🎧 Hyakujo’s Fox — The Dharma of Cause and Effect Ango Opening Talk with Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner In this opening talk for Ango, Sensei explores the Zen koan Hyakujo’s Fox—a story about karma, consequence, and the illusion of escape. When a monk once claimed that the enlightened person does not fall under cause and effect, he was reborn as a fox for 500 lives. Through this teaching, Sensei invites us to see that awakening is not found beyond karma but within it. The very circumstances we try to avoid—our mistakes, limitations, and expectations—are themselves the field of practice. Freedom is not escape; it’s meeting life completely, right where we stand. 🪶 “Every mistake, every slip into fox life, is also Buddha life.” #Zen #DharmaTalk #HyakujosFox #OneRiverZen #MichaelBrunner #Karma #ZenPractice #Ango #SotoZen #Mindfulness
In this opening talk for the Ango Practice Period, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner explores Hyakujo’s Fox (Mumonkan Case 2), one of Zen’s most mysterious and instructive koans.
When a monk once answered that “the enlightened person does not fall under cause and effect,” he was reborn as a fox for 500 lifetimes. Through this story, Sensei examines how easily we misunderstand karma—as punishment, fate, or escape—and how true freedom is found by meeting life exactly as it is.
This talk invites listeners to stop seeking freedom elsewhere, to step fully into their circumstances, and to discover that cause and effect are not chains, but the living fabric of awakening itself.
🪶 Themes explored:
Karma and the creative law of cause and effect
The illusion of spiritual escape
Meeting life directly as the field of practice
Freedom within ordinary circumstances
Listen, reflect, and join us in practice at OneRiverZen.org