We speak so often without really intending to connect—just trying to be right, or to relieve some internal pressure. But unless someone sincerely wants to hear, our words scatter like dust. In Zen, there’s no reward for performance, no applause for being “beyond.” In fact, the very idea of being beyond is often the net we’re still caught in. True practice begins when we stop trying to be impressive, stop trying to be seen, and simply meet the moment as it is—muddy, raw, and real. Let the dust settle. Then you can begin.

In this teisho, we enter the deep current of the Avatamsaka Sutra and Dōgen’s wisdom to explore Indra’s Net, karmic momentum, and the luminous jewel hidden in the folds of your very own robe. You don’t need to earn it—but you do need to realize it.

We are already reflecting the whole, whether we see it or not.

Wonder, not knowledge, is the key.

What if awakening isn’t found in scriptures or mountaintops, but in a simple farm rice cake?
In this grounded and provocative talk, Sensei Michael Brunner reflects on a Zen koan that challenges our deepest assumptions about sacredness. Why do we divide life into holy and profane? What do we miss when we dismiss the ordinary?

We chase meaning like it’s out there somewhere—hidden in a teaching, a moment, a breakthrough. But what happens when even “no meaning” becomes another thing to hold onto? In this talk on Book of Equanimity, Case 80, we sit with Ryūge’s journey through questions, blows, and the quiet unraveling of self. It’s not about finding the answer. It’s about what’s left when the search gives up.