Kwan Um School of Zen
| The Kwan Um School of Zen | |
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| School: | Korean Seon |
| Founder: | Seungsahn |
| Founded: | 1983 |
| Head temple: | Providence Zen Center |
| Guiding teacher: | Soenghyang |
| Head teacher (Europe): | Wubong |
| Head abbot: | Daekwang |
| Lineage: | Seung Sahn |
| Primary location: | International |
| Website | |
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www.kwanumzen.org/ http://zen.kwanumeurope.org/ |
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The Kwan Um School of Zen (관음선종회) (KUSZ) is an international school of zen centers and groups founded in 1983 by Seungsahn. The school's international head temple is located at the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode Island, which was founded in 1972 shortly after Seungsahn first came to the United States (then in Providence). The Kwan Um style of Buddhist practice combines ritual common both to Korean Buddhism as well as Rinzai school of Zen, and their morning and evening services include elements of Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism. While the Kwan Um Zen School comes under the banner of the Jogye Order of Korean Seon, the school has been adapted by Seungsahn to the needs of Westerners. According to James Ishmael Ford, the Kwan Um School of Zen is the largest Zen school in the Western world.
Seungsahn first arrived in the United States in 1972, where he lived in Providence, Rhode Island and worked at a Korean-owned laundromat. Not long after, students from nearby Brown University began coming to him for instruction. This resulted in the opening of the Providence Zen Center in 1972. At the time of his arrival in America, Seungsahn's teachings were different from many of his Japanese predecessors who had taught Zen to Americans. During the early days he did not place a strong emphasis on zazen, which is the core of most Japanese traditions of Zen. It was through the urging of some of his first students, some who had practiced in Japanese schools previously, that Seungsahn came to place a stronger emphasis on sitting meditation.
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