A beautiful afternoon with our Artist-in-Residence, Ali Braboy — offering poetry that brings our sangha together in wonder and connection. We’re so grateful for the art that grows here. 🌱🖋️ #OneRiverZen #ArtistInResidence #PoetryReading #LivingDharma #CreativePractice #BuddhistCommunity #OttawaIL #ArtAndSpirit #SanghaLife #AwakenTogether #PoetryLover #MindfulArts

A profound bow of congratulations to Rev. Seth Myers on completing his role as Shusō and meeting the sangha in Dharma combat. May this next step in his training continue to benefit all beings. 🙏✨ #OneRiverZen #ShusoHossen #ZenCeremony #DharmaCombat #SotoZen #ZenPriest #ZenTraining #BuddhistCommunity #OttawaIL #GreatVow #PracticeTogether #BodhisattvaPath #MayAllBeingsBeFree #zenlife #sotozen #pickusottawail

Wonderful time practicing together as Ango 2025 comes to a close here at ORZ! #sotozen #pickusottawail #zenlife #meditation #mindfulness

Big news for ORZ! 🌟 We’re planning an expansion into a new space in downtown Ottawa — the former Ottawa Times building on Jefferson Street! This move will allow us to: 🧩 Launch David’s Clubhouse — a neurodiversity-affirming outreach supporting autistic children and their families, with a play & learning space open for all children 🍎 Expand Karuna Food Pantry to support local households 🙏 Create more room for connection, belonging, and the Dharma in everyday life We’re so grateful for this community and excited to grow with you ❤️ ➡️ Learn more at the link in our bio ➡️ Follow our progress as the center develops! #OttawaIL #OneRiverZen #CommunityCenter #IllinoisValley #OttawaCommunity #DavidsClubhouse #KarunaPantry #NeurodiversityAffirming #AutismAcceptance #CommunitySupport #Meditation #BelongingForAll

Saturday Morning Zen @ ORZ Join us this weekend: 8:00 AM — Buddhist Service 9:00 AM — Meditation 9:45 AM — Dharma Talk Join us in person at One River Zen in Ottawa, IL or online from anywhere. Newcomers and experienced practitioners are always welcome. Link in bio to learn more and join practice. #Zen #OneRiverZen #Meditation #OttawaIL #SaturdayZen #Zazen #DharmaTalk #BuddhistService #ZenPractice #Mindfulness #SotoZen #ZenLife #CompassionInAction #SpiritualPractice #BeginnerFriendly #zenlife #BeginnerFriendly #pickusottawail

“Your true nature begins where identities end.” We do such a good job sometimes presenting ourselves as coherent and put together that we actually fall for ourselves. We walk around calling ourselves by our names, using our titles, and at some point, we start thinking these things are substantial. But when we take a deep step back and look within, we notice that we wear many different identities. We have many faces and jars we pull off the shelf for different reasons. There’s the self we know as our self, the self we show at home, the self we show our employer or our teacher. All of these are different. When we come to sit, it’s important that we allow that cosmic parade of identities to continue to walk by — to be present — and that we take a clear look at each one we wear. Let them all sit on the cushion as well. When we sit in this way — gathering all of those identities — we begin to recognize what it takes to become meta-aware of each of them rather than being seduced by or collapsing into them. Because we have a karmic-proclivity to fall into those identities at different times. And when we do, we become unavailable to our true nature — unavailable to manifest compassion in the world. So when you sit on the cushion, make sure you bring your inner skeptic. Make sure you bring your inner critic. Bring all of the ones who are there. Allow them to come together and be seen. And as you do this clearly, begin to notice that the one who is aware of all of them is so much larger — and from there you can begin to assume your true identity. #Zen #DailyZen #Meditation #OneRiverZen #ZenPractice #TrueNature #Awakening #SpiritualPractice #Mindfulness #NonSelf #Zazen #Dharma #BuddhistWisdom #Identity #LetGo #Awareness #CompassionInAction #OttawaIL #SenseiMichaelBrunner #sotozen #pickusottawail #zenlife

Joy in the Leaves Samu practice during Sesshin reminds us that awakening isn’t limited to the cushion. Here, raking leaves becomes wholehearted practice—each stroke of the rake an expression of clarity, each shared smile a moment of effortless belonging. Working side by side, we remember that simple tasks done with a clear mind can open the same gate as silent sitting. Joy arises naturally when nothing is held back. #OneRiverZen #SamuPractice #Sesshin #ZenLife #WorkPractice #AwakeningInAction #SanghaLife #RakingLeaves #OttawaIL #EverydayZen #sotozen #pickusottawail #zenlife

Firelight Practice Evening settles over the Illinois River, and we gather—bundled in blankets, warmed by the fire, and held by the quiet rhythm of practice. Nothing to force, nothing to fix. Just breath, warmth, and the gentle reminder that awakening is not somewhere else. It’s right here in the glow of shared presence, in the simple joy of sitting together under an open sky. Moments like this are why One River Zen exists. A place to return, again and again, to the heart of things. #OneRiverZen #ZenPractice #FirelightMeditation #IllinoisRiver #Zazen #SanghaLife #EveningPractice #OttawaIL #SitTogether #AwakeningEveryday #zenlife #pickusottawail #sotozen

Without Intention, Habit Runs the Week Here we are at the dawn of a wonderful, fresh, clean week. We like to think of it as pure and undefiled — and in a large sense it is — but we also carry into it a lot of our karmic proclivity as the week begins. When we turn our attention inside, we notice these vestiges of a notion called “I” that we take with us, recreate moment by moment. We see it as substantively formed through our conscious thoughts, but of course, once we’ve seen that, it doesn’t take long to see its spatial implications — that we use it to project ourselves into the environment, into the things we come in contact with and consider “other.” We recognize there is a lot of skill we must wield when we are working with this karmic momentum. All that being said, it’s important that we know we occupy space in a noble way, and that we recognize our true presence is all-inclusive. But perhaps even more importantly, there is a temporal aspect to karma. There is a habit-energy that we keep replicating over and over again — it is how we occupy time — and it depends on whether or not we carry an intention, whether we have set down a deep intention for how we are going to work with everything that arises. Once we have that intention set, that is where the chains of karma begin to unlatch. When we know what we are working with in terms of our intentions — how we are going to manifest — then everything else becomes looser, and we can loosen our grip on the idea of self. But until we see that, our habit-energy will continue to control us. So look carefully, as this week begins, at what your intentions are. If our intention is to manifest as compassion moment by moment, you will reap all of the joy associated with being the medicine. But if we carry forward our current proclivities — the habits by which we promulgate the self through time, unawares — then we remain embodied in that way for the week. #zenlife #dailyzen #pickusottawail #oneriverzen