Dharma talk by Zen Master Seung San

Special Thanks 

Hwagyesa Temple International Seon(Zen) Center

Farewell to Seung Sahn "Dae Seon Sa Nim"(1927-2004):
The Korean Bodhidharma Passes Away

"Don't Worry. The Light of Eternity is

Like Green Mountains and Flowing Water."

Seon Master Seung Sahn, a member of the Board of Elders, passed away at Hwa Gye Sa on November 30th. His final teaching was, " Don't worry. The light of Eternity is like green mountains and flowing water."

Called "Dae Seon Sa Nim" by his international disciples, Seung Sahn Sunim spread Seon practice and Dharma to fifty thousand students at more than one hundred twenty centers that he founded in thirty-two countries over the course of thirty-eight years.

Born in 1927 in Sunchon, Pyung An Nam Do and ordained in 1948, Seung Sahn Sunim received Dharma transmisson from Ko Bong Sunim after intensive solo retreats and a Kongan interview held when he was twenty-two.

In times of the Purification Movement of Korean Buddhism, Seung Sahn Sunim played important roles as the Director of General Affairs, as Director of Financial Affairs, and as President of the Buddhist newspaper, Bulgyo Sinmun.

Afterwards, Seung Sahn Sunim devoted his life to globalizing Seon practice and Dharma. In 1966, he opened his first Dharma center in Japan. In 1972, he moved to the United States and founded the Kwan Um School of Zen, which has branches in the United States, France, England, Singapore, and elsewhere. With its many branches throughout the world, the Kwan Um School finally founded its headquarters at Mu Sang Sah on Mount Kye Ryong in Korea.

In a Dharma talk given to celebrate the thirty-fifth year of his overseas missionary work, Seung Sahn Sunim said, "Not even for a minute did I have time to rest in my effort to achieve the Great Bodhisattva Way." Hyun Gak Sunim, abbot of Hwa Gye sa International Zen Center and one of his American disciples, said, " My teacher touched Americans with his sincere and strict practice, and delivered the essence of Korean Buddhism. He was like our mother, and I feel very sad because the empty space he left is so huge."

At the new of Seung Sahn Sunim's passing away, the President the Most Venerable Bub Jang Sunim rushed to Su Dok sa, the place of funeral ceremony, and said, " Seung Sahn Sunim spread Dharma even to the communist world. He was a saint who set the Buddha's teaching in full bloom throughout the world."
The funeral was held on December 4th at Su Dok sa. More than nine thousand people attended the funeral to mourn over the passing of this Korean Bodhidharma.

written by Lotus Lantern