Ungan Sweeps the Ground — The Second Moon and the Problem of Effort
Book of Equanimity (Shoyoroku), Case 21
With Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner
Recorded at One River Zen (Ottawa, Illinois)
Attention! As Ungan was sweeping the ground, Dogo said, “You’re hard at it!”
Ungan replied, “You should know there’s one who isn’t hard at it!”
Dogo said, “So, is there a second moon?”
Ungan held up the broom saying, “Which moon is this?”
Dogo desisted.
Regarding this, Gensha remarked, “Indeed, this is the second moon.”
Ummon also said, “The butler watches the maid politely.”
In this teishō, Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner explores one of the most subtle dynamics in Zen practice: the split between activity and commentary.
How ordinary activity becomes self-conscious effort
The moment identity forms around striving
What Zen calls the “second moon”
Why spiritual self-improvement can reinforce duality
The difference between immersion and evaluation
How intention functions without becoming self-centered
Why “just keep sweeping” is not passivity
This talk examines how commentary quietly replaces functioning. When Dogo says, “You’re hard at it,” heaven and hell separate—not because sweeping changes, but because narration enters the field.
Ungan’s response points beyond both effort and non-effort, yet the trap remains: if there is “one who isn’t hard at it,” has a second self appeared?
Gensha’s and Ummon’s remarks sharpen the point. Even subtle spiritual refinement can become a second moon—an observer watching itself practice.
Activity vs. identity
Commentary as subtle duality
The “board on your shoulder” metaphor
Bodhisattva intention vs. spiritual self-making
Dogo’s desisting as embodied response
Mara and the 108 distractions
Returning to functioning
Where does commentary replace action in your own life?
When you are working, are you working—or evaluating yourself working?
When you are practicing, are you practicing—or narrating the one who practices?
The koan does not eliminate effort. It exposes the tightening around effort.
Just keep sweeping.
Sensei Sōen Michael Brunner is the founding teacher of One River Zen in Ottawa, Illinois. Through teishō, koan study, and daily practice, he emphasizes direct experience, embodied insight, and the transformation of suffering in everyday life.
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