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Zen Master Soeng Hyang

Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the School Zen Master of the Kwan Um School of Zen. She received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn on October 10, 1992. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn's first American students and studied with him beginning in 1972. She was given inka in 1977. A registered nurse since 1969, she currently works in hospice care. She helped found Providence Zen Center, and lived there for seventeen years, serving in a number of administrative capacities. Zen Master Soeng Hyang has a daughter and lives with her partner, Mary, in California.

Andrzej Stec JDPSN

Andrzej Stec Ji Do Poep Sa Nim received a Masters of Architecture at the Gdansk Polytechnic University in his native Poland. He met the late Zen Master Seung Sahn at a dharma talk at his university and began practicing Zen in 1981. Thereafter, he became a Zen monk in Korea where he trained 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.

Rebecca Otte JDPSN

Rebecca Otte JDPSN began studying Zen at the Kansas Zen Center in 1995. She co-founded Prairyerth Zen Center in 1997 and is currently the abbott. She began studying with Zen Master Ji Haeng in 2013 and took Bodhisattva precepts in 2015. She received inka in December of 2020. She was a nurse-midwife, retiring in 2017. She has two sons, a daughter-in-law and a grandson. She lives with her husband and two cats in Topeka, Kansas.

Tim Colohan JDPSN

Tim Colohan JDPSN practices at Dharma Zen Center in Los Angeles, CA. He started training with Zen Master Seung Sahn at Dharma Zen Center in 1985 and sat a number of long retreats. In April of 2022 he received inka from Zen Master Soeng Hyang at the Providence Zen Center. He is involved with various multifaith groups in the greater Los Angeles area. Tim currently lives in Los Angeles with his husband Bernie, enjoying his kids, their grandchildren and retirement.

Jan Sendzimir JDPSN

Jan Sendzimir JDPSN has practiced Zen since he met Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1974 and moved into the Providence Zen Center. He did Kyol Che at Sudoksa Temple in South Korea in 1976. He continued to practice in the United States over the next twenty years, while completing a doctorate in ecology and raising two daughters in Florida and Austria. In 2010, he returned to intense practice in Europe, South Korea, and North America. Since 2013 he has lived and practiced with his life partner, Zen Master Hyon Ja, as abbot of the Vienna Zen Center.