The heart of Zen : enlightenment, emotional maturity, and what it really takes for spiritual liberation

222 Pages·2014·1.02 MB·English

by  Roshi

ALSO BY KEITH MARTIN-SMITH
A Heart Blown Open: The Life and Practice of Zen Master
Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi

Electronic Edition: ISBN 978-1-58394778-4
Copyright © 2014 by Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi and Keith Martin-Smith. All rights reserved. No
portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North
Atlantic Books.
Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Cover art © by Mark T. Smith (www.marktsmith.com)
Cover and book design by Claudia Smelser
The Heart of Zen: Enlightenment, Emotional Maturity, and What It Really Takes for Spiritual
Liberation is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit
educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective
linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences,
humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind,
body, and nature.
North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further
information, call 800–733–3000 or visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Kelly, Jun Po Denis, 1942– author.
The heart of Zen : enlightenment, emotional maturity, and what it really takes for spiritual
liberation / Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, Keith Martin-Smith.
pages cm
Summary: “Insights on Zen meditation and koan practice and edgy, passionate dialogues
between teacher and student address the issues of emotional integration and maturity”—
Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-58394-764-7 — ISBN 978-1-58394778-4
1. Spiritual life—Zen Buddhism. 2. Meditation—Zen Buddhism. I. Martin-Smith, Keith, 1972–
author. II. Title.
BQ9286.K42 2014
294.3’444—dc23
v3.1
TO THE GREEN TARAS IN OUR LIVES
Vicara Mary Connelly
Sara Avant Stover
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction
Acknowledgments

PART ONE HERE NOW
1 Diving In
2 Why Are You Here?
3 Who Are You?
4 Ego on the Path
5 The Conditioned You: Jealousy
6 The Conditioned You: Anger
7 Right View

PART TWO MONDO ZEN
8 Who Listens?
9 The Deepest You
10 Calling Awareness into Your Life
11 Awakening and Emotional Maturity
12 Meditation Guide
Appendix: On the Practice of Mondo Zen
Glossary
About Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi
About Keith Martin-Smith
INTRODUCTION
I have known Jun Po since 2007, and in 2009 I began collaborating with
him to create his award-winning biography A Heart Blown Open. That
book covered the entire arc of his remarkable life, ending with his
creation of an entirely new form of Zen that he calls Mondo Zen. This
book picks up where A Heart Blown Open left off, focusing entirely on the
body of what he has created, born of his insight and experience.
The Heart of Zen was created out of conversations Jun Po and I had
over many months, starting in the spring of 2012 and ending about nine
months later. He has a direct, literal way of speaking, and when I began
to transcribe our conversations I noticed that a lot of what he was saying
wasn’t translating as clearly as we wanted onto the page. Because of this,
I added in explanations, slowing everything down and making it, I hope,
much clearer.
The changes I made in the manuscript would go back to him, and he
would edit and correct any mistakes I had made. Once a week or so, we
would talk through some of the more complicated parts of the book.
Working this way, back and forth, was something we had already
become quite good at over the two years it took me to write A Heart
Blown Open.
So it was that we slowly crafted this book out of our live conversations
and the back and forth that followed. Our desire was to make what we
were saying clear to those who have not trained in Zen, and have not
spent the majority of their lives in spiritual pursuits.
It is our hope that the words here will act as a guide and a path
toward a life of deeper spiritual insight, emotional maturity, and lived
compassion.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The historical Buddha was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, born in
the sixth century BCE. He was an Indian prince who renounced his
throne and his wealth to find wisdom and liberation that transcended
power, money, or egoic satisfaction, all things he had been handed at
birth. He began the study and practice of yoga for eight years, and then
asceticism for four more. Frustrated with his inability to liberate himself
from his own suffering and mental delusion, he sat down in meditation
and resolved to stay until he freed himself from his own mind. Legend
holds he sat for forty days. However long he really sat, it was long
enough to Awaken from the dream of his own suffering. Siddhartha then
took the name “Buddha,” which simply means “Awakened.” He
Awakened from the dream of a separate self that had kept him, like so
many of us, in bondage.
Once he Awakened, or became fully Enlightened, he founded his own
yoga school. He taught the philosophy and practical disciplines that he
had used to liberate himself and end his ego suffering. Remarkably, he
taught for about fifty years, traveling through India with his disciples
and speaking about how others might attain the same state of liberation
that he possessed. His very long life and long time teaching meant that,
unlike many other religious teachers, the Buddha was able to offer very
clear instructions on meditation and other foundations for Buddhist
thought and practice, and to clarify the many mistakes that arose when
people misinterpreted what he was saying.
Although he did not personally write anything down, historical
records indicate that his first cousin, who came to be known as Ananda,
possessed a great memory and traveled with the Buddha for at least
twenty years, sometimes teaching in his place. When Siddhartha died,
his followers realized that they needed to record his teachings as quickly
as possible before they were lost or misinterpreted. Within a year they
had convened the First Buddhist Council. This was called around the
year 540 BCE, creating what became known as the Pali Canon, the
written record of the Buddha’s teaching.
The Pali Canon had three parts. The first was composed of rules for
the conduct of monks and nuns. The third contained the philosophy and
metaphysics of Buddhist thought. The second and most important part of
the canon was called the Sutta Pitaka, the spoken discourses and direct
teachings of the Buddha himself. These came directly from Ananda, who
faithfully reported all he could remember about his teacher.
Since the time of the Buddha, there have been many, many hundreds
of Enlightened masters, both men and women, who have carried on
these teachings and insights, right into today. Through the insight of
modern-day master philosophers and mystics such as Huston Smith,
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Aldous Huxley, Marianne
Williamson, Joseph Campbell, and Ken Wilber, just to name a few, we
have come to understand that Enlightenment is not something contained
in Buddhism or limited to a particular religion, but a state of
consciousness that can be realized by anyone, in any tradition, at any
time.
This book is composed of the teachings of Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi,
the eighty-third patriarch in the Rinzai Zen tradition, which traces itself
all the way back to Siddhartha Gautama himself. This book is the
accumulation of Jun Po’s life and his insight, which started in the West,
went to the East, and finally came back to integrate both. It is the story
of our times, and designed to connect the 1,000-mile journey between
your head and your heart in just a single step. It will teach you
emotional maturity, spiritual insight, and how to use the darkest and
most problematic parts of your personality as the very tools of your own
Awakening.
Your angst can and will become your liberation.
One final note: in 2009 I took lay (non-priest) vows with Jun Po, and
was given the dharma name “Kogen” (Japanese for “Tiger Eye”). In the
spring of 2012, I was ordained a Zen priest. After ordainment, we are
given a second name. Jun Po chose “Ananda” for me, the name of the
man who chronicled the Buddha’s teachings for posterity. It would seem
that I had work to do.
This is a start.
Keith Martin-Smith (a.k.a. Rev. Kogen Ananda)
Boulder, Colorado
Winter 2014