History and Founding
The Kansas Zen Center is located in a quiet suburb in Lawrence, Kansas. They are an affiliate of the Kwan Um School of Zen, founded by Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1974. Master Seung Sahn is the 78th patriarch in his line of dharma transmission in the Korean Seon tradition of Zen Buddhism. Although he was born to a Christian family in northern Korea in 1927, he experienced conversion, and became the first Korean Zen Master to arrive to the United States. Following his immigration to the United States, he founded over 35 Zen centers in the Americas, with the Kansas Zen Center being founded in 1978. Presently, his teachings are practiced in nearly 100 locations around the world. He taught at the Kansas Zen Center regularly from the late 1970s to the early 1990s until he passed away peacefully in his home in South Korea in 2004 (1).
Although the American sangha of the Kwan Um School grieved the loss of Seung Sahn, his teachings have been published in several volumes in the format of original Sutras as well as compilations of talks. Although he emphasized the importance of inner awakening, and considered written words secondary on the path to awakening, his teachings have been well documented by his disciples.
“The Compass of Zen” is a compilation of Master Seung Sahn’s speeches and dialogues, and is written by his disciple, Hyon Gak Sunim. “Dropping Ashes on the Buddha” conveys Seung Sahn’s eccentric teaching style through humorous riddles and stories as it employs a method of instant dialogue between the Master and his student (links below!).
Zen Practice in the Kwan Um School Tradition
The goal of Zen practice in the Kwan Um School tradition is to clear the mind from obstructions through extended focus on meditation. Acquiring awareness of the breath is a critical aspect of sitting meditation, which is used as a method of calming the mind. Chanting a mantra is another alternative that the practitioner may choose to bring the mind back to stillness and calm. Consequently, the importance of a beginner’s mind lies at the heart of practice at the Kwan Um School tradition of Zen, and Master Seung Sahn is famous for teaching his students the importance of the ‘Don’t Know Mind’: the mind that is freed from thoughts, ideas, and opinions that arise to produce suffering. The ‘Don’t Know Mind’ is a mind that is able to accept the impermanence of each passing moment with stillness and calm (2).
Watch: Kathy Park introduces beginners to the various methods of Zen practice.
Standing bows and prostrations are an integral part of practice in the Kwan Um School tradition of Zen. On retreats and during early morning practices, 108 prostrations are performed. This purifies the physical body energy from body karma, which eliminates obstructions to meditation that arise from negative energy, and allows innate wisdom and compassion to flow toward all living beings (3).
The Kwan Um tradition of Zen also employs the Bodhiharma method, in which practitioners seek to awaken their already existing Buddha nature, which they believe lies latent in each individual. Meditation is then used as a tool to contemplate how each practitioner may awaken their Buddha nature (4).
At the Kansas Zen Center, the practice of awakening inner wisdom and compassion begins with chanting The Four Great Vows:
“Sentient beings are numberless; we vow to save them all. Delusions are endless; we vow to cut through them all. The teachings are infinite; we vow to learn them all. The Buddha way is inconceivable; we vow to attain it. “ (5)
Constituency
When Master Seung Sahn founded the Kwan Um School of Zen, he saw it critical to make it a community that was inclusive of Western audiences. Consequently, he adapted his teachings to the norms of Western culture. While the school employs traditional Zen methods and rituals, it allows lay Dharma teachers to wear robes, and celibacy is not required in their pratimoksha (6). Consequently, Zen practice in the Kwan Um tradition is accessible to laymen, and while monastics are highly revered, hierarchy between monastics and laymen is less visible in the Kwan Um School.
At the Kansas Zen Center, the importance of taking refuge in the sangha is paramount. Obstacles to wisdom and compassion are best eliminated in a community of dedicated followers, and the center exists solely to assist all practitioners in that effort. The center is an engaged community of practitioners that operates under the leadership of a guiding teacher, Zen Master Bon Hae (born Judy Roitman), who received full authorization to teach by the founding Master Seung Sahn in 1998.
Even though the Kansas Zen Center is founded upon the Korean tradition of Zen, it appears that most present-day members of the Kansas Zen Center are Americans by birth. Consequently, one might infer that the center is a mixture of immigrant and convert Buddhism. However, as an affiliate of the original Kwan Um School, temple rules and chants as taught by Master Seung Sahn form the core aspect of Zen practice at the center regardless of ethnic origin or physical location of participants. Furthermore, given that the Kwan Um School has almost a hundred chapters spread throughout the world, it is among the most ethnically diverse Buddhist communities as a whole. Altogether, the Kwan Um School of Zen reaches thousands of practitioners in the Americas, Australia, Asia, and Europe (7).
Events
In order to strengthen the sangha, regular formal practice is offered free of charge at the Kansas Zen Center, and it is open to all public. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the community meets at the Zen center as well as on Zoom for greater accessibility 5 days a week. Everyone is welcome, but to cultivate the principle of non-harm for all sentient beings, vaccination is required.
The center also offers retreats, public talks, and classes on a regular basis. In accord with Zen tradition, Zen Master Bon Hae has recently offered classes on the Twelve Links in the Chain of Dependent Origination, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Three Seals of Existence. Whether you are an advanced practitioner, or whether you are just curious to learn more about Zen, you are welcome to attend these classes (8).
Retreats are typically offered on a monthly basis. Retreats provide an opportunity to liberate the mind from delusions and to get closer to our true self. Retreats involve intensive practice: chanting, sitting meditation, walking meditation, and kong-an interviews in accordance with the Kwan Um School. While meals will be served at the retreats, participants are asked to eat with mindfulness, honoring temple style, while recognizing that the sole purpose of food is to support the body in order to attain the path.
Annual sangha ceremonies at the Kansas Zen Center include ceremonies on Buddha’s birthday, Buddha’s enlightenment day, and precept ceremonies. They also provide weddings, baby ceremonies, and memorial ceremonies.
The center also hosts a workday in which participants are encouraged to help keep the Zen community self-sufficient in accordance with a famous Zen Buddhist teaching: “A day without work is a day without eating” (9).
See below for a list of forthcoming events at the Kansas Zen Center:
WORKDAY! November 26 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm CST. Join us to clean the dharma room, spread mulch, and do whatever needs to be done. And don't forget to bring proof of vaccination!
DECEMBER RETREAT Saturday December 11, 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (long format one day retreat). Hybrid — both in-person and Zoom. The retreat will have four practice periods of about two hours each, with three breaks for meals. With Zen Master Bon Hae (Judy Roitman). $60 requested, write to us if you need the fee waived. Note […] Get Tickets $60.00
MANTRA WALK FOR THE NEW YEAR Join us for a mantra walk — walking meditation while silently chanting a mantra — to welcome the new year. We'll meet at the Zen center and leave at 10 a.m. to walk on one of the trails in our neighborhood. If you can't be at the Zen center, watch this space for ways to […]
Funding
The Kansas Zen Center is self-sustainable, and operates on membership dues and donations. However, waivers are given for members that need them, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. As a religious organization, they are a tax-exempt organization, and any donation given is tax-deductible.
Sources:
(1) “Profile: Kwan Um School of Zen”. https://www.lionsroar.com/profile-kwan-um-school-of-zen/
(2) “Only Keep ‘Don’t Know’ Mind”. https://kwanumzen.org/teaching-library/1990/05/20/only-keep-dont-know-mind
(3) “An Intro to Zen Practice”. https://kansaszencenter.org/learn/
(4) Seager, Richard Hughes. Buddhism in America. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. 2000.
(5) “The Four Great Vows”. https://kansaszencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FourGreatVows.pdf
(6) “A Brief History of the Temple Rules”. https://kansaszencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/History-of-the-Temple-Rules.pdf
(7) The Kwan Um School of Zen: America, Asia, Europe. https://kwanumzen.org/zen-centers
(8) Kansas Zen Center Events. https://kansaszencenter.org/events/
(9) “A Brief History of the Temple Rules”. https://kansaszencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/History-of-the-Temple-Rules.pdf