Awakening Streams: The One River Zen Podcast

Sensei Michael Brunner, One River Zen
  • 5.0 (7)
  • BUDDHISM
  • DAILY SERIES

Awakening Streams features Dharma talks and Zen reflections from Sensei Michael Brunner of One River Zen Center in Ottawa, Illinois. Each episode explores the living practice of Zen Buddhism through classic Zen koans, teachings from the Shōyōroku and Mumonkan, and direct encounters with everyday life. Discover how awakening flows through every obstacle, every act of compassion, and every moment of wonder. 🌐 Learn more: https://www.oneriverzen.org

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  1. The 200-Millisecond Gap: Free Will, Karma, and Zen

    EPISODE 1

    The 200-Millisecond Gap: Free Will, Karma, and Zen

    The 200-Millisecond Gap: Free Will, Karma, and Zen with Sensei Michael Brunner (One River Zen) In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner explores how ancient Zen practice and modern neuroscience converge on the same insight: we often begin to act before we consciously decide. Drawing on Benjamin Libet’s famous readiness-potential experiments, Sartre’s account of prereflective consciousness, and the Zen kōan Chinyu and the Rice Pail–碧巌録 HEKIGANROKU (BLUE CLIFF RECORD) Case 74, this teaching reveals how karmic momentum moves through the body before thought arises — and how Zen practice opens a brief but powerful space of freedom. This is the heart of awakening in everyday life: not controlling experience, but learning how to interrupt habitual reactions and allow wiser action to emerge. Key ThemesFree will and the brain Benjamin Libet and “free won’t” Karma and karmic momentum Sartre’s prereflective self Blue Cliff Record, Case 74 Chinyu and embodied action Zen practice in daily life About the TeacherSensei Michael Brunner is a transmitted Sōtō Zen priest and the founder and guiding teacher of One River Zen, a Zen Buddhist community in Ottawa, Illinois offering daily meditation, retreats, and Dharma study grounded in classical Zen and contemporary life. Learn more at oneriverzen.org 🪷 Awakening Streams: The One River Zen PodcastTeachings and reflections with Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) of One River Zen Center, 121 E Prospect St, Ottawa IL 61350. 🌐 Learn more & join practice: https://www.oneriverzen.org🎧 Listen to more episodes: Awakening Streams Podcast🙏 Support the Sangha: https://www.oneriverzen.org/donate #SenseiMichaelBrunner #MichaelBrunnerOttawa #OneRiverZen #ZenKoan #ZenPodcast #OttawaIL #SotoZen

    22 min
See All Season 5 (1)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Awakening Streams features Dharma talks and Zen reflections from Sensei Michael Brunner of One River Zen Center in Ottawa, Illinois. Each episode explores the living practice of Zen Buddhism through classic Zen koans, teachings from the Shōyōroku and Mumonkan, and direct encounters with everyday life. Discover how awakening flows through every obstacle, every act of compassion, and every moment of wonder. 🌐 Learn more: https://www.oneriverzen.org

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