Found out that my first Zen Teacher, Junpo Dennis Kelly had passed away sometime on May 12th. 2021, Dennis was born the 14th. of April 1942. I met Dennis through his mother Mrs. Rosella Kelly of Green Bay Wisconsin. We were both members of the Print Making Club at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. She must have been in her sixties back then and me in my thirties and she was a very outspoken and tough no nonsense elderly lady who one evening changed the direction of my life. I know I have written of this episode of my life a few times at least in the past postings of this lengthy blog, but it is worth it today to share again this event in light of discovering the passing away of my first Zen Teacher, Dennis Junpo Kelly. Dennis was the eldest of Rosella's children and the most controversial in character.
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.
Latest information I had of Mrs. Kelly is;-
Rosella R Kelly, aged 97,lives in 119 Union St Apt 107, River Falls, WI
Although the exact date has now become a blur in my consciousness, however the episode that took place between Rosella and I is always still vivid in my mind. We were both standing side by side cleaning our copper plates, polishing them till the shine which was part of the printmaking process. While wrapped in what I was doing I felt an elbow jabbed into my side from my elderly neighbor who said out of the blue, "Sam, I think it is time for you to move on from this place and situation you are in! You can go and join my son Dennis in New York where he has just been ordained as a Zen priest. I understood and accepted her insight into my life's situation back then where I was becoming an alcoholic and a drug addict abusing my relationship to a very fine lady who was a member of the University faculty. I agreed and in the same evening decided to make preparations to leave for New York.
My destination was to be;
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | 223 Beecher Lake Road, Livingston Manor, New York 12758-6000 |
| Country | United States |
| Architecture | |
| Founder | Soen Nakagawa Roshi & Eido Tai Shimano Roshi |
| Completed | July 4, 1976 |
| Website | |
| http://www.daibosatsu.org | |
Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, or International Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, is a Rinzai monastery and retreat center located in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Maintained by the Zen Studies Society, Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji
However this plan did not fan out because later that night I had a call from Rosella informing me of the change of my destination. Instead of New York I was to go to San Francisco because her son Dennis had decided to open his own Zendo or meditation hall in the West Coast instead of the East. Thus with yet another stroke from her my future was changed and I headed for the West Coast to meet her son Dennis, the ordained Rinzai Zen Monk. Dennis who was deeply involved with the Flower Power People at one time and had spen three years of his life at the San Quantin State Penitentiary for drug trafficking and who later explored Sri Lanka and India in search of truth and reality through Yoga and other meditation practices and returned to the US to join the Zen Buddhist school in New York.
When I first laid my eyes on Dennis he impressed me immediately as one who had that air of determination and commitment and willing to take on any challenge in pursuit of whatever he had laid his mind to accomplish. His appearance alone was awesome to behold especially when he was he was dressed up in the simple Japanese outfit of loose pants and the cross over top. Dennis was ball of energy it seems and was always in motion doing something and making things happen according to his plan. With the help of his younger brother Patrick we set up the Kanzeon Zen-Yoga Center at 20, Magnolia Blvd. in Corte Madeira. The Zendo was made out of two abandoned classrooms that Dennis had rented and converted into his scholl for the teaching of Zen meditation and his Hatha Yoga or as he called it Guerrilla Yoga classes. Dennis was a student of the Ashtanga Yoga, with BKS Ieyengar a famous Yoga teacher for his strenuous yoga techniques.
Ashtanga Yoga is an eight-limbed path towards achieving the state of Yoga, also known as Samadhi. The definition of Ashtanga Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, an ancient text on the theory and practice of Yoga thought to have been compiled in about 200 CE by Sage Patañjali
Dennis was also a Shakuhachi player or was practicing to become one as the flute is known to be a difficult instrument to master.
A shakuhachi is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the 'shakuhachi' was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the fuke shakuhachi. Wikipedia
Although our relationship was brief due to unforseen circumstances I held a great respect towards my teacher and friend and will forever hold him in high esteem as an accomplished individual who was able to turn his life from crime to spirituality serving many who in his later life benefited from his teachings. Rest in peace my friend.
#junpokelly,#daibosatsuzendo,#
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