"I have to say I don't think I can ever recall knowing a life story that is as varied and as rich and as wild and as full of extremes, as yours—all leading to what I think can only be called a happy ending!" –Ken Wilber

"His life has been almost unimaginably full of different roles: world traveller, seeker of wisdom, ascetic, holder of vast wealth and power, lover of women, homeless mendicant, wanderer, fearless warrior, father and husband, spiritual adept, yogi, federal prisoner, family deserter, hedonist Zen Master…." –Keith Martin-Smith, author of A Heart Blown Open

In this provocative and exhilarating dialogue, Jun Po Roshi and Ken Wilber take an in-depth look at Keith Martin-Smith's new book: A Heart Blown Open: The Life and Practice of Zen Master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi. For most of us, we would need to reincarnate at least 50 times in order to attain such an incredible volume of experience. But for whatever reason, it seems that Jun Po decided to go a slightly different route, and chose to live all 50 of those lives at once.

Here is his remarkable story: a riveting tale of enlightenment, debauchery, and infinite jest.

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Beyond Practice: The Power of What Is
Keith Martin-Smith

In this excerpt from A Heart Blown Open, Keith-Martin Smith describes Jun Po's encounter with Swami Gauribala:

"On their drive back to the ashram, Kelly realized that Swami Gauribala was a fully enlightened being, and the fullness of his realization made it that much harder to see through his jokes, kindness, and general affability. The roshis, lamas, and rinpoches in Buddhism (those who teach), and the monks, priests, and ordained teachers in Christianity covered themselves in fine robes, surrounded themselves with attendants and devotees, had formal ceremonies to contain their lectures, and rigid practices their students were to follow. Swami Gauribala wandered around in a sari with his belly hanging out, food in his wild beard, and was happy to sit in the dirt and wait for a student. He would just as comfortably talk with a toothless beggar as a visiting head of state.

For Gauribala, everything that arose was the perfection of God. He was not, like Kelly, out to change the world for he saw the world was perfect as it was. It was evolving, perhaps, closer to an understanding of its own Divine Face, but it was perfect. How did one change or alter perfection? How did one judge it as incomplete? How could one attempt to change it and mold it to fit their narrow ideas of what should be?"

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Bad Apple
Jeff Salzman and David Riordan

In this week's Daily Evolver we examine the recent news about working conditions in China's manufacturing plants, with Apple products like the iPhone and iPad at the center of this controversy. As much as we love Apple's products and the value they bring to our lives, how do we assess the conditions that they are manufactured under in China? What is our own responsibility as consumers in terms of looking at the shadow side of Apple's presence in the manufacturing world?

Jeff and David examine the strengths of modernity's relentless drive to increase profits, generate wealth, and raise the standard of living for everyone involved. But what happens when the developed world begins to come to terms with the substandard conditions workers in many developing nations labor under? Do we have a right to demand that American companies like Apple set a higher standard? What do we say to cultural commentators who point out that people in China are lining up to work in these plants, because they offer a major improvement over their rural lifestyles? How do we respond when a grievance petition initiated by workers in these plants is delivered to Apples flagship store in New York City?

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