death comes back to life, then what?” The reply—“It is not permitted to go at night”—opens the gate to a teaching on vulnerability, presence, and the courage to meet life without pretense. This episode explores: The “great death” as the dropping away of the...

🧘 Episode Notes – Right Here. Now What? 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...

In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner explores Shōyōroku Case 72 – Chuyu’s Monkey , a Zen kōan that reveals how our grasping mind—like a restless monkey—constantly reacts, interprets, and shapes our experience. But what happens when the monkey is asleep? Who are we beyond the endless mental commentary? Through humor, direct insight, and Zen practice, we examine: The six windows and the monkey—wh...