KNOW YOUR TRUTH
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

KNOW YOUR TRUTH

It is often tempting to rely on ideologies as filters on how we experience the world and define truth.

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ORDINARY, EVERYDAY WONDER
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

ORDINARY, EVERYDAY WONDER

If we can simply return to and be present with our activity in this very moment, the ordinary, everyday wonder of our lives shines forth.

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IT IS WHAT IT IS
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

IT IS WHAT IT IS

Behind the closed door of our judgments is where the magic of our everyday life resides.

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THE SECOND ARROW
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

THE SECOND ARROW

There's a parable the Buddha gifted us to relate with suffering more skillfully. Any time we suffer affliction, two arrows are let loose in our direction. To be pierced by the first arrow is painful. To be struck by the second arrow is even more excruciating.

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FILL YOUR HEART
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

FILL YOUR HEART

Our daily practice helps us widen our window of tolerance so we can face what is coming up for us openly and without judgment. When we experience this way, our relationship with pain and suffering transforms…

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SEE THE CONTEXT
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

SEE THE CONTEXT

Sometimes we get so fixated on our point of view that we see everything through the lens of our conceptual understanding. There's an old saying that "if you only have a hammer, then everything looks like a nail". 

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EXPLORE DEVOTION
Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Daily Zen Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

EXPLORE DEVOTION

When we place our hearts and our longings outside of the realm of the small self, we create the possibility of wonder. In this place, we explore the boundlessness that is our true nature.

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SHIN JIN MEI | 信心銘 DAY ONE: Introduction
Shin Jin Mei Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot Shin Jin Mei Sensei Michael Brunner, Ottawa, IL | Founder & Abbot

SHIN JIN MEI | 信心銘 DAY ONE: Introduction

The title, translated as “Faith in Mind” or “Mind of Absolute Trust”, underscores the importance of trusting the direct experience of mind before false views obscure the true mind's inherent perfection.

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