01/18/2016
The Founder of Korean Buddhism In America is
Zen Master Seung Sahn
By Jong Kweon Yi
Editor in chief, The Korean Buddhist News, USA
Translated by Jong Kweon Yi & Kathy Park
Originally published in Bulgyo Sinmun (March 31, 2014)
http://www.ibulgyo.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=132745
When Buddhism crossed the Pacific and landed on the US soil, it is surely one of the most important moments in the 2600 years of Buddhist history. Like other major Asian nations with strong Buddhist heritage, Korea has planted its Buddhist lineage on this continent.
Lately there is a debate going on as to the initial inception and establishment of Korean Buddhism the US. The debate was ignited when Modern Buddhism of America argued that the arrival of Seo Kyungbo Sunim in the US in 1964 should be seen as the starting point of Korean Buddhism in America.
Studying and recording the footsteps of the first generation of Korean Buddhists in America is vital in helping to establish a clear direction for how Korean Buddhism will evolve going into the future for the next generations, and requires a wider forum of voices to debate it vigorously.
To make a long story short, this debate boils down to whether we recognize as founder of Korean Buddhism in america Seo Kyungbo Sunim who came to the US earlier or Zen Master Seung Sahn who established the successful Buddhist system and became a seminal teacher.
I do not deny that Seo Kyongbo Sunim is one of the greatest teachers in the contemporary Korean Buddhism. However, when it comes to the matter of assessing the role of Buddhist pioneer in America, we should have relevant criteria good for international propagation and Dharma transmission. Buddhist pioneer is not like someone who reached Mt. Everest for the first time. America is easy to come, and arrival itself, no matter how early it might be, can’t be an absolute factor. What should be counted more importantly is the achievements and influences after the arrival in the US.
What makes Zen Master Seung Sahn true founding pioneer of Korean Buddhism in America is the fact that he actually established the first Buddhist temples. Since his arrival in the US in 1972, he founded Talmasa in LA, Wongaksa and Jogyesa in NYC, and Bultasa in Chicago respectively. These original temples in the three largest cities in the US are still active as seminal temples of each area.
Trying to establish Buddhism in the US is like setting up a tent and making rice in a windy, rainy, empty, open field. Korean Buddhism in the US is not rich with bronze roof tiles, colorful temple buildings and comfortable templestay programs with delicious temple food. Of the numerous monks who crossed over to the US, few survived the many adversities and challenges of their existence far from their spiritual home and tradition. Temples in America are the proud and precious result of their struggle and effort made by those die-hard pioneers.
Many Koreans who visit the US are disappointed with temples humbly set up in small houses. But that’s surely overlooking the many trials, blood, sweat and tears that it takes to keep those temples alive. Without the strong determination much like that of a freedom fighter, it would not have been possible to establish Korean Buddhism in the US under the prevalent circumstances. This is why I argue that foundation of temple should be counted as the most crucial factor to estimate a Buddhist pioneer.
When a temple is established many things can happen; Dharma talks can be held regularly; slowly one by one, a place can begin to grow. Even governmental assistance is available. The temple becomes a refuge for Korean immigrants and can represent the community and be a gate for various local community networks. It is also an opening for both sunims and laypeople to be able to arrive in America, so that they could also establish temples in nearby vicinities or elsewhere.
It is a fact that the four original temples established by Zen Master Seung Sahn were able to invite many monks for permanent residency, who later founded other temples in many parts of America. Although it cannot be said that all Korean temples in the US were from this root, but it is clearly accepted that these temples are a “benchmark” in the original establishment of Korean Buddhism in America.
Zen Master Seung Sahn is mostly renown for having taught Westerners. Propagating overseas has two aspects; one is teaching to the Korean immigrant community so that their lives in their adopted country has the direction of Dharma and they find refuge despite the hardship of immigrant living. The second aspect is to teach the Dharma and thus continue the lineage of Dharma transmission and spreading the teaching to this new world.
Many Asian traditions from Japan, Tibet, China and Vietnam have spiritual teachers who teach the Dharma as leading and influential figures in the West. Likewise, Zen Master Seung Sahn transmitted the Dharma which comes down form Zen Master Kyong Ho and Zen Master Man Gong, by teaching Zen practice (ganhwasoen) and establishing the Dharma lineage legitimacy through the established Kwan Um School of Zen worldwide.
The history of Zen Master Seung Sahn’s early years and the making of his students can be found in How Swans Came to the Lake by Rick Fields, attesting that his teaching had successfully entered the Western mainstream.
Most Koreans understand Zen Master Seung Sahn as having many foreign students who became monastic such as Hyon Gak Sunim and Muryang Sunim. Zen Master Seung Sahn has many students within the Jogye Order and the Kwan Um School of Zen, and also established a system of transmission for lay students.
There are two aspects of his work; one is having students, and the second is establishing a center to continue the practice. ZMSS was successful in establishing many Kwan Um Zen centers in the US, making a foundation for Zen practice in the English-speaking world. Since the founding of Providence Zen Center in Rhode Island, there are 37 Kwan Um School centers in the US which are active, and worldwide, in 14 countries 50 centers are active, where everyday morning and evening there is chanting and 108 bows.
The important point to remember is not the outside accomplishments as seen above, but how these events have come to establish Korean Buddhism on the world map.
ZMSS established KUSZ as a worldwide network of chapters of practicing locations. Although it did not begin in Korea, it spread to Asia and Europe, and finally the focal point of the KUSZ is now in Korea at Musangsa. Musangsa is the ultimate refuge for foreign practitioners. It is important to see that the Dharma was transmitted throughout the world and returned to Korea.
As Korean Buddhists in America, it is imperative for us to closely understand ZMSS’s model as a precedent in Korean Buddhist history.
The fact that Korean Buddhism spread throughout the world from the US, having successfully transmitted it so that it became the world’s Buddhism, and was brought back to Korea, to it’s original refuge and home, is ZMSS’s legacy, which is the first and only model in the history of Korean Buddhism in America.
Zen Master Seung Sahn transmitted the Dharma worldwide since 1972 until entering nirvana in 2004, for 32 years. These years attest to not only his own ability, but also to the unlimited potential of Korean Buddhism itself. It shows that Korean Buddhism can help the world as nicely as any other Buddhist tradition in America, and Korea is also an ultimate place of pilgrimage for spiritual practitioners across the world.
Korean Buddhists in America and its supporters are at a crossroads now to clarify its foothold and root. This is an opportunity that points out that it is our responsibility as Korean Buddhists in the US, to do it for the sake of future generations. I sincerely wish for us all to applaud together with a fruitful conclusion.
