Iron City Rinzai started in March of 2022 and is affiliated with the international Korinji Rinzai Zen Community. We offer weekly zazen, chanting practice, and talks on basic Buddhism, as well as longer retreats.
Keizan Genryo Jones, Osho, began Zen practice in 1993 at the Columbia Zendo in Columbia, MO with Tim Jundo Williams and Jane Shotaku Lago. He entered Sogenji Monastery in Okayama, Japan in 1997, where he did sanzen with Shodo Harada Roshi for 3 1/2 years. During this time he served as personal attendant to Sogenji’s retired abbot, Yokuin Ippo Osho, for 2 years. He was ordained in 1999, receiving the name Genryo (Mysterious Help). He returned to the U.S. in 2001, and has practiced with a variety of zen groups in a number of cities over the years, including some years of daily practice at Butsugenji in Eugene, OR with Ejo McMullen Osho.
He began working with Meido Moore Roshi of Korinji Monastery in 2020, and became his sanzen student in 2022. Meido Roshi has given him the name Keizan (Reverence Mountain) and recognition as an Osho capable of serving as Jushyoku, or incumbent priest, for a local sangha. In the Rinzai tradition this means he can instruct beginners, give dharma talks, and conduct ceremonies, but cannot take on sanzen students for koan training. Please see Korinji’s Policy Regarding Ordained or Teacher Status for more on the scope of a priest’s role, including the following: “Zen students are ultimately responsible for their own spiritual development, beliefs and psychological well-being. As free adults with agency, they are encouraged to seek out formal spiritual direction or psychological counseling as they deem necessary from therapists or other persons trained in those professional disciplines.”
As a youth, Genryo was active in his hometown hardcore music scene, playing in bands and helping organize and run an all-ages venue for several years. He studied poetry as an undergrad, which is how he discovered Zen. He has a Master’s of Library & Information Science degree and worked for many years as a Children’s Librarian in the Public Libraries of Chicago’s NW suburbs. He is married with two children and has been an at-home parent since 2014, in support of his wife’s academic career as a mental health researcher and advocate. Genryo also volunteers as a Buddhist chaplain for the local incarcerated population with Pittsburgh’s Stillworkers.