Kobong ''soensanim'' (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
: 고봉선사,
Hanja
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
: 高峯禪師, 1890–1962),
the 77th Patriarch in his teaching lineage, was a
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
Zen master
Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authori ...
.
Biography
At an early age, Kobong became a monk at
Namjangsa.
Known for spontaneous and eccentric teaching,
he sometimes said that he preferred to teach laypeople because
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
were too lazy to practice hard.
Kobong never held a position at any temple or established a temple of his own.
When he was elderly, his student
Seungsahn
Seungsahn Haengwon (, August 1, 1927November 30, 2004), born Duk-In Lee, was a Korean Seon master of the Jogye Order and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. He was the seventy-eighth Patriarch in his lineage. As one of the early ...
brought him to
Hwagyesa in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
where Kobong died at the temple in 1962.
A large granite monument was built in his honor on the hillside overlooking Hwagyesa.
Lineage
Kobong Sunim was
Dharma heir
In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha him ...
to
Mangong
Mangong (, 1871–1946) or Song Mangong was a Korean Buddhist monk, independence activist, scholar, poet, writer, and philosopher during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Mangong was born in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk Province in 1871 and was orda ...
Sunim, who was in turn Dharma heir to
Kyongho
Kyong Ho Seonsa ( Korean: 경허선사, Hanja: 鏡虛禪師, 1849–1912) was a famous Korea Sŏn master, and the 75th Patriarch of Korean Sŏn. His original name was Song Tonguk (송동욱, 宋東旭); and his dharma name was Sŏng’u (성우, ...
Sunim. Kobong Sunim's best known student was
Seungsahn
Seungsahn Haengwon (, August 1, 1927November 30, 2004), born Duk-In Lee, was a Korean Seon master of the Jogye Order and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. He was the seventy-eighth Patriarch in his lineage. As one of the early ...
Sunim (1927–2004), founder of the
Kwan Um School of Zen
The Kwan Um School of Zen (관음선종회) (KUSZ) is an international school of zen centers and groups founded in 1983 by Zen Master Seung Sahn. The school's international head temple is located at the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode I ...
. Seungsahn Sunim received Dharma transmission from Kobong Sunim at 22 years of age. Kobong had never given
inka to any monk before he met Seungsahn Sunim
and Seungsahn remained his only dharma heir.
Sunim is a Korean word that means ordained Buddhist and can refer to both men and women who have taken ordination vows.
See also
*
Seungsahn
Seungsahn Haengwon (, August 1, 1927November 30, 2004), born Duk-In Lee, was a Korean Seon master of the Jogye Order and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. He was the seventy-eighth Patriarch in his lineage. As one of the early ...
References
External links
Kobong Holds a Ceremony36,000 Mornings, Kobong's Enlightenment Story by Zen Master Seung SahnKobong's Wild Dharma Scenes & Broken Precepts by Zen Master Seung Sahn
*
Chogye Buddhists
Kwan Um School of Zen
Seon Buddhist monks
*77
Korean Buddhist monks
1890 births
1962 deaths
20th-century Buddhist monks
{{Buddhism-bio-stub