The Devils who helped me along the Way - 2

They may have done the wrong things in life but they were not evil in the sense that they willfully harm others for no apparent reason; they were simply surviving their lifestyles as drug dealers. I just happen to enter into their space and dimensions at the time of my life when i needed help and help was not forthcoming from the good Samaritans for some odd karmic reasons which included in my case being addicted to liquor and drugs. I had no faith in God nor was i disciplined in any form of spiritual practice when i was living in Green Bay, Wisconsin where for three year of my life i was working in the meat packing plants of green bay as well as Milwaukee. In those years i became worse than the cattle that i was boning. I became the animal with a warped human brain that cost me my marriage and family.
 When i first met Junpo Kelly, he took me under his wing as an assistant in the effort to set up his Zen Yoga center in Corte Madeira, Marin County. I learned from him that he had spent three years in the the federal Penitentiary at San Quentin for drug dealing. After that he had gave up the lifestyle and spent a few years in India studying the Iyengar Yoga and traveled to Ceylon or Sri Lanka where he took up Buddhist discipline. One can read more of his life in his link at the Hollow Bone Zen Center where he is presently the Abbot. My relationship with Dennis was short as turned out but we managed to set up the Kanzeon ZenYoga Center which was actually was located at a school building where Dennis had rented two classrooms and together we converted into a Zendo.  Having met Junpo Kelly was both a blessing and a curse for me as it was meant to be if one were on the way to find a Zen Way of Life.
Ron Parisoto was introduced to me by one of my Dharma Brothers at reen Gulch by the name of Jim Abrams a part Cherokee Native American who was on the road toward spiritual awakening just like i was. We became like brothers and through Jim I met the 'Buddha' Ron who resided at Stinson Beach on the way to Bolinas along the coastal Route 1. Ron was also known as one of the original Beach Bums of Stinson Beach and one will always find him and his fellow buddies hanging out playing frisbies or hacky sack along the beach. I was one of the few fortunate clients allowed into the circle of what were remnants of the Hippie era who settled in the area. Ron was a very spiritual person and was more into Hinduism following the teachings of Neem Karoli Baba through the works of Baba Ram Dass. We became very close friends or should i say brothers as I named my daughter's middle name of Estelle after Ron's mother's name. 
Estelle, Ron's mom was a great lady and we used to meet at the Round Table Pizza on San Bruno Avenue when I moved into the City after living out at Green Gulch. This was where we would hang out once a week and catch up on what went by, I was adopted into Ron's family more or less. I learned a great deal from having met such far- out character, full of energy, unassuming yet very deep in his ways. It was a privilege in more than one way as I was always treated with much care and concern as so were my wife and children when they were later added to the gang. The ganja was only a thread that had bind us together as did the beer and the pizza. 
Joshua Bowes was also a drug dealer when I met him and like most dealers i knew of he was always tight like he was walking on thin ice. I liked Josh from day one when i was introduced to me at the Green Gulch Zen Center. I would drop by His place whenever I was in the City as it was located in the Haight Ashbury, a few blocks from the Golden Gate Park. I used to enjoy lunch or dinner at the Chinese restaurant called Hunan on Haight which was located close by to Josh's apartment. The Chinese chef back then was a  close friend. Kung Pau chicken was one of my favorite without the sweet. 
It is not relevant now to go into detail of my relationship with my friend Joshua but needless to say I owed him a great deal as he took me in when i was booted out of the Zen Monastery at Green Gulch not in an unfriendly way but it was time to leave an make space for others in need of solace just like me. Josh also introduced me to Will Harris Jr. who i ended working for and later became the President of H&H Ship Services where i was his right hand man in charge of 'The yard'. If it had not been for Joshua I would have been out on the streets living like a homeless which I was at the point in my life. The strange thing was i was not afraid of not having a roof over my head nor was i afraid of not having a meal at the end of the day, I was pretty much confident that it was all working out as it should. I was till young then and pretty healthy and was ready to take on a Hobo's life it had come to it and continue on trekking the country as I felt the freedom in me to do so.
Having had the privilege of meeting these three gentlemen who in my book by their own achievements alone were special, I felt the predictions made by the lady who ran the curio shop on Page Street had came true. I had been aided by those who walked on the dark side of the law and survived to become great spiritual beings in their own right. They were t me the Bodhisatvas who played the role of Guardian of the Misbegotten or lost souls.