In this talk from Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner, Abbot of One River Zen in Ottawa, Illinois, we encounter the final case of the Book of Equanimity: Rōya’s Mountains and Rivers. When a monk asks why, if all is originally pure, mountains and rivers arise, Rōya answers with the same question — turning the inquiry back to the listener. Sensei Sōen explores how this kōan meets us in daily life, where ego endlessly alternates between “I must assert” and “I must disappear.” From Aleister Crowley’s dictum “Do what thou wilt” to John the Baptist’s “He must increase, I must decrease,” this episode traces the middle way that neither denies self nor clings to it. At the heart of the talk is an invitation to discover the original nature that moves as mountains, rivers, thoughts, and breath — the unbroken reality before any notion of “self” or “world.” 🎧 Recorded live at One River Zen, a Soto Zen Buddhist temple in the lineage of Dainin Katagiri Roshi. Learn more or join practice at www.oneriverzen.org.