Zen Master Seung Sahn, called Dae Soen Sa Nim, (Great Honored Zen Teacher by his students), is the 78th Patriarch in his line of Dharma Transmission in the Chogye order of Korean Buddhism, and had founded temples in Japan and Hong Kong. In 1972, he came to the United States and started the Providence Zen Center, the first center in what is now the Kwan Um School. His books includeTen Gates, The Compass of Zen, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha,Only Don't Know, and The Whole World is a Single Flower - 365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life. Dae Soen Sa Nim has given DharmaTransmission to ten Zen Masters and "inka" - teaching authority - to senior students called Ji Do Poep Sa Nims, (Literally,one who can show the way).

Zen Master Wu Kwang, (Richard Shrobe), is one of the first American students to receive transmission from Dae Soen Sa Nim and is the guiding teacher of the Chogye International Zen Center. He is authorized to perform all the formal teaching activities of Zen, including the traditional kong-an practice of private interchange between teacher and student. He has been practicing meditation since 1966 and received formal certification, or "inga," from Dae Soen Sa Nim in 1985. Soen Sa is a practicing psychotherapist with an M.S.W. and B.A degree in music. His teaching emphasizes that "Zen is everyday life and everyday life is Zen."

Ken Kessel received inka in 1996 from Zen Master Seung Sahn, certifying him as a Ji Do Poep Sa Nim, (literally, one who can show the way). This authorizes him to conduct kong-an practice. He has practiced Zen for more than 25 years. He is a certified social worker, a practicing psychotherapist, and a poet.

Steven Cohen MD is abbot of the Chogye International Zen Center of New York. He has been a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn since 1974. Before moving to New York in 1984, he was a founding member of the New Haven Zen Center where he served as administrative director (1975-79) and head dharma teacher (1979-84). He became a senior dharma teacher in 1999 and received inka on April 6, 2002, certifying him as a Ji Do Poep Sa Nim. Cohen JDPSN is a Professor of Dermatology, Director of Residency Training, and Deputy Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Steve and Phyllis Cohen have been married for 33 years; they have two children. Twice National Champion (1966-67) and a member of the US Olympic Team 1968, he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1991..

Guest Teachers

Zen Master Seong 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 his student 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. She also initiated Providence Zen Center's ongoing series of Christian-Buddhist gatherings. She has two daughters and lives in Providence.

Zen Master Bon Yeon, (Jane McLaughlin-Dobisz), is a guiding teacher of Cambridge Zen Center where she was Abbot for four years and where she lived for ten years. A student of Zen Master Seung Sahn since 1982, she practiced extensively in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. She also studied Buddhism in the Tibetan tradition in Nepal, and was a Vipassana student for three years. She has led several 90 day Kyol Che retreats in the U.S., Poland, and South Africa and is an editor of The Whole World Is A Single Flower by Zen Master Seung Sahn. She lives near CZC with her husband, Senior Dharma Teacher Piotrek Dobisz.

Lincoln Rhodes, JDPSN, has been a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn since 1974 and received inka 1981. He helped found the Kwan Um School of Zen and several of the Zen Centers, and was the abbot of Providence Zen Center for many years. He lives in Providence, where he owns a construction firm.