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The Deep Mind of Zen

Contributor: Jun Po Kelly Roshi

Jun Po Kelly Roshi, an acclaimed teacher in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, discusses his work with the Mondo Zen process.

A Taste of Mondo Zen

Zen teaches the insight of the Buddha, that meditation brings an end to suffering. As esoteric as this may sound, it's an empirical fact. Ordinary people meditate and find their experience—their entire world—transformed. The poetry of their language is not myth, but an effort to do justice to their experience. When you taste the deep clear intelligence at the heart of being, nothing is left untouched.

If you wish to claim your heritage as the Buddha, the Awakened One, your best option is to find a masterful teacher such as Jun Po Roshi. With his koan dialogue process, you will learn to clear away the obscurations of a fixated mind and discover a clear, ordinary mind brimming with insight and compassion. You will begin to experience your own identity as vast, unconstrained, fearless, timeless—and eternally wakeful.

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Part I: Language—Obstacle, or Practice?

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Duration: 15 minutes

The first part of this dialogue touches on the role of language in meditative insight and the importance of articulating a worldview that reflects your insight. You'll also find discussions on compassion and transmission, as well as an amusing and informative contrast of the Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen.

Part II: Unique Self is Ordinary Self

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Duration: 24 minutes

Zen teaches that Buddha Mind is Ordinary Mind. This teaching frees us from fixation on dramatic experiences, which come and go. If Ordinary Mind were a beverage, it would not be a triple espresso. It would be a glass of the clearest, purest water. With this in mind, Jun Po offers advice on how to understand the teaching of the Unique Self: not some manic hyper-achiever, but simply who you are.

Part III: Clear Mind, Broken Heart

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Duration: 19 minutes

There is a paradox in waking up: you find that you are absolute freedom itself and, at the same time, your heart breaks open anew in every moment. Watch as Jun Po plays with this subtle dynamic between confidence and vulnerability. The truth is absolute freedom, yet the heart stands forth in compassion, heedless even of truth itself. After all, if you had everything, what would you choose?

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Jun Po Kelly Roshi

Jun Po Denis Kelly began his Buddhist practice at Zen Center San Francisco in the early ’70s, later becoming a student of Eido Shimano Roshi in New York and subsequently a monk. He received his Zen Master recognition in 1992. Interested in bringing his Zen lineage (Rinzai tradition) into American culture without the Japanese cultural bindings, Jun Po left the monastery and founded the lay Buddhist Hollow Bones order, of which he is abbot. A yoga instructor as well, he traces his lineage to BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. He established the Hollow Bones seven-day Zen retreats for the Mankind Project.