David Hume’s Zen: Escaping the "Faint Copies" of Reality | Mumonkan Case 19

Are you living in reality, or just a "faint copy" of it? In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner (Sōen) explores a surprising convergence between 18th-century Western philosophy and the heart of Zen. Drawing on David Hume’s radical empiricism, Sensei Michael identifies a "glitch" in our human operating system: the habit of trading vivid, forceful experience for the stale narratives of the discursive mind.

Using the vivid metaphor of a "dog running in its sleep," this teisho examines why we often find ourselves shadowboxing with memories and expectations rather than meeting life directly. By recalibrating our practice through the Four Reliances and the classic Mumonkan Case 19 (Ordinary Mind Is the Way), we learn to drop the conceptual maps we've mistaken for the moon and step into the boundless field of wonder that is already here.

Key Themes:

David Hume in the Zendo: Understanding "Impressions" vs. "Ideas."

The Four Reliances: Calibrating your spiritual compass.

Ordinary Mind is the Way: Why "knowing" is a delusion and "not-knowing" is intimacy.

The Shadowboxing Mind: How to wake up from the "faint copies" of our lives.

About One River Zen:

Located in Ottawa, Illinois, One River Zen is a center for rigorous Dharma study and direct realization. Led by Sensei Michael Brunner, our community bridges ancient Soto Zen lineage with contemporary intellectual inquiry, challenging practitioners to find the "Eternal Spring" in every moment. Learn more and join our practice at oneriverzen.org.