At the age of 22, Zen Master Seung Sahn (1927 - 2004) became Ko Bong's only dharma heir. When Seung Sahn passed all the kong-ans put to him by Ko Bong, the old teacher said to the young master, "As your flowers burst into bloom, I will be a butterfly for you."
After serving in a number of important positions in the Korean Chogye Order, Seung Sahn left Korea to establish a temple in Japan. This began a pattern of travel that continued for the rest of his life.
In the early 1970s, he read about American hippies and thought that these young people might be interested in the dharma. So in 1972, he moved to Providence, Rhode Island. He spoke no English and had no host, but got a job repairing washing machines. Slowly he was discovered by the young hippies he had read about and together they formed the Providence Zen Center.
Seung Sahn established more than 150 Zen centers in over 30 countries - the fruit of his incessant traveling. He once observed that if he were a high-class teacher, students would come to him; but since he wasn't high-class, he had to travel to where the students were.
In November, 2004, he called his oldest students together. On seeing that he was close to death, they asked, “When you die, what should we do?”
He said, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. The great light is immeasurable; mountains are blue and waters flow.” With this, he died at the age of 77.
Tomorrow's post will describe a little of his teaching.
I've never had the great fortune to meet ZM Seung Sahn, but when I first stepped into Chogye Zen Center, I felt his presence and was instantly awash with love. I knew nothing about him before that evening. I don't even know how I found out about the place, or why I decided to make the visit. But ever since, and although I haven't been back for some time, the teacher never left me.
Having not met you either, you've been an important agent in deepening my connection with the teacher. Thank you, Barry. You yourself are my teacher as well. I don't know, and can't explain what this longing for the ZM is. I just feel like I've known him before, a tangible familiarity. And the photo - I just sat and stared at his face for a good 10 minutes. He makes me want to smile and cry at the same time. My root teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, calls this the "genuine heart of sadness."
I think it's time to visit the center again. It's been a while. I've also been seriously thinking about extending my formal practice to include the ZM's lineage.
Posted by: Alice | April 08, 2009 at 06:38 AM
Alice, it's a genuine pleasure to be walking side by side with you on this path. Thank you for your great commitment to awakening. May we do it together.
ZM Seung Sahn was a real human being. Flawed like the rest of us, subject to the same hindrances as the rest of us. But dedicated to helping others . . . dedicated in a way that gives new meaning to the term "dedication."
In my experience of him, he never stopped teaching. He would go anywhere, or awaken at any time, in order to help someone.
He knew from his own practice about this "genuine heart of sadness" and he used this heart to help others.
Early during his time in the United States he compiled the "temple rules," based on Baizhang's rules from the Tang Dynasty. In the rules it says, "Great shout, great echo. Small shout, small echo."
Dae Soen Sa Nim gave a great shout and his teaching flourishes in many ways. I'm grateful for his lung capacity!
Posted by: Barry Briggs | April 08, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Dae Soen Sa Nim's great shout = the lion's roar. "High class" isn't high enough. He rocks my world....
Posted by: Alice | April 09, 2009 at 09:48 PM