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 several 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.) He started Iron City Rinzai in March of 2022. Iron City Rinzai is affiliated with the international Korinji Rinzai Zen Community.
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.