The Heart of Zen: Enlightenment, Emotional Maturity, and What It Really Takes for Spiritual Liberation
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.
What is missing is integration. If awakening truly transforms every part of the life of a person, where are we getting stuck? How can negative emotions like anger, shame, envy, and jealousy continue to arise? How do our relative egos relate to the Zen teaching of Emptiness, and what does this mean for our intimate relationships, our emotional bodies, our views of the world and its problems?
The Heart of Zen represents the next generation of spiritual books because it addresses awakening and spiritual life within the context of creating lasting change through the integration of spiritual insight into the flow and flux of everyday life. Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi explains how well trained meditation students may learn to be nonreactive to emotions, but they seldom learn how to transform their negative emotions (and the ego that holds them) as part of a more deeply integrated, lived spirituality. Part discussion and part experimental guide, The Heart of Zen book describes precisely what this means in great detail and with exercises for the reader to follow.
Reviews (53)
A Must Read Book for Any Serious Meditation Practioner
Wow, I finished this book in two days. These lively Q&As between Junpo and Martin-Smith are priceless. Together, the two of them tackle difficult questions that any long term practitioner will have encountered. The first chapter, "Diving In" is an introduction to Zen Master Junpo Denis Kelly Roshi, his school of Mondo Zen, and his journey to awakenment. Anyone intrigued by Junpo's life stories would enjoy, A Heart Blown Open: The Life and Practice of Zen Master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi. The following chapters deal with questions of what is the ego? What is enlightenment? What is the relationship between enlightenment and ego? Junpo clarifies the rampant fallacy of trying to transcend and get away from the ego. They also speak about the usefulness of maps and guides to enlightenment as well as the danger of confusing the map with the territory. The next chapters go into the Mondo Zen koan process of teacher-student interviews. Mondo Zen has 13 Koans beginning with insight question and then proceeding to emotional koans. I have to say this is pretty radical. In many Zen schools, students can go years on a single koan in utter confusion. Here, Junpo is giving away the question, answer, and even how he verifies the answer is correct, or more accurately, that the answer is coming from the correct place. But, intellectually knowing the right answer and being able to embody and speak from Clear Deep Mind are completely different. The most valuable contribution of this book, of Mondo Zen, is addressing the question how to integrate those sublime, meditation insights into everyday life? As Junpo notes, meditation can help a person remain non-reactive in the midst of intense emotional states such as anger or depression. However, true awakening requires more than that. He calls for seeing into the information within emotions as another sense perception. This means to not just be able to withstand difficult emotions but to make friends with them. This is the key to radical transformation of character, of being able to respond even in the most challenging situations from a place of calm clarity. How to transform the experience of negative emotions into insight? Junpo combines the best of Zen with modern psychotherapy understanding to help students truly experience and transform powerful emotions such as depression, anger, and fear. He points out awakened people experience feelings even more intensely, but there is also a choice whether we listen to them or turn away to continue suffering. In many ways, this reminded me of Sartre's words, "Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does." Likewise, much of the emotional work reminds me of similar teachings in Non-Violent Communication and humanistic psychology. Warning, this is not a feel good, self-improvement type book. Junpo's intensity is conveyed even through the written word when he says, awakening is a matter of life and death. The chapter on meditation instruction begins with a quote, "Sit down, shut up, and listen!" As Keith mentions, Junpo is calling on the reader to take radical, full responsibility for their lives. Meditation helps us to see clearly that we are always choosing how we respond to the world and ultimately have a freedom and responsibility to choose compassionately. Not just in our sitting practice but in all aspects of our life such as our choice of transportation and food. One caution or possible negative of the book is it might be an advanced Buddhist book. I'm worried beginners would be lost. I dove in without any doubts because I already have a taste for Buddhist language, meditative practice, and personal life experience to know Junpo's words are true. To Keith Martin-Smith's credit, he jokingly mentions several times the idea of readers closing the book in disgust. He also repeatedly asks for clarification or personal examples from Junpo. There's even a glossary defining terms such as emptiness. For my new, practice friends, I would suggest reading their previous book, A Heart Blown Open first. On the plus side, I can easily see this book being picked up several times throughout my life and getting a different inspiration and insight each time. Another possible con is that Junpo, himself, says that these koan interviews are best done with a qualified teacher. Although the book provides great insights and ideas, readers won't become a Buddha by only reading it. Mondo Zen is at the cutting edge forefront of a movement within Buddhist circles to tackle the next step beyond just meditation practice and philosophical study. How to truly become fully awaken, how to modernize Buddhism to be relevant and resonant to a modern culture, and ultimately what's the point of it all this study and practice if it doesn't transform our character and help heal the real suffering in the world? I hope this book helps you as much as it did me.
Not a bad read
I enjoyed Denis' take on Zen. Fun and approachable, the way it ought to be, but with some grit to it. Now that the over-marketing of Zen has all but destroyed any real value the word has left, it was a treat to hear a discussion of it in a more raw, real manner. Still, I can't escape the feeling that it may have been written too soon. By no means a lousy book, but I finished it and let it go. No real reason to keep it on my shelf.
Must Read for Zen Folks and Seekers of all Sorts
I read this book as soon as it came into my hands. For some time I have admired JunPo Denis Kelly and the Mondo Zen approach, and I very much enjoyed Keith Martin-Smith's biography of him. This book expands into the ideas and framework of Mondo Zen, and describes Mondo's unique merging of traditional Zen with modern emotional literacy and ethics. Readers who have enjoyed works ranging from Eckart Tolle to Gurdjieff will find this book to be sheer catnip with its clear and sensible description of the phenomenon of ego, and presentation of ways to interact with it. For example, a key teaching of JunPo is to collaborate with the ego, to enlist it in the goal of awakening, a major difference from Tolle. The use of a dialogue format is very helpful, for it allows JunPo to speak in his own unique voice and humor, while allowing Martin-Smith to serve as an informed but inquisitive interviewer: just as a question forms in the reader's mind, Martin-Smith is there to ask it, and JunPo to answer. By the end of the book, the entire Mondo Zen koan process has been presented and elucidated, with detailed commentary, as well as encouragement and inspiration. For students of Zen, as well as students of psychology and self-improvement, this book is an invaluable and enjoyable read!
A practical, no bs discussion about what it means to live Zen
Raw, Gritty, Disciplined, Practical - The conversation in Heart of Zen approaches spirituality with both a No-BS attitude and an open hearted tone. I enjoyed Jun Po's combination of unconventional approach and rigorous practice. I was confronted to take responsibility for my spiritual practice over and over throughout the text. It was mentally and morally challenging, inspiring me to both take my practice more seriously and my ego less seriously. I found the reading itself entertaining. At the end, I came out of the reading experience quieter, more settled, with a wider scope of visions and more space to notice the stuff of my mind rather than just act on it. Thank you for that.
Great modern re-visioning of koan practice
Traditional koan practice was designed to bring students to realization by confounding the conventional mind with questions whose answers could only be given directly from enlightened awareness. Jun Po has taken this same practice and given a lot more to the student by starting them off with instructions designed to get them in that awareness to begin and then deepen that awareness with subsequent questions and pointing out instructions. The fact that this book spends a lot of time on emotional reactivity and how to have those moments of upset or struggle help remind us of our awareness as opposed to something that pulls us out of enlightened awareness is a big step forward. Keith Martin-Smith has put together a great book and his dialogs with Jun Po are spot on, covering questions that directly relevant from the reader's perspective. And his introductions to the chapters are a good grounding point. Looking forward to a Mondo retreat someday. Only thing that gets me a little is online on the website all the trademark symbol after Mondo Zen™ makes it feel a little productized. I know you need to protect the brand but it'd be nice to have that stated in a footer and not used every time it's written.
Real Deal
One could say that it pretty much lays out the ... Heart of Zen
I immensely enjoyed reading this book and found it inspiring
I immensely enjoyed reading this book and found it inspiring. Jun Po is easy to understand and relates personal examples to bring his ideas to life. Loved the idea of creating spaciousness in our thoughts so we can learn to respond instead of react.
Essential Buddhism
This is a post post modern Buddhism. I recommend this book to anyone who thinks they may want to further pursue Mondo Zen. Having had the good fortune to briefly experience Mondo Zen with Genpo Roshi at an Integral Spiritual Experience and being a practicing Vajrayana/Mahayana Buddhist, I can say that this book is great way to experience or get the flavor of Mondo Zen without a teacher. It is said that Mondo Zen is essential Buddhism and Vajrayana/Mahayana Buddhism is complete Buddhism. I believe this to be true based on my experience with both.
I really enjoyed the conversation
Fascinating book. A definite game changer in regards to a deeper, more modern practice of Zen. I really enjoyed the conversation. I feel a deepening in my own practice from having read this book. This is my favorite book on Zen, hands down. I will, and have, return to it repeatedly. There is much wisdom here. In gratitude.
Authentic and practical
First, I'll be transparent and say I have been training with Junpo since 2002, before Mondo Zen existed as presented here. Second, I have a degree in literature, so automatically an objective mind kicks in when reading and reviewing written works. Some cultural context: In our consumer society, which thrives on wanting-getting-having, there is no lack of books, retreats and methods promising the secrets to a happy life, including ones claiming to be "zen." Moreover, "meditation" is for sale in so many flavors and colors it looks like the cereal aisle in a supermarket. But "happiness" cannot really be "had," because the other side of that coin is never far away. Which is why people keep seeking it; it doesn't stay. And which is why it is said the difference between a seeker and a finder is meditation practice. It would be helpful to note that what many people call "meditation" is actually "concentration" (repetition of a word/mantra, breath counting, etc.), or distraction or even hallucination (sensory-focused or fantastic visualizations). This is simply to clarify that concentration is what we do; meditative mind is the consciousness in which the experience of "me" arises. "I" do not meditate. Meditation simply is. "Right Understanding" is the first step to discovering meditative mind, and this distinction is part of the shift. Mondo Zen is the most effective means I have encountered that facilitates an authentic experience of meditative mind, then provides real-time means to understand and root this awareness, and tools to integrate it in to daily living. Simplicity is often the most powerful, and this technology is very effective at aiding one to unravel the spaghetti of conditioning and identity that blocks insight in to our pure, selfless awareness. But, true to Rinzai Zen tradition, Junpo compassionately and vigorously insists, that a good meditation buzz is not enough. We must bring our insight through our newly informed sense of "self," and manifest it in our relationships, actions and choices. Having trained with Junpo all these years, I have heard everything in this book dozens of times. Yet, somehow, he and author Martin-Smith, in their relaxed yet on-point dialog, gave setting for me to understand more clearly, to have deeper insight, to integrate my understanding. Perhaps this is to be expected, since, as Junpo says, "Meditation never ends." Anyone can gain real and practical insight and tools from "The Heart of Zen." It matters not what beliefs you do or don't hold, or what tradition your spiritual practice is. Nor need one be or become "Buddhist." Pure selfless awareness, unmoving Silence, has no practice or tradition. Do you want graceful and expedient support in accessing this awareness that is already in you? Read this book. And maybe come to a Mondo Zen retreat. Books are great, but nothing but the real experience can free you.
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