Resources
Mondo Zen Process Resources
There is a huge amount of unnecessary suffering in the world—unnecessary because it does not arise directly from our life circumstances, but from the conditioned way in which we react to our own memories, stories and beliefs. From the ego’s perspective, emotions such as anger, shame, depression, and anxiety appear to be involuntary and automatic. We seem to be “at the mercy” of these emotions. But, in fact, they are not just emotions, but reactive forms of violence, directed against self and others. Because of our ego confusion, we waste tremendous amounts of time and energy in self-defeating emotional patterns.
What is Mondo Zen?
In ancient China and Japan Mondo also known as "Dharma Combat" was a public dialogue between student and teacher. JunPo Roshi has brought this dialectical dialogue process into the 21st century in a way that resonates with our modern minds and contemporary western culture.
Mondo Zen Retreats
Hollow Bones Zen retreats, now called Mondo Zen Sesshin, are a modern adaptation of the traditional Japanese Rinzai Zen retreats. All practices during the 7-day, and 3-day retreats offered by Hollow Bones are done in English in order to facilitate direct, personal understanding of the methods and goals. In addition to traditional Zazen (sitting meditation) and Koan study, Yoga or Internal Martial Arts is part of the daily practice. In this school of Zen, it is essential that you awaken, and there is a fierce, yet compassionate, insistence that you do so now. Meditating and sitting quietly is not enough! You must realize your inherent freedom. You must answer the question, “Who are you?” from the purest depths of realization, moving far beyond the normal modes of speculative thought. The Hollow Bones retreats offer men and women the opportunity to experience the “answer” to this question in a way that transcends all hope, fear, and doubt. Our retreats are co-ed unless specifically described on the booking page.
Books
The Heart of Zen (North Atlantic Books, 2014) is a dialog between Zen master Junpo Denis Kelly Roshi and Keith Martin-Smith.
While we are more and more familiar with popular ideas of enlightenment and spiritual awakening, life still comes at us full force, and hope can turn to frustration as the gulf between our spiritual belief and our everyday life seems to loom ever larger. Through spirited Q&A sessions with Zen master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, The Heart of Zen takes a gradual, step-by-step approach to what has become a vexing problem in spiritual circles.
“This is one of the most important works on spiritual realization to be written in years. You can’t afford to miss this revolutionary process for your own enlightenment.” Ken Wilber, author of Sex, Ecology, Spirituality
Denis Kelly’s life is part Hunter S. Thompson, part Timothy Leary, and part Eckhart Tolle. From his beginnings in an abusive and alcoholic home in Wisconsin to becoming a major force in the counterculture movement, and then from a life on the run and in prison to a life in a monastery and in service, it is as entertaining as it is inspirational.
A Heart Blown Open chronicles the life and teachings of Zen master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi as he worked to integrate hard-won wisdom into his dynamic life. Experience the successes and failures that brought him to found an entirely new form of Zen called Mondo Zen. Extraordinary for their playfulness, depravity, and liberating insight, Jun Po’s life events swirl together to underscore and illuminate the environment from which one of the most controversial masters of the American Zen scene has emerged.