SPEAKERS Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the Vice School Zen Master and Guiding Dharma Teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen, and the guiding teacher of Zen centers and groups in Connecticut, Florida, Chicago, and Colorado. She received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn on October 10, 1992. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn's first American students and has been studying with him since 1972. She was given inka in 1977. A registered nurse since 1969, she works for Hospice Care of Rhode Island. She helped found Providence Zen Center, and lived there for seventeen years, serving in a number of administrative capacities. She also initiated Providence Zen Center's ongoing series of Christian-Buddhist gatherings. She has two daughters and lives in Providence. Teaching Article Archive  Zen Master Dae Kwang is the abbot of the Kwan Um School of Zen. He is the guiding teacher of Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode Island, the head temple of our international School. He is also the teacher for Zen centers in Wisconsin, Delaware, and Alaska. Zen Master Dae Kwang travels widely, leading retreats throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. His interests include meditation practices common to Christianity and Buddhism. He was ordained a monk in 1987.  Teaching Article Archive    Listen to Dharma Talk Archive  Zen Master Wu Kwang (Richard Shrobe) is guiding teacher of the Chogye International Zen Center of New York and lives in New York with his family. Before he began practicing Zen he studied intensively with Swami Satchidananda, living with his wife and children for four years at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York. He has a Master's degree in Social Work and did six years of postgraduate study in Gestalt, including training with Laura Perls. He has been director of a drug program, and has served as an instructor in psychiatry and Gestalt therapy. He started practicing with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1975 and was given inka in 1984. He received dharma transmission on August 1, 1993. A former piano player, his undergraduate training was in music, and he also studied with jazz pianist Barry Harris. Currently he has a private practice in psychotherapy specializing in the Gestalt approach. His first book Open Mouth Already a Mistake is available from our Primary Point Press. Teaching Article Archive  Zen Master Dae Bong, a Zen monk, received dharma transmission in April 1999. He began practicing with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1977 and became a monk in 1984. Before studying Zen, he worked as a counselor in a hospital and as a welder in a shipyard. He has practiced and taught extensively in Zen Centers throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He is currently living at Hwa Gye Sa in Seoul with Zen Master Seung Sahn. Teaching Article Archive Zen Master Dae Kwan, a Zen nun, was born in Hong Kong. She was previously called Hyang Um Sunim, and her Pali name is Suddhamma. In the 1970s she studied sutras for three years at the Kwok Kwong Buddhist College. In 1981, she ordained at Ajahn Chaa's International Forest Monastery in Thailand, and she practiced in Chiangmai for ten years including two years of intensive solo retreat in Tu Boo Cave. In 1995, she received inka from Zen Master Seung Sahn. In April 2001 she received tranmission at Kye Ryong Sahn International Zen Center/Mu Sang Sa in Korea. She is now the abbot and guiding teacher of Su Bong Zen Monastery in Hong Kong. She has translated the following books into Chinese: "Dropping Ashes on Buddha," "Only Don't Know," and "The Whole World is a Single Flower" Teaching Article Archive Zen Master Bon Soeng (Jeff Kitzes) received Transmission in April 2001.  He has been practicing Zen since 1975, and began practicing with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1979. He is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, with a specialty in the integration of Zen Buddhism and Western Psychotherapy. He is the abbot and guiding teacher of Empty Gate Zen Center in Berkeley, California. Teaching Article Archive Kwang Myong Sunim, JDPS was ordained a Zen nun in 1990 and received inka in April 1996. Formerly the abbot of Furnace Mountain in Kentucky, she is now the guiding teacher of our Queensland Zen Centre and works as a hospice chaplain in Brisbane.  Teaching Article Archive Mu Shim Sunim JDPS, is the abbot and guiding teacher of Kye Ryong San International Zen Center/Mu Sang Sa. He first came to Korea from the United States in 1984 after meeting Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1979 at the Cambridge Zen Center. He received ordination as a bhikkhu in the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism in 1986. He served Zen Master Seung Sahn as his personal secretary and assistant for fifteen years, during which time he traveled extensively with him. He was also able to experience Zen practice and retreats at various Korean Zen temples such as Su Dok Sa, Shin Won Sa, and Bomo Sa. Mu Shim Sunim received inka from Zen Master Seung Sahn and the authority to teach Zen as a Ji Do Poep Sa in January 1997. Fluent in the Korean language, Mu Shim Su Nim JDPS has edited a new Korean translation of the kong-an book, The Whole World is a Single Flower, published in Seoul in May 2001. Teaching Article Archive Chong Hae Sunim JDPS is the abbot of the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He is the guiding teacher of the Zen Group of Pittsburgh and the Northern Light Zen Center in Brunswick Maine. He is also active with the Brown Zen Community at Brown University and the Wheaton College Zen Group, and visits prisons in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2000 he was resident director of the Dharma Sound Zen Center in Seattle. Prior to joining the Kwan Um School he trained in the Japanese and Vietnamese Zen traditions. He was ordained a monk in 1996 and received inka from Zen Master Seung Sahn on April 7, 2001. Gye Mun Sunim, JDPS, is a monk and received inka in November 1998. He is the abbot of Singapore Zen Center. Teaching Article Archive Chong An Sunim JDPS was given inka on August 26, 1999, becoming the first Hungarian to be given this authority as a teacher in the history of Korean Buddhism. One of the most senior members of the Budapest Zen Center, he became a monk in 1994 and spent the next five years training under Zen Master Seung Sahn at the Seoul International Zen Center. He is the guiding teacher for Hungary and the Czech Republic. His primary residence is Bo Kwang Soen Won, Budapest, Hungary. He also teaches in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Teaching Article Archive Thomas Pastor JDPSN is founder (1994) and abbot of Great Bright Zen Center. He began formal study in the Kwan Um School of Zen in the late 1980s with Zen Master Ji Bong and was given inka on April 6, 2002. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Great Bright Zen Center, Thom also teaches an Introduction to Zen Buddhism course at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He initiated a Zen meditation program at Federal Prison Nellis five years ago which now claims one of the highest attendance rates of any volunteer program at that facility. A former professional musician who now serves as secretary/treasurer of the Las Vegas Musicians Union, Thom has performed with over 100 recording and show business luminaries. He is married and the father of two children.