
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
In this talk, Sensei Michael Brunner examines the Three Pure Precepts as a practice of seeing beyond the limitations of self and other. Rather than moral commandments, these precepts serve as a dynamic way of engaging with the world, allowing us to break free from conditioned narratives and step into direct experience.
The talk explores how our judgments shape perception, how the gap between self and other is self-imposed, and how true compassion arises naturally when separation dissolves. Using Mumonkan Case 36, Sensei Michael challenges us: If we meet a fully awakened being, how do we greet them? More importantly, how do we meet this very moment?
Key Takeaways:🔹 Cease from Evil – Not about moral judgment, but releasing attachment to narratives that distort direct experience.
🔹 Practice Good – A call to bear witness rather than impose labels and categories.
🔹 Practice Good for Others – Stepping beyond self/other duality to act from unity.
🔹 Perception Shapes Reality – Our judgments are not distant objects, they are our experience.
🔹 Compassion Beyond Calculation – Action arises freely when we no longer hesitate.
🔹 Mumonkan Case 36 – A koan that forces us to drop the idea of a "right" response and instead fully meet reality.
00:00 – Introduction: The precepts as a process, not rules
05:10 – How our judgments shape perception
12:30 – The Three Pure Precepts in daily life
18:45 – Self and other: Seeing through the same eyes
24:15 – Mumonkan Case 36: How do you greet an awakened being?
32:00 – Letting go of the constructed self and showing up fully
Â
Learn more, study with us, and meditate online at oneriverzen.org.
In this talk, Sensei Michael Brunner examines the Three Pure Precepts as a practice of seeing beyond the limitations of self and other. Rather than moral commandments, these precepts serve as a dynamic way of engaging with the world, allowing us to break free from conditioned narratives and step into direct experience.
The talk explores how our judgments shape perception, how the gap between self and other is self-imposed, and how true compassion arises naturally when separation dissolves. Using Mumonkan Case 36, Sensei Michael challenges us: If we meet a fully awakened being, how do we greet them? More importantly, how do we meet this very moment?
Key Takeaways:🔹 Cease from Evil – Not about moral judgment, but releasing attachment to narratives that distort direct experience.
🔹 Practice Good – A call to bear witness rather than impose labels and categories.
🔹 Practice Good for Others – Stepping beyond self/other duality to act from unity.
🔹 Perception Shapes Reality – Our judgments are not distant objects, they are our experience.
🔹 Compassion Beyond Calculation – Action arises freely when we no longer hesitate.
🔹 Mumonkan Case 36 – A koan that forces us to drop the idea of a "right" response and instead fully meet reality.
00:00 – Introduction: The precepts as a process, not rules
05:10 – How our judgments shape perception
12:30 – The Three Pure Precepts in daily life
18:45 – Self and other: Seeing through the same eyes
24:15 – Mumonkan Case 36: How do you greet an awakened being?
32:00 – Letting go of the constructed self and showing up fully
Â
Learn more, study with us, and meditate online at oneriverzen.org.