This book explores the idea that it is possible to be liberated from the suffering of this world, but that the path is a paradoxical one of embracing your ego even as you let it go. If you seek true liberation and freedom from the seemingly endless strife of life, you're in the right place.
Spiritual traditions promise liberation but too often ignore the reality of psychological shadows and the effects of childhood trauma – as countless spiritual scandals have proven. Psychotherapy promises peace, but our egos are incapable of generating it for any length of time. How does one integrate the deepest and wisest of spiritual traditions with what we know to be true about our culture, our minds, and our physiology?
The problem is division seems to be wound into the human condition. And our world is more divided than at any time in living memory. We are at war, both with each other and with ourselves. How do we find liberation from suffering, without ignoring trauma, through the insights gained in a world that have come face-to-face with #metoo and a post-George Floyd world?
A Heart Blown Open (Divine Arts Media, 2012)
Nautilus Award: Silver
Foreword Reviews: Finalist, Book-of-the-Year
This memoir chronicles the extraordinary journey of Zen master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, whose life landed him in prison long before he landed in a monastery. Experience the successes and failures that led him to found an entirely new form of Buddhism called Mondo Zen. Starting from an abusive and alcoholic home in Wisconsin, Kelly becomes a major force in the counterculture of the 1960s and one of its biggest manufacturers of LSD.
He ends up on the run for five years before serving time in a federal prison, and then goes on to spend six years in a Zen monastery. In his fiftieth year, he becomes a recognized Zen master in his own right, but the real journey is just about to begin.
"Written with extraordinary heart and skill, A Heart Blown Open chronicles the making of an Integral Zen master. Jun Po's life has been as unpredictable as it has been astounding.
Jun Po's dedication to exploring his own psychological shadows in light of his own awakening consciousness is the story of our times, and is an absolute must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in human evolution, and it was brought together brilliantly by Keith."
Ken Wilber, author of Integral Spirituality
The Heart of Zen (North Atlantic Books, 2014)
“This is one of the most important works on spiritual realization to be written in years. There’s really nothing like this out there…you really can’t afford to miss this revolutionary process for your own awakening and enlightenment. My absolutely highest recommendation” Ken Wilber, author of The Integral Vision
Take a step-by-step approach to a growing problem in spiritual circles. More and more of us are “waking up” into spiritual insight, only to get stuck. Life still comes at us full force, and hope can turn to frustration as the gulf between spiritual belief and everyday life looms ever larger.
Part discussion on these intricate topics and part experiential guide, The Heart of Zen offers a one-of-a-kind take on enlightenment, emotional maturity, and the honesty required to take one’s seat in true liberation.
Only Everything (Perception Press, 2018)
As a young man, Logan Downing trusted that with hard work, some talent, and a little luck he could have it all: fame, fortune, even the girl.
Yet when we catch up with present-day Logan something, somewhere has gone terribly wrong.
'Only Everything' explores art and ambition, love and loss, privilege and entitlement. It reveals how even the most beautiful of dreams can create unexpected pain, along with the possibility of redemption.
“From the banalities of the corporate work machine to the devastating effects of random brutality, 'Only Everything' is raw, riveting, and relatable, and leaves a lasting impression, an indelible imprint, on the heart and psyche….” Sarah Beasley, author of Kindness for All Creatures: Buddhist Advice for Compassionate Animal Care
The Mysterious Divination of Tea Leaves (John Hunt Publishing, 2009)
My first published book was a collection of 12 short stories.
The stories occur in contemporary urban America; the people are the dispossessed middle class looking for meaning and purpose in a world that seems to have lost both; the themes are as evocative as the language — love, brutality, tenderness, humor, forgiveness and redemption, death and rebirth.
This book is no longer in print but you can find three of its stories here on this website.