Who we are
Our founder and the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives
The founder of Dragon Bell Temple, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, was an English woman who was ordained in Malaysia in the Chinese Buddhist tradition and then went on to study in Japan where she eventually became a roshi, or master, and was authorised to teach and to ordain men and women as monastics.
Those of us in the West, who follow Soto Zen as passed on by Rev. Master Jiyu, describe ourselves as the Serene Reflection Meditation tradition and our monastic Sangha and lay ministers together
comprise the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. (The OBC has its own web site www.obcon.org if you would like to know more )
The style of practice and teaching at the temple has its roots firmly in the tradition and yet has a form that over the last forty years and more has adapted to the needs of Western people.
In the OBC men and women train together and have equal status and recognition. All ranks and both sexes are addressed as ‘Reverend’ and are referred to as monks and priests. The monastic order is celibate and is entirely dependant on the support of the lay Sangha.
Resident teacher
Willard Lee looks after the temple, he is an ordained monk of the OBC and a disciple of Reverend Master Daishin Morgan.
He became the Prior in the autumn of 2020
In gratitude
Reverend Master Myfanwy McCorry established Dragon Bell Temple in 2002 and acted as its prior until her death in 2020
Before coming to Devon, both Myfanwy and Willard lived and trained at Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland.
