The Kwan Um School of Zen is an umbrella organization for the various Zen centers and groups founded by the Korean Zen master Seung Sahn. While it uses the liturgy and forms of the Korean Buddhist Chogye Order, the Kwan Um School has adapted to fit the needs of its Western students. Unlike the mainly monastic Chogye Order, the Kwan Um School welcomes laypeople as students and teachers. Although there are monks and nuns in the Kwan Um School, they are in the minority. Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and seeing deeply into the nature of things by direct experience. ... The Seon school is a Korean branch of Buddhism whose origins are from Chinese Chan and whose influence originated aspects of Japanese Zen. ... Seung Sahn Soen-sa (1927-2004) was a Zen master born in Seun Choen, North Korea. ... The grounds of Koreas Buryeongsa Temple. ... The Chogye Order (曹溪) is a monastic order of Zen Buddhism and serves as the largest denomination of Buddhism in Korea. ... The Chogye Order (曹溪) is a monastic order of Zen Buddhism and serves as the largest denomination of Buddhism in Korea. ...

Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the current head teacher of the order. Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) (1945 - present) is the current Guiding Dharma teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen founded by Seung Sahn. ...

Background

The Kwan Um School was founded by Zen Master Seung Sahn, a Korean Zen Master who came to America in 1970. Along with a handful of students, he rented out an apartment in Providence, Rhode Island, where he started the first Zen Center of the Kwan Um School. The Providence Zen Center eventually became the headquarters of the organization. Over the next 25 years, the Kwan Um School expanded to include many major U.S. cities, as well as countries in Europe, Africa, and South America. Today, there are approximately 50 centers around the world affiliated with the Kwan Um School. Nickname: Beehive of Industry, The Renaissance City, The Divine City Location in Rhode Island Coordinates: Country United States State Rhode Island County Providence  - Mayor David N. Cicilline (D) Area    - City 53. ... Official language(s) English Capital Providence Largest city Providence Area  Ranked 50th  - Total 1,214* sq mi (3,144* km²)  - Width 37 miles (60 km)  - Length 48 miles (77 km)  - % water 32. ...

The Kwan Um School has about a dozen Zen Masters. Zen Master Dae Kwang is the current abbot, and Zen Master Soeng Hyang (also known as Barbara Rhodes) is the school Zen Master. Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ...

Teachings

In the Kwan Um School, the primary forms of practice are chanting and sitting meditation, with bowing practice at occasional retreats. Students also work on Kong-Ans (or koans in Japanese) and are helped by teachers through interviews. As in most schools of Zen, scholarly study of the Buddhist scriptures is not necessary, and even discouraged if scripture study takes precedence over actual practice. The scriptures of Buddhism - and other religions as well - are, as is said in the Kwan Um school, a "finger pointing at the moon"; that is to say, they can help students with their practice, but should not be mistaken as the sole means to an end.^[1] This is opposed to other Buddhist schools, where study of scripture is considered to be an important step in attaining Enlightenment, or Nirvana. Also emphasized in the Kwan Um school is the concept of "Don't Know" mind. Zen Master Seung Sahn explained: A chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, either on a single pitch or with a simple notes and often including a great deal of repetition or statis. ... A large statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva meditating Meditation describes a state of concentrated attention on some object of thought or awareness. ... Bowing is the act of lowering the head, or sometimes the entire upper body from the waist, as a social gesture. ... A koan is a story, dialog, question, or statement in the history and lore of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet that may be accessible to intuition. ... Bodhi, the Pāli and Sanskrit word for awakening or enlightenment, is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (Pāli) and bodhati or budhyate (Sanskrit). ... (Devanagari , Pali: Nibbāna िनब्बान -- Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: nièpán, Japanese: 涅槃, nehan, Korean: 열반, yeol-bhan, Thai: Nibpan นิพพาน ), is a Sanskrit word that literally means extinction (as in a candle flame) and/or extinguishing (i. ...

Zen is very simple . . . What are you? In this whole world, everyone searches for happiness outside, but nobody understands their true self inside. Everybody says, 'I.' 'I want this, I am like that . . .' But nobody understands this 'I.'

Before you were born, where did your 'I' come from? When you die, where will your 'I' go? If you sincerely ask, 'What am I?', sooner or later you will run into a wall where all thinking is cut off. We call this 'Don't know.'

Zen is keeping this 'Don't know' mind always and everywhere.^[2]

Another way of describing "Don't know" mind is a clear mind. Thinking forms attachments, the school teaches; when there is no thinking, the mind can "let go" of attachments. The Kwan Um school also teaches the importance of being present in the moment. Teachers often express this by hitting the floor or shouting occasionally, bringing themselves and their audience back to the present moment. By practicing "don't know" mind and staying aware of the present moment using the methods described above, the student develops a "just do it" mind, where he/she can perceive the "correct situation, correct relationship, and correct function in each moment".^[3] In other words, regular practice enables a student to know what is the most beneficial thing to do in any given moment, and then to "just do it" without hesitation.

Most Kwan Um School centers hold periodic retreats, dharma talks, and introductions to Zen. Dharma (Sanskrit: धर्म) or Dhamma (Pāli: धमा) (Natural Law) refers to the underlying order in Nature and human behaviour considered to be in accord with that order. ...

Notes

External links

• Kwan Um School of Zen