Accountability

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Community

Zen Master Soeng Hyang

Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the School Zen Master of the Kwan Um School of Zen. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn's first American students and received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn on October 10, 1992. She worked as hospice nurse for many years. Zen Master Soeng Hyang has a daughter and lives with her partner, Mary, in California.

Nancy Hedgpeth JDPSN

Nancy Brown Hedgpeth JDPSN has practiced with the KUSZ since 1979 and received inka in 1994. She has lived at and worked for a number of zen centers and has sat long retreats in the US and South Korea. She is Co-Guiding Teacher for the Providence Zen Center. She is a retired nurse. These days she lives in Waterville, Maine from which she does most of her group practice online.

Andrzej Stec JDPSN

Andrzej Stec JDPSN began practicing Zen in 1981 and trained as a Zen monk in Korea for thirteen years. He received inka (permission to teach) from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1998 and has been teaching in Europe, Asia and the United States ever since. He also served as abbot of the Kwan Um School of Poland and at several Zen centers worldwide. He lives in Korea and is the guiding teacher of the Kwan Um Seoul Zen Group and the Kwan Um Daejeon Zen Group.

Igor Piniński JDPSN

Igor Piniński JDPSN graduated in acting from a prestigious Łódź film school. Right now he is working in his own film studio in Łódź, focusing on educational films. He lives with his wife in the countryside near Łódź. He started practicing in Łódź Zen Center in 1995 and has participated in over 120 YMJJs in Łódź, and also every year in the Kyol Che at Wu Bong Sah. On March 9, 2013, Igor Piniński received Inka from Zen Master Bon Shim in Wu Bong Sah Temple in Poland.

SK Teoh JDPSN

SK JDPSN is from Malaysia and received inka in 2015. In 1992, he began to practice Zen after encountering Zen Master Seung Sahn in Hong Kong, serving in the first directors’ group at Su Bong Zen Monastery. He trained as a monk for twenty eight years, sixteen of which were in Korea. He returned to Malaysia in 2013, founding Haeng Won Zen Centre in Penang where he is the guiding teacher. He returned to lay life in 2024, continues to teach Zen and pursue his interests in the climate, environment, death and dying.

Kathy Park JDPSN

Kathy Park JDPSN is Korean and began Zen meditation in 1999. She has completed multiple 90-day kyol che (intensive Zen retreats), residential training and held various administrative positions in Zen centers and temples in the U.S, Asia and Europe. She received inka (permission to teach) in the Kwan Um Zen tradition in the lineage of the Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn in 2016, and became a Ji Do Poep Sa (Dharma Master). She is one of the founding members of Kwan Um Zen Online and is the current executive director.

Colin Beavan JDPSN

Colin Beavan JDPSN first practiced in the Kwan Um School of Zen in 1996. He is a father, a trusted advisor and coach, and the author of several books, including How To Be Alive and No Impact Man. He lives in upstate New York, his home temple is the Chogye International Zen Center, and he received Inka in April, 2022.