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Filed in Zen (Chan)

BOOM!

An Interview with Zen Master Seung Sahn

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Zen Master Seung Sahn (Da Soen Sa Nim) was born in 1927, near Pyongyang, now the capital of North Korea. After World War II, he went to the mountains for a one-hundred-day solo retreat. Later he received dharma transmission from Zen Master Ko Bong. Afterwards he worked to reorganize the Chogye Order of Korean Buddhism while serving as abbot of several temples in Korea. He also spent several years in Japan, founding temples and teaching Zen.

In 1972 Seung Sahn came to the United States. While working in a laundromat in Providence, Rhode Island, he met some students from Brown University who would come to ask him questions about life and Zen practice. The Providence Zen Center grew out of this.

Seung Sahn has published several books, including“Dropping Ashes on the Buddha,”and“The Whole World is a Single Flower.”In attempt to connect Zen practice with Christian contemplative prayer, he has led many Zen retreats at the Abbey of Gethsemani, the Trappist monastery in Kentucky, and with other Christian groups.

This interview was conducted in Providence, Rhode Island, in August, 1996.

Seung Shan TricycleTricycle: You grew up in a Protestant family in Korea. I’m curious to know what made the Buddhist teachings so attractive to you.
Seung Sahn: When North and South Korea separated, society became complicated. Everyone fighting. So I went to the mountains to study Confucianism. Then one day a monk asked me, “What are you doing?”

“I’m studying Chinese philosophy,” I say.

“Chinese philosophy?” he said. “You don’t understand Korean philosophy! You should study Korean philosophy.”

So I studied Korean philosophy. Then one day a Zen monk appeared and asked me, “What are you doing?”

I say, “I’m studying Korean philosophy.”

“You don’t understand 'you'. Who are you?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

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