Rev. R?shi P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett, Born in England in 1924, Reverend Master P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett became a Buddhist at an early age, studying Theravada Buddhism. She was later introduced to Rinzai Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki in London, where she held membership in, and lectured at, the London Buddhist Society. She studied at Trinity College of Music, London, and Durham University, and pursued a career as a professional musician before meeting her future master, the Very Reverend Keid? Chisan Koh? Zenji. Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett began her priest training in 1962, with her ordination into the Chinese Buddhist Sangha in Malaysia by the Very Reverend Seck Kim Seng, Archbishop of Malacca. She then continued her training in Japan under Koh? Zenji, who was then Chief Abbot of Dai Hon Zan S?jiji, one of the two head temples of S?t? Zen Buddhism in Japan. In 1963 she received Dharma Transmission from him and was later certified by him as a R?shi (Zen Master). She held several positions during her years in Japan including that of Foreign Guestmaster of Dai Hon Zan S?jiji and Abbess of her own temple in Mie Prefecture. It had always been Koh? Zenji's sincere wish that S?t? Zen Buddhism be successfully transmitted to the West by a Westerner. He worked very hard to make it possible for Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett to train in Japan and, after his death, she left Japan in order to carry out this task. In November 1969, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett came to San Francisco on a lecture tour, and as her following of disciples grew rapidly, the Zen Mission Society was founded and moved to Mount Shasta, where Shasta Abbey was founded in November 1970. The Zen Mission Society was reorganized as The Order of Buddhist Contemplatives in 1978. Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett served twenty-six years as Abbess and spiritual director of Shasta Abbey, ordaining and teaching monks and laypeople. She founded Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in England in 1972 and was Head of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. Her written legacy as a Zen Master includes the books Zen is Eternal Life; How to Grow a Lotus Blossom; The Wild, White Goose; The Book of Life and The Liturgy of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives for the Laity. The Roar of the Tigress, a collection of her edited lectures, was published after her death. She died on November 6, 1996.
