Narrative Summary
Interview with Kelli Divincen by Lauren Harris
Much like many young children growing up in Midwest Missouri, Kelli Divincen was an
avid church attendee. She enjoyed going to many Christian groups, mainly of the Methodist and
Baptist faiths. She attended church camps and actively participated in youth groups during her
school years. Although she considered herself a close personal follower of God, Kelli had some
burning questions that were never logically answered when she asked. Nevertheless, Kelli’s faith
remained strong.
After graduating from High School in 2008, Kelli moved to Lawrence, Kansas to attend
the University of Kansas, where she studied dance. After one year in Lawrence, Kelli moved to
New York City to pursue a career in dance. On her first night in New York, Kelli befriended one
of her roommates with whom she stayed awake until five o’clock in the morning pondering and
discussing the complexities of religion. He said to her, “So, according to your religion, you think
I’m going to hell because I don’t believe Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven?” Kelli said,
“Yes, according to my religion.” The man responded, “But what do you think?” Kelli actually
did not think that at all. Her new friend advised her to figure that out. Kelli definitely had some
things to sort out.
Thankfully, within the next year, Kelli met Jed Forman through the Broadway Center
Dance Program, where she was training. Jed actively helped her sort through a lot of questions
and thoughts about religion. They would stay up late debating topics like life, death, form and
emptiness. When everyone would be cleaning up at the dance studio, the two of them would be
discussing religion and spirituality. As dancers, Jed and Kelli found a lot of common ground and
immediately clicked.
Missouri State University
Fall 2012
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women
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In 2010, Kelli and Jed moved to Los Angeles. About a year later, Jed visited the
Mahasuka Center in Culver City. He came home and set up an altar. Kelli was a bit startled; she
had been taught that worshiping anything other than the cross was wrong. But Kelli kept the
thoughts to herself and bit her tongue. Over the next month, she said Jed drastically changed. He
changed his relationship not only with Kelli, but also with life in general. Kelli took a huge step
forward and asked Jed to take her to his teacher at the Mahasuka Center.
When Kelli sat down and listened in meditation to what was going on in her head, she
was very surprised, she said. Kelli had a lot of negative narratives that had caused her a lot of
internal struggles over the years, especially from her time in New York. Meditation, yoga and
listening to the teachings of Lama Mira Kingsley cleared a spiritual path for Kelli that led her to
Buddhism.
Within two weeks, Kelli asked Mira Kingsley to be her Lama. Lama Mira Kingsley is her
inspiration and a wonderful teacher. Kingsley is a dance professor at the University of California
in Santa Barbara, so Kelli connected with her on many levels. Over the past year and a half,
Lama Mira has guided Kelli through her teachings, her actions and her mere presence in a room.
For Kelli, Lama Mira’s teachings come at the exact right time, as if she is reading her mind.
“That’s how you know if you’ve taken the right teacher,” Kelli says.
When asked about her family’s reaction to her new lifestyle in Buddhism, Kelli laughs
loudly and sighs. Kelli’s parents were not very understanding about her new pathway at first.
Their traditional Christian values do not uphold Kelli’s spiritual path. Eventually though, after
several months, lots of tears and a little bit of yelling, her mother and father started to accept the
changes and embrace their daughter’s righteous decision.
Missouri State University
Fall 2012
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women
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Today, Kelli is living in Los Angeles and studying to become a Massage Therapist at the
National Holistic Institute in Studio City, California. She is also working to complete five
hundred hours of yoga certification through White Lotus Yoga in Santa Barbara, California. She
has also started a teen youth group at two locations in Los Angeles called “Peace In, Peace Out.”
In addition, Kelli is following in the footsteps of Mira Kingsley and completing courses to
become a Lama herself. On Kelli’s twenty-third birthday, Jed proposed to her during a weekend
trip to Yosemite. Kelli and Jed will be married by their Lama Mira Kingsley.
At the end of the interview, Kelli added a very interesting analogy to the conversation.
She said Buddhism is like the bowl to hold the fruits of all other religions – Christianity is an
orange, Hinduism is an apple, etc. Buddhism is more of a kind, giving, and moral lifestyle – the
path to hold it all. Kelli concluded with these words, “Anything to be a better person is really the
only thing that counts. It’s the only thing that matters in life – is just being kind.”
Missouri State University
Fall 2012
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women