A Heart Blown Open:  The Life and Practice of Zen Master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi  ~ A Spiritual Biography by Keith Martin-Smith

Emotional Freedom for the Modern Seeker
An Ancient Science of Mind Receives an Upgrade

“This is the story of our time... an absolute must-read for
anyone with even a passing interest in human evolution...”
— Ken Wilber, author of Integral Spirituality

"This is the legendary story of an inspiring teacher that
mirrors the journey of many contemporary Western seekers.”
— Alex Grey, artist and author of Transfigurations

DENIS KELLY'S LIFE IS PART HUNTER S. THOMPSON, PART TIMOTHY LEARY, AND PART ECKHART TOLLE.

Mondo Zen, an updated form of Rinzai Zen (the “Zen of the Samurai”), was developed by Denis Kelly, whose Dharma name (spiritual name) is Jun Po Roshi. This is the story of his life, and how he worked to integrate the hard-won wisdom of a life of playfulness, depravity, loss, and liberating insight, leading to the creation of what what has been called the single greatest innovation in Zen in the last 500 years. 

Go to Divine Arts

 Read More

Contributors: Jun Po Kelly Roshi, Reverend Doshin Hannya, Daju Huihai Suzanne Friedman and Keith Martin-Smith

Therapy and emotional processing can provide new perspectives on cultural conditioning and promote a healthier ego. Spiritual practices such as Zazen and Dzogchen gradually awaken us to the illusion of permanent self. This raises an important question: What does our emotional body look like when viewed from shunyata, or Nondual Awareness? Join Jun Po and Doshin Roshi in this lively discussion on the emotional body as seen by the viewless view of Nondual Awareness. Read More

THE CADET CHAPEL BUDDHIST PROGRAM
AT THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY
2010-2011 - A progress report

It’s 1900 on a Friday evening in Jack’s Valley.  It’s been a 90+ degree day. Cadets in Basic Training have been running the Assault Course, the Obstacle Course, and others, and they have had people in their faces, yelling, since very early morning. They are tired. Fifteen of them come walking up the dirt road to the tent that serves as the Buddhist Chapel in the camp. A tarp is spread over the concrete floor, and this evening there are just enough cushions for two leaders and the 15 cadets who take off their boots and packs at the entry. Several approach the altar to offer incense. Rays from the low sun stream the length of the tent, and suffuse the quiet that takes hold immediately. We sing refuge: “I take refuge in Awakening; I take refuge in the Way; I take refuge in my Companions.”

Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are present. After 20 minutes of meditation, with just a few words dropped into the silence, a leader introduces walking meditation: see what it’s like if you walk as one body. And they do.  There’s some time for discussion, and immediately the power of the meditation itself is spoken. One speaks of the sense that “everything belongs.” Another says he was suddenly keenly aware of connection: a sensation that he and everything else are connected. Someone expresses awe at the countless phenomena that appear in each moment---the largeness and largesse of each instant. One cadet speaks of the intimacy of sound during the meditation. One woman speaks of how hard it was not to have service last Sunday, when violent storms caused a cancellation.   Read More

by Jun Po Kelly Roshi (published on Integral Life)

Should spiritual teachers sleep with their students?  It seems this is a question whose time has come. 

Every worldview has a very strong option on this.  Red says “Of course!”  Amber usually says “No!”, but on occasion “Yes!” if the mythology permits it.  Orange will say “yes,” but that decision is related to “status” (both the teacher’s and the student’s).  Green screams “NO” and points to the lack of a “level playing field,” lecturing about the (im)balance of power, especially if the teacher is a man (oppressor) and the student a woman (oppressed).  So what says the Integralist?

Let’s start with the act itself.  Sexuality is sacred. This is where the genders, the two faces, little god-man Adam and little god-woman Eve actually touch faces, and through that embrace reincarnate.  Magical thinking and mythic beliefs tell us that our egos will continue through the Law of Karma - good boys and girls get to be reborn as spiritually-aware people, bad boys and girls are forced into painful rebirths to burn and purge their sins.  Read More

by Jim Hight

On the last night of the recent Hollow Bones sesshin, I hardly slept at all. Counting breaths, reciting mantras, even reading a novel brought sleep no closer.  At 3 AM, I resolved to try counting once more. By the time I reached 80 breaths, I had an insight worth much more than one sleepless night.  Read More

from Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi

Beloved Sangha of the Hollow Bones Order,

This past year has been wonderful. I stand in awe and full appreciation of that old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."  Read More

Written by Tom Carroll

Late one rainy afternoon in the parking lot of my bank, I dropped a gold nugget. It had been in a wooden box with several old pieces of jewelry. Rings, one raw nugget and a nugget studded stick pen. There were also tie clasps and cuff links from another era and an assortment of broken chains and other bits and pieces, some solid and others, gold plated. These were things that I had no use for but still held sentimental value and with the rising price of the metal, I'd decided to put them all in a safe place.  Read More

Jun Po and Vicara will be teaching Mondo Zen at the New Year's Integral Spiritual Experience Year 2: The Future of Love Conference at Asilomar Retreat Center in California.  Those attending will receive the Mondo Zen Training Manual along with this introduction written by Jamie Rogers entitled "An Integral Philosophy Perspective on Mondo Zen." Read More

Some comments from Tom Carroll to Jun Po ... on your Integral Institute interview:

Your interview with Jeff was as good a talk as I've heard you give. It took a while for Jeff to find his focus, and he stumbled a bit getting started.

"The closest Zen gets to love is warmth." Interesting remark but not good for the laugh he was looking for....
"Still water runs deep" .... Pretty good recovery from you.
"Your ego thinks your heart can be broken. [But it's] vast beyond comprehension." That's a line I will not soon forget.  Read More

by Will Pye

It was a grim Melbourne evening, a reminder that summer was no more, and the seasonal fluctuations of my mind (like Melbourne, bestowed with a tendency for all seasons to be experienced in the same day) were in sync with the outer darkness as I stressed my way through the lingering peak hour traffic.  I had been aware of Jun Po Denis Kelly, and on hearing of his appearance at a community building in Windsor, it took but a brief moment to decide to attend. It was an article in EnlightenNext, formerly What is Enlightenment? - that wonderful magazine that appeals to a far broader audience than the style of its founder, editor and resident guru Andrew Cohen - that introduced me to “the wild man from Wisconsin” as I have heard others knowingly refer to Jun Po.

 Read More