In this talk, Sensei Michael Brunner explores the nature of true compassion through the lens of Shōyōroku Case 54. Ungan asks Dōgo about the function of Avalokiteśvara’s thousand hands and eyes, and Dōgo responds with a powerful image: “It’s like a man reaching for his pillow in the dark.” No hesitation. No calculation. Just movement.

But what does this mean for our daily lives? How do we move beyond conceptual thinking and into the uncontrived, effortless action of compassion? Sensei Michael unpacks this koan with insights from Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyōkun, showing us how our practice isn’t about accumulating knowledge—it’s about being actualized by the moment itself.

🔹 Compassion is not something we do—it is what we are.
🔹 The small self limits our response; letting go allows us to move freely.
🔹 Like reaching for a pillow in the dark, true compassion arises without calculation.
🔹 Dōgo’s final response shifts the perspective: “Throughout the body are hands and eyes.” There is no longer a self at the center—only action and awareness as one.

00:00 – Introduction to the talk
02:30 – Shōyōroku Case 54: Ungan & Dōgo
07:15 – The legend of Avalokiteśvara’s thousand hands and eyes
12:40 – Moving beyond conceptual thinking into embodied practice
18:10 – How karmic conditioning shapes our response to suffering
22:45 – Letting go of the small self to allow compassion to move
27:30 – Dōgen’s Tenzo Kyōkun and the seamless unity of practice and action
32:00 – Closing reflections

📖 The Book of Serenity (Thomas Cleary)
📖 Genjōkōan by Dōgen – “That myriad things come forth and illuminate the self is awakening.”

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