Ancestors of the Chögye Order of Korean Sŏn Buddhism

Our current lineage, the Chögye–Jŏng Order of Korean Buddhism, was founded in 1356 C.E. by T′aego–sŏnsa of the Hui Yang San School of Sŏn Buddhism. This school amalgamated with the remaining other eight of the Nine Zen Schools of Silla, the Chögye Order thus has maintained and transmitted the direct orthodox teaching of Buddhism.

The Chögye Order is currently the largest Buddhist sect in Korea, with more than three thousand temples, and over one million monks, priests and nuns under its jurisdiction. The headquarters of the sect is at Chögye–sa in Seoul. The sect also operates Dongguk University in Seoul Korea with a satellite campus in Los Angeles California, where many of its monks and nuns are trained.

Zen was first introduced to America during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s in books and essays, and at that stage became basically an exotic philosophical fad. Since the early 1960’s a number of dedicated teachers, who came from Japan, Korea China and Vietnam, have founded countless centers throughout America for the study of Zen Buddhism. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, American born Zen Teachers began to appear having spent 20 to 30 years studying with their teachers. By the mid 1990’s American Zen Master’s and Roshi’s began to form their own independent American Schools of Zen.

Our American Sangha is historically connected with a temple and meditation center in Rhode Island that was founded by Sŭngsan Daesŏnsa on April 16, 1973. The temple and meditation center was eventually given formal status as a church in the US under federal code 501 (c) 3 as the Kwan Um School of Zen in 1984 and is presently located in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The Kwan Um School of Zen is affiliated with many Zen centers and temples throughout the world.