The Providence Zen Center is located in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and its members practice the Kwam Um School of Zen. On the surface, Providence Zen Center is a traditional Western Zen center. The practices focus on meditation and self-realization, and from the website there appears to be predominantly white-American members at the center. The center receives funding from donations, paid classes on meditation, and paid retreats led by masters. There is less emphasis on the cycle of Samsara than there is on helping oneself during this lifetime. This quote from the founder of the center, featured on the main website, seems to help solidify this view: “Zen practice helps us to realize our true self and serve this world with wisdom and compassion.” However, looking beyond the surface reveals that meditation and self-help is only just a small part of what the Providence Zen Center is about. Looking further into their website reveals more traditional practices that originate from Eastern Zen traditions, and a fascinating background for the creation of the center itself.
The story of the creation of the Providence Zen Center begins back in 1927 with the birth of its founder, Seung Sahn. Seung Sahn was born as Duk-In Lee in Japanese-ruled North Korea to two Protestant Christian parents. Early on in life, Seung Sahn found himself in the fight for Korean independence from Japan. He joined multiple rebellion groups and narrowly escaped a death sentence by freeing himself from Japanese prison. Finally, after Japan’s defeat and the end of World War II, Seung Sahn attempted to study at Dong Guk University. In the years following World War II, Korea’s political climate became more and more unstable. Unable to withstand any more political tumult and not finding answers in the Christian faith, Seung Sahn left all of his belongings and went off to the mountains to study Confucianism and make sense of the world. However, Confucian texts did not seem to contain all of the answers that he was looking for. Eventually, Seung Sahn discovered the Diamond Sutra and knew that Buddhism would provide him with all the answers he sought. It is said that the words that resonated with him the most were “All things that appear in this world are transient. If you view all things that appear as never having appeared, then you will realize your true self.” He continued to read sutras and became a fully ordained Buddhist monk in 1948.
Only a few days after becoming ordained, Seung Sahn left to the mountains for a 100 day solitary retreat. There he existed merely on pine needles and water, and by the end of the 100 days, after many visions and hallucinations, he had successfully achieved enlightenment. In the Zen tradition, his enlightenment needed to be confirmed by Zen Masters, so Seung Sahn left the mountains and joined a Zen monastery where he received inka from two Zen Masters there. From there he left and met with Zen Master Kobong who confirmed his enlightenment and passed the Dharma onto Seung Sahn, making him the 78th patriarch in his lineage at the age of 22 years old, a lineage that passes through Ananda. Once officially attaining enlightenment, Seung Sahn continued living in various parts of East Asia and eventually founded Buddhist temples in Japan and in Hong Kong. It was not until 1972 that Seung Sahn found himself moving to America.
Seung Sahn settled in Providence, Rhode Island where he worked to maintain a living and develop his English. Much to his surprise, however, students from Brown University began visiting him to learn more about Zen Buddhism. While Seung Sahn taught these students about his religion, they in turn helped him to understand Western cultures and traditions. This give and take relationship helped Seung Sahn to identify where and how Buddhism could be applied to American life. The community that Seung Sahn formed with those students would later become the Providence Zen Center. In 1974, he founded his first official Western Zen community in Los Angeles that allowed both laypeople and monastics to come practice Buddhism in a more casual, American style of religion. With the success of his first community, Seung Sahn continued creating Buddhism centers around the country. In 1979, the small version of the Providence Zen Center that Seung Sahn started with students became much more important, as its members moved to a new 50-acre location in Cumberland. Oddly enough, the school of Buddhism that is practiced at the Providence Zen Center, Kwam Um, was not officially created by Seung Sahn until 1983. Immediately starting with its creation, the Providence Zen Center began practicing the Kwam Um School of Zen and today it is identified as the international headquarters for the school as well. Kwam Um combines traditions from Korean Buddhism and the Rinzai School of Zen such as long meditation and chanting, but also includes some modern changes such as allowing lay people to wear long robes and not enforcing celibacy.
After the creation of Kwam Um, Seung Sahn’s fame and success continued to increase as he travelled the world, founding Zen communities in Europe, Asia, and South America. Unfortunately, with his fame came some criticisms and scandals. Korean Buddhists disapproved of his allowance of lay people to wear long robes. In Korea those robes were strictly for ordained monks. In addition, many Zen Masters claimed that Seung Sahn passed along the Dharma to too many students. In total, he passed the Dharma down to ten heirs. Finally, one of the biggest scandals Seung Sahn was a part of was his sexual relationships with some of his female students. Celibacy is not enforced in the Kwam Um School, but as a traditional Korean Zen Master, Seung Sahn took a vow of celibacy for life. From what information there is, it seems like these sexual relationships were consensual in nature. The issues arose from Seung Sahn trying to keep them a secret because of his vow of celibacy. Though negatively viewed, the scandals did not affect Seung Sahn’s impact on the success of the Kwam Um School of Zen. He continued teaching all over the world until his death in 2004. Seung Sahn’s legacy did not slow down after his death. The Kwam Um School of Zen is currently the most popular form of Zen Buddhism across the Western world, and his teachings continue at all of his Zen centers, including the headquarters of it all, the Providence Zen Center.
It is important to look at Seung Sahn’s entire life story when examining the history of the Providence Zen School because it continues the form of Buddhism that took Seung Sahn an entire lifetime to perfect: form of Buddhism that welcomes the newcomer, while also allowing the master to continue to study and teach. The center offers weekly meditation classes for those who are new, and chanting and meditation every morning and evening for experienced Buddhists. It offers 1 week retreats to introduce people to long-term meditation, and it provides 90 day retreats for those who wish to perfect long-term meditation. It is a center that offers something for everybody and, while it appears to focus less on achieving enlightenment than an Eastern Buddhist center would, it does so to attract new members who are interested mostly in the benefits of meditation. In addition, the Providence Zen Center supports the Kwam Um practice of Kyol Che. Kyol Che stands for tight Dharma, and it is an intense 90-day retreat in both the summer and winter months. Those who participate in Kyol Che commit to silent, individual meditation for the duration of the retreat. The Providence Zen Center charges money to each participant, another way the center receives funding. Due to the long duration of the retreat, Kyol Che is an example of how the Providence Zen Center is perfect for those who are just being introduced to Buddhism and even the most experienced Zen Masters. The Providence Zen Center is a community with a beautiful campus, and even more fascinating history that appeals to Buddhists both old and new.
By: Nathan Adamson
Online Resources:
https://kwanumzen.org/teaching-library?author=599de3933e00be59c1734e28