Enter Zen from There | Book of Equanimity Case 81

What if grief, uncertainty, longing, and doubt are not obstacles to Zen practice, but the very places where practice begins?

In this episode, Sensei Michael Brunner explores Case 81 of the Shōyōroku, “Gensha Comes to the Province,” and the teaching, “Enter Zen from there.” Through the story of Gensha, the sound of a bubbling brook, and the raising of a robe, this talk examines how the past and future are encountered in the present moment.

Sensei Michael reflects on the ways we cling to pleasure, resist pain, and divide our lives into what we want and what we would rather avoid. Zen practice invites us to meet all of it directly. When we stop standing apart from our experience, grief, anxiety, memory, and uncertainty can become entrances into intimacy, compassion, and awakening.

Wherever your life is unfolding, enter Zen from there.