Your mind jumps from thought to thought like a restless monkey—but who are you when the monkey is silent? In this kōan, Chuyu offers a striking image: a monkey at the center of a room with six windows, responding to every call. Sensei Michael Brunner unpacks how we get caught in our own narratives—and how to step beyond them.

A monk asks for directions. An old woman gives him a simple answer. But as he walks away, she remarks, “This good honest priest goes off that way too.”

What did he miss? What did she see? And why does Jōshū say, “I’ve seen through the old woman for you”?

When we seek too hard, we often overlook what’s right in front of us.

Go straight on.

Before a pilot takes off, they check the wind, the visibility, the conditions as they are—not as they wish them to be. Yet in life, we often rush forward without this same awareness. What happens when we stop resisting and start working with reality as it unfolds? The key to soaring isn’t perfect conditions—it’s skillful navigation.

What happens when we stop grasping for meaning? What remains when we let go of the stories we attach to our suffering? The answers are not found in ideas—but in direct experience. In this new Dharma talk, Sensei Michael Brunner explores Hekiganroku Case 20: Ryūge Asks Suibi and Rinzai.