by Reishin Denise Leong
A few months after Jun Po Roshi died in 2021, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and pulled it out to see who was calling. To my astonishment, there was Jun Po with that smile of his. I had butt-dialed him! How bizarre.
I listened, though, with a soft smile when I heard his voice once again offering the invitation to “… please leave a message.”
I hung up the phone (Mondo-style) and reflected on some of the messages Jun Po left me:
- If you have lost your humor, you have lost your way.
- “Try” is the ego’s escape clause.
- My precious, my precious!! [ego]
- Your angst is your liberation.
- Who are you? FESTIVE SPA*
- Feeling is information.
- If you have a bad script for your life, fire your scriptwriter! Hire a new one.
- Facing my death has been the resurrection of my life.
- Get the joke!
- Look! Look! Pure Awareness, yes!
- This heart can never be broken.
- Clear Deep Heart-Mind
And yours…?
If you remember how Jun Po helped you abide in Clear Deep Heart Mind, helped you awaken, brought more joy into your life, or in any way helped relieve your suffering, please take time to sit with sangha and in gratitude, celebrate the life, teachings, and times of Jun Po Kando Denis Kelly Roshi, founder of Hollow Bones Zen.
Join us online or in person on Saturday, April 18, for our annual Jun Po Memorial Sit.
“Please leave a message.”
“Transmission complete.”
*From Jun Po’s Mondo Manual: You are Fearless, Eternal, Silent, Timeless, Imperturbable, Vast, Empty Still/Serene, Peaceful, Aware (FESTIVE SPA)
