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PODCAST

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast

Sensei Michael Brunner, One River Zen

Awakening Streams features Dharma talks and Zen reflections from Sensei Michael Brunner of One River Zen Center in Ottawa, Illinois. Each episode explores the living practice of Zen Buddhism through classic Zen koans, teachings from the Shōyōroku and Mumonkan, and direct encounters with everyday life. Discover how awakening flows through every obstacle, every act of compassion, and every moment of wonder. 🌐 Learn more: https://www.oneriverzen.org

religion & spirituality buddhism

All Episodes

00:14:07

Right and Wrong — The Zen Koan of Mayoku Thumping His...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2026/03/12

Right and Wrong — The Zen Koan of Mayoku Thumping His StaffBook 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 “right.” The other responds “wrong.” The question is not which master is correct — but what this reveals

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00:14:07

Book of Equanimity Case 21 — Ungan Sweeps the Ground

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2026/02/17

Ungan Sweeps the Ground — The Second Moon and the Problem of EffortBook of Equanimity (Shoyoroku), Case 21With Sensei Sōen Michael BrunnerRecorded at One River Zen (Ottawa, Illinois)The CaseAttention! 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

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00:10:06

Daitsu Chishō — Mumonkan Case 9

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2026/02/11

Daitsu Chishō — Mumonkan Case 9In 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

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00:14:44

Keichū Makes Carts — Mumonkan Case 8

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2026/02/10

Keichū Makes Carts — Mumonkan Case 8In 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,

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00:21:31

The 200-Millisecond Gap: Free Will, Karma, and Zen

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2026/01/11

The 200-Millisecond Gap: Free Will, Karma, and Zenwith 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 Zen kōan Chinyu and the Rice Pail–碧巌録 HEKIGANROKU (BLUE CLIFF RECORD) Case 74, this teaching reveals how

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00:13:46

You Don’t Become Free — You Stop Pretending | A Zen...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/12/16

Episode NotesPrimary Text: Emperor Dōkō’s Cap — Shōyōroku, Case 97Core Theme: Awakening is not achieved through improvement or performance, but revealed when self-seriousness drops away.Key Teaching PointsZen 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

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00:22:17

The Garuda Trap: How to Master Karmic Momentum and...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/11/20

🎧 Episode Notes: The Garuda TrapTitle: The Garuda Trap: How to Master Karmic Momentum and Sustain PresenceSpeaker: 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

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00:18:14

The Stream of Unhindered Life: Compassion, Koans, and...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/11/15

🎧 Awakening Streams Episode NotesTitle: ZEN KOAN: The 2 Secrets of True Compassion | Sensei Michael BrunnerTeacher: 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 BodyThis 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

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00:14:52

Shōyōroku Case 19 | Ummon’s Mount Sumeru — A Zen Koan...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/11/09

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 something to climb over or escape?Sensei Michael unpacks this question through the lens of the Three

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00:12:21

Zen Kōan on Ego and Original Nature — Mountains,...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/11/02

Zen Kōan on Ego and Original Nature — Mountains, Rivers, and the True Willwith 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 explore how ego, will, and awakening unfold in daily life.Through the unlikely pairing of Aleister Crowley’s

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00:16:34

Hōgen's Hair's-Breadth: Shōyōroku Case 17

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/10/22

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 from what is happening and make an observer, heaven and earth fly apart.The exchange between Hōgen and

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00:20:11

Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage | Part Four

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/10/09

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 completion of the circle — the end of seeking, the recognition that practice and enlightenment are not

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00:17:32

Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage | Part Three

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/10/08

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 compassion.Through verses such as “Firmly based on steadiness, it can’t be surpassed” and “Just sitting with head

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00:19:31

Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage | Part Two

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/10/08

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, dissolves into vastness.Through Sekitō’s verses, Sensei explores how realization naturally unfolds — how

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00:18:20

Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage | Part One

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/10/08

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 and why his teaching endures– The meaning of the “grass hut” as the dwelling of awareness– How simplicity

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00:19:24

Hyakujo's Fox | Mumonkan Case 2

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/10/06

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, or escape—and how true freedom is found by meeting life exactly as it is.This talk invites listeners to

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00:14:58

Where'd You Get this Dust?

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/08/04

🔔 OverviewIn 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

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00:10:18

Let the Dust Settle | Shōyōroku Case 33

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/07/19

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 with the declaration that he has passed through all the nets—the traps of Dharma, koans, concepts. But Seppō

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00:18:36

The Radiant Thread of Being | Shōyōroku Case 67

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/07/15

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 knowingThe vision of radical interdependence found in Indra’s NetKarmic momentum and how it conditions our

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00:12:33

The Taste of the Ordinary: Beyond Buddhas and...

Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast ·

2025/06/26

Title: The Taste of the Ordinary: Beyond Buddhas and AncestorsTeacher: Sensei Michael BrunnerKoan 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 the Buddhas and goes beyond the ancestors?” Umon answers with stunning simplicity: “Farm rice cake.”What

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