Soeng Hyang 성향 |
|
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Religion | Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism |
School | Kwan Um School of Zen |
Other names | Barbara Rhodes |
Dharma names | Fragrant Nature |
Personal | |
Born |
Providence, Rhode Island, USA |
April 15, 1948
Senior posting | |
Title | Soen Sa Nim |
Predecessor | Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim |
Religious career | |
Teacher | Seung Sahn |
Website | www.kwanumzen.org/ |
Soeng Hyang Soen Sa Nim (성향선사, born April 15, 1948) is a Zen Master and the Guiding Teacher of the international Kwan Um School of Zen, and successor to the late Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim.
Born Barbara Trexler (later Barbara Rhodes through marriage to Lincoln Rhodes, also a Ji Do Poep Sa Nim in the order), her father was a Navy officer, and her family moved often. As a teenager in the 1960s, she traveled to California to participate in the counter cultural flowering around San Francisco, and briefly visited Tassajara Zen Monastery, though she did not practice there. She later moved back to Rhode Island, where she met Seung Sahn in 1972, who became her teacher. She was a founding member of the Providence Zen Center, now located in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Soeng Hyang received inka from Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim in 1977, and full Dharma transmission in 1992.
She has two daughters, one adopted. She has been in a same-sex relationship for many years.
Seong Hyang is a registered nurse and hospice caregiver.