UJI Part Five | Embracing the True Nature of UJI
UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

UJI Part Five | Embracing the True Nature of UJI

In this fifth installment of his commentary on Dōgen’s Uji, Sensei Michael Brunner explores how being-time dissolves the idea that past experiences are simply left behind. The teaching invites us to see past, present, and future as intimately woven into the infinite-present moment, revealing a more complete understanding of self, time, and true nature.

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UJI Part Four | The Earth in its Entirety as UJI
UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

UJI Part Four | The Earth in its Entirety as UJI

In this fourth installment of his commentary on Dōgen’s Uji, Sensei Michael Brunner explores the teaching that each form, moment, and “sprouting” is a complete expression of the whole earth. The commentary examines impermanence, interconnectedness, and the limits of perception, inviting us to recognize that uji includes both what we understand and what remains unseen.

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UJI Part Three | UJI weaves UJI
UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

UJI Part Three | UJI weaves UJI

In this third installment of his commentary on Dōgen’s Uji, Sensei Michael Brunner explores how we continually construct both a universe and a sense of self from the fragments of experience. Through the lens of impermanence, practice, and “sometime” being, the teaching invites us to see self and world as fluid expressions of uji rather than fixed realities.

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UJI Part Two | Uji's Ever Changing Nature
UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

UJI Part Two | Uji's Ever Changing Nature

In this second installment of his commentary on Dōgen’s Uji, Sensei Michael Brunner explores the ever-changing nature of being-time, impermanence, doubt, and the golden radiance of lived experience. The teaching invites us to question our ordinary assumptions about past, present, and future and to encounter each moment as a complete expression of uji.

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UJI Part One | The Essence of Uji
UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot UJI Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

UJI Part One | The Essence of Uji

In this opening installment of his commentary on Dōgen’s Uji, Sensei Michael Brunner explores Yakusan Igen’s verse on mountains, Buddhas, monks, ordinary people, and everyday objects as expressions of uji. Rather than reducing uji to “being-time,” Brunner invites readers to encounter it directly through wonder, practice, and lived experience.

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