10% Happier with Dan Harris

Episode: A Zen Handbook for Sanity in an Era of Uncertainty | Jiryu Rutschman-Byler

Date: December 17, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode explores how Zen Buddhism, specifically the teachings of Shunryu Suzuki (author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind), offers practical tools for maintaining sanity and presence during periods of uncertainty and daily turmoil. Dan Harris is joined by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, Soto Zen Buddhist priest and abbot, to break down concepts like embodied presence, the practice of "softening the mind," being intimate with reality, and finding the balance between striving and accepting our “idiot” selves. The conversation is a blend of Zen's poetic perspective and real-life applicability, serving as a handbook for those looking to ground themselves amid chaos.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Shunryu Suzuki? (06:00 – 09:55)

• Background: Suzuki Roshi was a Japanese Zen priest and a key founder of American Buddhism, bringing Soto Zen to the U.S. in 1959 and founding the San Francisco Zen Center.
  • “He was actually born in a Zen temple...in 1959 he came to the United States and founded really a major stream of Zen and became one of the people who you could say are the grandfathers or founders of Zen in the West.” — Jiryu, (06:25)
• Teaching Style: Suzuki's appeal lay in both his skepticism toward religious structures and the warmth and unconditional love he radiated to students—even those wary of organized religion.
• Legacy: Many prominent American teachers—even ones Dan cites from the “JewBu” stream—owe their opportunities to meditate in the West to Suzuki’s groundwork.

2. Jiryu’s Path to Zen (12:09 – 15:41)

• Suffering as the Starting Point: Like many, Jiryu turned to spiritual practice to address suffering and mental health struggles.
  • “As a young adult, there are some mental health things I was confused about...I wasn't so grounded.” — Jiryu, (12:26)
• Zen as Embodiment, Not Abstraction: Traditional “cosmic” spirituality left him ungrounded. Zen, in contrast, is deeply embodied—about “how you hold the teacup,” sweeping, existing right here in the moment.
  • “Zen teaching is all about just come right into what this body is...let it be that kind of small thing and just totally be that. And there's all this freedom and space there.” — Jiryu, (13:17)

3. Zen on Wonder, Awe, and Problems (16:45 – 23:23)

• Ordinary Reality as Miracle: Zen doesn’t focus on otherworldly spirits, but brings attention to the profound mystery of ordinary life—the fact that we are alive at all.
  • “You're more concerned with your problem than with the fact that you're alive.” — Suzuki Roshi (as quoted by Jiryu), (19:26)
• Shifting Perspective on Problems: Problems that seem overwhelming in the moment fade with context and time. The key is not to let them blot out the miracle of being alive.

4. Dealing with “BIG” Problems (23:23 – 28:01)

• Grounded Presence Over Problem-Solving: The bigger the problem, the more we need a larger, more grounded self to hold it—not just a “chaotic, childish mind.”
  • “Big problem needs a big self. You could say a big caretaker...that’s embodied wisdom.” — Jiryu, (24:06)
• Faith as Confidence: In Zen, “faith” isn’t dogmatic belief, but confidence in one’s own ability to soften the mind and access presence through direct experience.

5. The Practice: Zazen & Softening the Mind (31:27 – 45:12)

• Zazen Explained:
  • Take an upright posture, settle attention in the low belly (hara), breathe naturally, count out-breaths, and keep eyes open (or mostly open) to stay intimately connected to surroundings.
• Letting Go of Thinking:
  • The mind will wander—start again, joyfully, without self-judgment.
  • “The most important thing in the coming back to one is that we're just happy and grateful to be coming back to one.” — Jiryu, (37:12)
• Eyes Open vs. Closed:
  • Eyes open helps avoid slipping into a “demon cave” of internal separation; it trains us to be present with life, not escape.

6. Intimacy, Oneness & Life as “Not to Be Figured Out” (44:17 – 56:53)

• Intimacy with Experience: True “oneness” is realizing that nothing is separate from your life; everything in your field of experience is included in you.
  • “When you are really you yourself, you include everything.” — Suzuki Roshi (quoted by Jiryu), (49:48)
• Avoid Over-Conceptualizing: Trying to “figure out” life or presence only creates more separation. Instead, be it, experience it.
  • “If you really want to be yourself, don't try to figure it out. Figuring it out—now you're separating from it.” — Jiryu, (56:53)

7. Allowing, Appropriate Response & Action (63:18 – 73:14)

• Allowing as Effectiveness: Including everything (even discomfort) in one’s awareness allows for more authentic, spontaneous response—what Zen calls “the appropriate response.”
  • “Just a little bit more reliable, a little more helpful, a little more appropriate if we're a little bit less in our mind and a little bit more in the feeling of being alive that everything is included in.” — Jiryu, (73:19)
• Practical Examples: Whether in traffic, in meetings, or helping a friend, action derived from this soft, inclusive mind is more compassionate and effective.

8. Accepting the Inner Idiot & Buddha (74:01 – 79:53)

• Embracing Flaws and Growth: “Authenticity is the okayness to be the idiot that you already are.” We strive to improve, but with the recognition we are always carried by life, imperfectly.
  • “You're perfect and you could use a little improvement.” — (Attributed to Zen teachers, 77:23)
• Don’t Block Natural Aspirations: Acceptance is not resignation; ambition and self-improvement are also parts of our authentic, complete self.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You don't have to wait 60 years...just a little bit of stepping back and appreciating that we're alive while we're alive...The feeling is like, I have to get over this...then I'll be alive. The problem's not in the way of anything. It just is our life.” — Jiryu, (21:45)
• “The Zen idea, Suzuki Roshi's idea, is kind of like our surroundings, our life, the light and the sound and the things happening around us also are kind of like, very interesting. They're trying to share their feeling with us as a kind of metaphor for this intimacy.” — Jiryu, (31:27)
• “When you are really you yourself, you include everything. So being yourself doesn't mean I'm myself, not you. It's...the fullness of my experience, of my being alive, which everything is part of.” — Jiryu, (49:48)
• “To say inappropriate response. It's just a little bit more appropriate than the response I was going to do...just a little more reliable, a little more helpful...” — Jiryu, (73:19)
• “You're perfect and you could use a little improvement.” — Zen wisdom, (77:23)
• “You didn't make yourself an idiot, you know, Everything in the whole universe since beginningless time made you an idiot, you know, so just be that. All the wisdom is there and all the confusion is there.” — Jiryu, (74:21)
• On agency and flow:
  “You don’t have to be driving your life all the time. You can actually just, like, ride the wave a little bit sometimes. Let the life be moving you.” — Jiryu, (75:47)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 06:00 – 09:55: Shunryu Suzuki’s roots and influence
• 12:09 – 15:41: Jiryu’s spiritual journey and Zen’s grounding effect
• 17:48 – 23:23: How to re-inject awe into daily life and shift perspective on problems
• 24:06 – 28:01: Meeting “big” suffering with presence, not mere mindset
• 31:27 – 45:12: Practical steps for zazen meditation and embodying presence
• 44:17 – 56:53: What “being one with everything” really means; intimacy and letting go of over-thinking
• 63:18 – 73:14: How intimacy and radical inclusion lead to more skillful, “appropriate” action
• 74:01 – 79:53: Embracing both the “idiot” and “Buddha” within, and finding the right balance of acceptance and aspiration

Language & Tone

The tone throughout is accessible, compassionate, and lightly irreverent. Both Dan and Jiryu use humor (“be the idiot you are”), clear demystification (“this isn’t woo woo, it’s grounded”), and approachable language, even as they tackle profound, sometimes paradoxical topics.

Additional Resources

• New Book: Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life—a compilation of Suzuki Roshi’s teachings, edited by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler.
• San Francisco Zen Center: Explore further resources or residential retreats.
• Companion Meditation: Jeff Warren’s guided meditation on oneness (available at danharris.com).

Summary prepared for listeners seeking practical wisdom and grounded spiritual insight from the Zen tradition.