Houn Jiyu-Kennett
Encyclopedia
Houn Jiyu-Kennett, born Peggy Teresa Nancy Kennett, was a British
roshi
most famous for having been the first female to be sanctioned by the Soto School of Japan
to teach in the West. Jiyu-Kennett founded Shasta Abbey
in Mount Shasta, California
in 1970 after many years spent studying Zen
and Buddhism
in Asia
—mainly in Japan. Shasta Abbey was the first Soto Zen school in the United States to be established by a woman, and in 1978 Jiyu-Kennett's order became known as the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. After ordaining in the Chinese Linji
Chan school while in Malaysia, she left for Japan and trained at Sojiji under Keido Chisan Koho Zenji—from whom she received Dharma transmission
in 1963. Her order, which is celibate, now has chapters in the Netherlands
, Canada
, the West Indies, the United Kingdom
and Germany
—in addition to the United States.
, England
on January 1, 1924. As a young woman she found herself questioning gender role
s in society and grew to become disillusioned with Christianity
. She studied medieval music
at Durham University
and then received a scholarship to Trinity College of Music
in London, England. Though attracted to Buddhism
, she felt during this period that she was called to serve the Church of England
as a priest. However, church policies did not allow women to be ordained, and this enhanced her previous disillusionment with Christianity. She first became interested in Theravada Buddhism during this period of questioning and searching, joining the London Buddhist Vihara. In 1954 she joined the London Buddhist Society, where she continued her Buddhist studies and lectured. While there, she met the scholar D.T. Suzuki, and developed a strong interest in Zen Buddhism. In 1960 when Keido Chisan Koho of Sojiji in Japan
came to the society, she was asked to make the arrangements for his stay. Koho asked if she would consider becoming his student back in Japan. She accepted the offer, and two years passed before she arrived at Sojiji to study under him.
In January 1962 Jiyu-Kennett traveled to Malaysia to accept an award she had been honored with for setting a Buddhist hymn, "Welcome Joyous Wesak Day" by Venerable Sumangalo, to music. Before leaving for Japan she was ordained by Ven. Seck Kim Seng in the Lin Chi school and given the Buddhist name Sumitra, meaning compassionate friend (慈有, Ciyou in Chinese). Jiyu-Kennett arrived in Japan in 1962, where she remained until after the death of her master Koho in 1967. Because Koho was often preoccupied with administrative affairs, Jiyu-Kennett spent much of her time studying under one of Koho Zenji's senior officers, Suigan Yogo roshi
. According to James Ishmael Ford
, "Jiyu Kennett Roshi received Dharma transmission twice, from both Suigan Yogo Roshi and Chisan Koho Roshi. One of the interesting parts of Jiyu-Kennett's story is that her zuisse ceremony was conducted in public in Japan
, whereas previously women were more or less forced to undergo such ceremonies in private. Koho had decided that the practice of private ceremonies for women and public ceremonies for men was ultimately wrongheaded. According to her own account, "I have never done a ceremony with more terror inside me than that one with twelve men down each side, each one with curtains drawn as if to say 'I'm not here.' Those were the witnesses. Try that sometime! That can be pretty scary—in a foreign country, in a language you're not one hundred percent sure of, with a lot of people who are hating your guts. And the reason Koho Zenji did it—and I've got it on tape—was for the benefit of women in his country."
Following her graduation ceremony, Jiyu-Kennett was installed as abbess of a temple of Mie prefecture
known as Unpukuji, and by 1969 she had received authorization to begin teaching Sōtō
Zen in London, England. However, before returning to England, she decided to visit the San Francisco Zen Center
in San Francisco, California
to see why the organization had become so successful. It should be noted that at this time she was not in good health, as during her time in Japan she experienced many illnesses. Impressed with the quality of practice in California
, Jiyu-Kennett opted to remain in California and not return home. So she founded the Zen Mission Society in a small apartment in 1969, which moved to somewhere in Oakland, California
not long after. In 1970, "[Jiyu Kennett] developed a feministic Zen at the Shasta Abbey
, founded in Northern California in 1970." In 1972, two years after having founded Shasta Abbey
in California, Jiyu-Kennett's British chapter of the Zen Mission Society established Throssel Hole Priory in Northumberland
, England
.
. Still rather ill, of unknown causes, she had her student Daizui MacPhillamy with her often to tend to her care. Following a kensho
experience he had, she conferred Dharma transmission
to him at her bedside in 1976. Not long after she began having visions. Stephen Batchelor describes these episodes, "The visions lasted for 12 months, until 26 January 1977, the first twelve occurring in Oakland, the rest at Shasta, where she returned on 25 October. Each vision unfolded as a dream-like episode, charged with Western and Buddhist religious symbolism, superimposing itself on whatever she saw around her. She compared the series of visions to an elaborated contemporary version of the classical Zen images of the ten 'ox-herding' pictures. By the time the final vision faded, she was cured. She interpreted the experience as that of a 'third kensho.'" In 1985 new rules had been implemented within the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives that required monastics to be celibate, and Gyokuko Carlson
and Kyogen Carlson chose to part ways with the community rather than seek a divorce
. As a consequence, their center in Portland, Oregon
(today's Dharma Rain Zen Center) chose to break ties with Shasta Abbey, and ultimately invited the Carlsons to remain their leaders.
, for she believed that Zen in North America should adopt Western monastic dress and liturgical forms. For example, she set the traditional Buddhist liturgy to music based on Gregorian chant
s." Jiyu-Kennett had a commanding presence about her, both intellectually as well as physically. Of a rather husky build, she had a tremendous laughter and was known to be gifted at storytelling. To some, her demeanor appeared rather persistent at times, as author James Ishmael Ford
writes, "My memories of Jiyu Kennett Roshi as a teacher are mixed. She followed in the authoritarian style of her Japanese inheritance. Interpersonally, she was remarkably invasive. Indeed, in my twenties, she pushed me into a marriage with another student that would cause great unhappiness for both of us. On the other hand, she had genuine insight into the boundless realm and also pushed me toward my own deepest experience of the great matter." Jiyu-Kennett was an advocate for equality between the sexes, and was herself swayed by the idea that women would never be deemed as equal to men if they were not understood to possess souls. According to author Catherine Lowman, "She asserts that no woman will be certain she is equal 'until she knows with the certainty that I know, that her own Buddha-nature, or her own soul, exists.'"
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
roshi
Roshi
is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...
most famous for having been the first female to be sanctioned by the Soto School of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to teach in the West. Jiyu-Kennett founded Shasta Abbey
Shasta Abbey
Shasta Abbey is a Zen Buddhist Monastery, established in 1970 by Houn Jiyu-Kennett in Mount Shasta, California, in the United States. It is a training monastery, and is open to visitors who want to learn about Buddhism....
in Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta is a city in Siskiyou County, California, located at around 3,600 ft on the flanks of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark. The city is less than southwest of the summit of its namesake volcano...
in 1970 after many years spent studying Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
—mainly in Japan. Shasta Abbey was the first Soto Zen school in the United States to be established by a woman, and in 1978 Jiyu-Kennett's order became known as the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. After ordaining in the Chinese Linji
Linji
Línjì Yìxuán was the founder of the Linji school of Chán Buddhism during Tang Dynasty China. Linji was born into a family named Xing in Caozhou , which he left at a young age to study Buddhism in many places....
Chan school while in Malaysia, she left for Japan and trained at Sojiji under Keido Chisan Koho Zenji—from whom she received Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...
in 1963. Her order, which is celibate, now has chapters in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the West Indies, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
—in addition to the United States.
Biography
Houn Jiyu-Kennett was born as Peggy Teresa Nancy Kennett in St. Leonards-on-Sea, SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on January 1, 1924. As a young woman she found herself questioning gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
s in society and grew to become disillusioned with Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. She studied medieval music
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
at Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
and then received a scholarship to Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
in London, England. Though attracted to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, she felt during this period that she was called to serve the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
as a priest. However, church policies did not allow women to be ordained, and this enhanced her previous disillusionment with Christianity. She first became interested in Theravada Buddhism during this period of questioning and searching, joining the London Buddhist Vihara. In 1954 she joined the London Buddhist Society, where she continued her Buddhist studies and lectured. While there, she met the scholar D.T. Suzuki, and developed a strong interest in Zen Buddhism. In 1960 when Keido Chisan Koho of Sojiji in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
came to the society, she was asked to make the arrangements for his stay. Koho asked if she would consider becoming his student back in Japan. She accepted the offer, and two years passed before she arrived at Sojiji to study under him.
In January 1962 Jiyu-Kennett traveled to Malaysia to accept an award she had been honored with for setting a Buddhist hymn, "Welcome Joyous Wesak Day" by Venerable Sumangalo, to music. Before leaving for Japan she was ordained by Ven. Seck Kim Seng in the Lin Chi school and given the Buddhist name Sumitra, meaning compassionate friend (慈有, Ciyou in Chinese). Jiyu-Kennett arrived in Japan in 1962, where she remained until after the death of her master Koho in 1967. Because Koho was often preoccupied with administrative affairs, Jiyu-Kennett spent much of her time studying under one of Koho Zenji's senior officers, Suigan Yogo roshi
Roshi
is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...
. According to James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...
, "Jiyu Kennett Roshi received Dharma transmission twice, from both Suigan Yogo Roshi and Chisan Koho Roshi. One of the interesting parts of Jiyu-Kennett's story is that her zuisse ceremony was conducted in public in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, whereas previously women were more or less forced to undergo such ceremonies in private. Koho had decided that the practice of private ceremonies for women and public ceremonies for men was ultimately wrongheaded. According to her own account, "I have never done a ceremony with more terror inside me than that one with twelve men down each side, each one with curtains drawn as if to say 'I'm not here.' Those were the witnesses. Try that sometime! That can be pretty scary—in a foreign country, in a language you're not one hundred percent sure of, with a lot of people who are hating your guts. And the reason Koho Zenji did it—and I've got it on tape—was for the benefit of women in his country."
Following her graduation ceremony, Jiyu-Kennett was installed as abbess of a temple of Mie prefecture
Mie Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan which is part of the Kansai regions on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Tsu.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, Mie prefecture was known as Ise Province and Iga Province....
known as Unpukuji, and by 1969 she had received authorization to begin teaching Sōtō
Soto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...
Zen in London, England. However, before returning to England, she decided to visit the San Francisco Zen Center
San Francisco Zen Center
San Francisco Zen Center , is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising the City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
to see why the organization had become so successful. It should be noted that at this time she was not in good health, as during her time in Japan she experienced many illnesses. Impressed with the quality of practice in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Jiyu-Kennett opted to remain in California and not return home. So she founded the Zen Mission Society in a small apartment in 1969, which moved to somewhere in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
not long after. In 1970, "[Jiyu Kennett] developed a feministic Zen at the Shasta Abbey
Shasta Abbey
Shasta Abbey is a Zen Buddhist Monastery, established in 1970 by Houn Jiyu-Kennett in Mount Shasta, California, in the United States. It is a training monastery, and is open to visitors who want to learn about Buddhism....
, founded in Northern California in 1970." In 1972, two years after having founded Shasta Abbey
Shasta Abbey
Shasta Abbey is a Zen Buddhist Monastery, established in 1970 by Houn Jiyu-Kennett in Mount Shasta, California, in the United States. It is a training monastery, and is open to visitors who want to learn about Buddhism....
in California, Jiyu-Kennett's British chapter of the Zen Mission Society established Throssel Hole Priory in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Visions
In 1975 Jiyu-Kennett was stricken with illness yet again, and this time she became bedridden. In 1976 she resigned from her position as abbess of Shasta Abbey and went into retreat in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. Still rather ill, of unknown causes, she had her student Daizui MacPhillamy with her often to tend to her care. Following a kensho
Kensho
Kenshō is a Japanese term for enlightenment experiences. It is most commonly referred to in Zen Buddhism.Literally it means "seeing one's nature" or "true self." It generally "refers to the realization of nonduality of subject and object." Frequently used in juxtaposition with satori , there is...
experience he had, she conferred Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...
to him at her bedside in 1976. Not long after she began having visions. Stephen Batchelor describes these episodes, "The visions lasted for 12 months, until 26 January 1977, the first twelve occurring in Oakland, the rest at Shasta, where she returned on 25 October. Each vision unfolded as a dream-like episode, charged with Western and Buddhist religious symbolism, superimposing itself on whatever she saw around her. She compared the series of visions to an elaborated contemporary version of the classical Zen images of the ten 'ox-herding' pictures. By the time the final vision faded, she was cured. She interpreted the experience as that of a 'third kensho.'" In 1985 new rules had been implemented within the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives that required monastics to be celibate, and Gyokuko Carlson
Gyokuko Carlson
Gyokuko Carlson is a Soto Zen roshi and co-abbot of Dharma Rain Zen Center in Portland, Oregon, United States, along with her husband, Kyogen Carlson. Carlson and her husband practiced at Shasta Abbey when Jiyu Kennett was the abbot , leaving to found their own center in 1986 when celibacy became a...
and Kyogen Carlson chose to part ways with the community rather than seek a divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. As a consequence, their center in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
(today's Dharma Rain Zen Center) chose to break ties with Shasta Abbey, and ultimately invited the Carlsons to remain their leaders.
Teaching style
According to the book The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, "Her adaptation of Zen for Westerners has been likened to Japanese Soto Zen with a flavor of the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, for she believed that Zen in North America should adopt Western monastic dress and liturgical forms. For example, she set the traditional Buddhist liturgy to music based on Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
s." Jiyu-Kennett had a commanding presence about her, both intellectually as well as physically. Of a rather husky build, she had a tremendous laughter and was known to be gifted at storytelling. To some, her demeanor appeared rather persistent at times, as author James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford
James Ishmael Ford is an American Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948...
writes, "My memories of Jiyu Kennett Roshi as a teacher are mixed. She followed in the authoritarian style of her Japanese inheritance. Interpersonally, she was remarkably invasive. Indeed, in my twenties, she pushed me into a marriage with another student that would cause great unhappiness for both of us. On the other hand, she had genuine insight into the boundless realm and also pushed me toward my own deepest experience of the great matter." Jiyu-Kennett was an advocate for equality between the sexes, and was herself swayed by the idea that women would never be deemed as equal to men if they were not understood to possess souls. According to author Catherine Lowman, "She asserts that no woman will be certain she is equal 'until she knows with the certainty that I know, that her own Buddha-nature, or her own soul, exists.'"
See also
- Buddhism in EuropeBuddhism in EuropeAlthough there was regular contact between practising Buddhists and Europeans in antiquity the former had little direct impact. In the latter half of the 19th century, Buddhism came to the attention of Western intellectuals and during the course of the following century the number of adherents has...
- Buddhism in the United StatesBuddhism in the United StatesBuddhism is one of the largest religions in the United States behind Christianity, Judaism and Nonreligious, and approximate with Islam and Hinduism. American Buddhists include many Asian Americans, as well as a large number of converts of other ethnicities, and now their children and even...
- Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesTimeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesBelow is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.-Early history:* 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago...
External links
Canada
USA
- CA Berkeley Buddhist Priory
- CA Pine Mountain Buddhist Temple
- OR Eugene Buddhist Priory
- OR Portland Buddhist Priory
- OR Wallowa Buddhist Temple
- SC Columbia Zen Buddhist Priory
- WA North Cascades Buddhist Priory
UK
- Portobello Buddhist Priory
- Reading Buddhist Priory
- Telford Buddhist Priory
- Dharma Cloud Trust
- Jade Mountain - Blog