Taego Zen Center support Buddhist Global Relief

Hae Jin Sunim and the Taego Zen Center recently supported the 2012 "Walk to Feed the Hungry", a Buddhist Global Relief project founded and chaired by Bhikkhu Bodhi, now in its 3rd year.

The walk took place in New York, NY at Riverside Park on October 13, 2012 and participants walked 3.6 miles, raising over $15,000 to alleivate hunger in Africa, Haiti, Asia, and the United States.

Taego Zen Center

Find more information and learn how to get involved with the Buddhist Global Relief.

Click on the thumbnail below to view more photos from the walk!

BGR Walk 2012

2012 Training and Ordination Slideshow

This slideshow highlights some of the memorable moments of the 2012 Taego Order Haengja Training and Ordination held at Seonam-sa in South Korea in September 2012.

Bup Hae (Candace Palopoli), Bup Woo (Timothy Sheehy), and Bup Woon (Jason Jay) all successfully completed their monastic training program and were ordained as novice monks in the Taego Order on September 26, 2012. After returning home, they were all installed as clergy members of Muddy Water Zen on September 30, 2012.

3 New Monks!

The Overseas Parish of the Taego Order and Muddy Water Zen are proud to announce the ordination of 3 new novice monks!

Bup Hae Sunim (Candace Palopoli)

Bup Woon Sunim (Jason Jay)

Bup Woo Sunim (Tim Sheehy)

were all ordained as novice monks Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at Seonam-sa Monastery in South Korea. 

Here is a short video of Ven. Bup Hae undergoing the Yeonbi ceremony (http://bit.ly/SR4phy) during the ordination. 

More videos, pictures, and stories of all 3 new monks to follow shortly!

New Podcast!

The Grand Rapids Zen Center & Buddhist Temple now has a Dharma Talk Podcast which is available for you to subscribe to for free in iTunes. Now you can get a double dose of Dharma teachings from both Muddy Water Zen and GRZen! Subscribe today!

Subscribe to GRZen Podcast in iTunes here!

Subscribe to MWZ Podcast in iTunes here!

Grand Rapids Zen Center & Buddhist Temple

At Bup Ryun Sa in Seoul

Bup Hae (Candace Palopoli) and Bup Woo (Tim Sheehy) have safely arrived in Korea and made it to the Taego Administrative HQ, Bup Ryun Sa, in Seoul, South Korea. They have now departed Seoul and should have arrived at Seonam-sa to begin their monastic Haengja training.

Only 13 more days until ordination!

At the Airport!

Bup Hae (Candace Palopoli) and Bup Woo (Tim Sheehy) depart today to journey to Seonam-sa (the Taego Order training monastery) in South Korea to participate in intense monastic training as Buddhist monk postulants. They will join Bup Woon (Jason Jay) who arrived at Seonam-sa one week ago.

All 3 Haeng-ja (novitiates) will ordain as novice monks (sami and samini) on Wednesday, September 26 before returning home the following Friday.

We wish Bup Woo and Bup Hae a safe journey on their long flight to South Korea and safe travels as they make their way to Seonam-sa.

Please keep all 3 in your thoughts and good intentions and wish them the best!

2012 Haeng-ja Opening Ceremonies

The 2012 Taego Order Haeng-ja (Postulant) training officially begun this past Wednesday at        Seonam-sa Monastery near Suncheon, South Korea.

Muddy Water Zen Dharma Student Bup Woon (Jason Jay) arrived in Korea earlier this week to participate in the full training program.


This is one of the largest Haeng-ja groups with 131 total postulants (96 men, 35 women)


In the video above of the opening ceremonies, you can briefly catch a view of Bup Woon at about the 1:12 mark (don't blink!) The video also shows the President of the Taego Order, Ven. In Gong speaking, as well as Seonam-sa Abbot Seol Eun.

2 other MWZ Dharma Students (Bup Hae/Candace Palopoli & Bup Woo/Tim Sheehy) will depart home on Tuesday, to join Bup Woon in training at Seonam-sa and they all will ordain as novice monks (Sami and Samini) on Wednesday, September 26 after more than 20 days of monastic training.

More updates to follow as they become available!

Haeng-ja Class #37

Seonam-sa Abbot Seol Eun Sunim (Center)

Taego President In Gong Sunim

Opening Ceremonies

Screen Grab from Video

http://www.bzeronews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=27387 (in Korean)

http://www.nbn-news.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=20259 (Video/Picture Source)

Haengja Training at Seonam-sa in South Korea

Bup Woon, Bup Woo, Bup Hae

The first of MWZ's 3 Haengja (postulant monks) Bup Woon Jay (Jason Jay), leaves for Seonam-sa in South Korea this morning for monastic training and ordination as a junior monk!

Bup Woo (Timothy Sheehy) and Bup Hae (Candace Palopoli) will join Bup Woon after next Tuesday for their 2 weeks of training and ordination.

This is a special time for the Overseas Parish of the Taego Order as Bup Hae will be the 1st non-Korean woman to undergo this Haengja training at Seonam-sa.

Bup Chon Sunim and Bup Mee Sunim both completed their training and ordination at Seonam-sa in 2010 and 2011.

They will all undergo intensive monastic training which includes a very demanding schedule and hard physical and mental challenges!

Their training will be held at the historic and traditional Seonam-sa temple, the main training temple of the Taego Order. They will be joined by over 100 other Korean postulants.

Muddy Water Zen Abbot, Hae Doh Sunim, as well as several other family and friends will also fly out to South Korea at the completion of their training to witness and support their ordination.

The entire MWZ contingent will return home on Friday, September 28th. There will be a special installation service at Muddy Water Zen that Sunday, September 30th, where all 3 new monks will join the MWZ clergy and will celebrate with a pot-luck lunch.

Please keep all three of them in your thoughts and wish them well in their travels and training as they take this next step on their paths!

Bishop Jongmae's New Buddhist Dictionary

Bishop Jongmae has recently published his 4th title "Modern Korean-Chinese-Sanskrit-English Buddhist Dictionary" in May 2012.

This new dictionary is a huge asset to all of us studying Korean Buddhism and the first time English speakers have had access to a such a comprehensive volume.

However, the dictionary is indexed according to the Korean entries so searching in English for terms is difficult if not impossible.

Therefore, it is my personal project to compile a supplemental digital English Index so that readers may easily and quickly search by known English terms to find the Korean/Sanskrit equivalent.

This ongoing blog label (dictionary) will track the progress of the English Indexing for all to follow and also highlight some new terms along the way.

The dictionary page count comes in at 641 pages with approx. 6-7 terms per page for an estimated total of over 4,000 individual entries.

So far 235 terms have been indexed that span over 50 pages. The English indexing is 8% complete.

Check back here at the blog often for regular updates on the Dictionary Indexing Project (DIP).

50 / 641 pages. 8% done!

KBS Coverage of Dae Haeng Kunsunim

<iframe width="425" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1f-c_MtwBwA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

KBS coverage of the life, death, and funeral of Dae Haeng Kunsunim. While in Korean, words are not necessary to understand...

Korean monks dance at Bongwonsa on Buddha's Birthday

Bongwonsa is a Korean Taego Order temple famous for its annual Yeongsanjae (영산재/靈山齋) ceremony which is a reenactment of the Buddha's delivery of the Lotus Sutra. Cymbals Dance (barachum), Butterfly Dance (nabichum), and Dharma Drum Dance (beobgochum) on this video. Filmed on May 28, 2012. Seoul, Korea.

The Passing of Daehaeng Kun Sunim

From Wake Up and Laugh! :

(Seoul, Korea) Hanmaum Seon Center regrets to announce the passing of our beloved teacher, the venerable Daehaeng, on Monday, May 21, 2012. She was 85 years old, and was ordained as a Buddhist nun 63 years ago. The funeral will be held on Saturday, May 26^th, with more details to follow as they become available.

Daehaeng Kun Sunim* was a rare teacher in Korea: a female seon(zen) master, a nun who also taught monks, and a teacher who helped revitalize Korean Buddhism by dramatically increasing the participation of young people and men.

She made laypeople a particular focus of her efforts, and broke out of traditional models of spiritual practice to teach in such a way that anyone could practice and awaken. At the same time, she was a major force for the advancement of Bhikkunis (nuns), heavily supporting traditional nuns’ colleges, as well as the modern Bhikkuni council of Korea.

She supported many social welfare projects, founded centers in 11 countries around the world (15 centers in Korea, and 10 in other countries), and her teachings have been translated from Korean into English, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Vietnamese.

This world is where the Buddha-dharma exists,
and where enlightenment is found.
Searching for great wisdom,
while ignoring what arises in this world,
is like looking for a rabbit with horns.

Take the idea
that transcending this world is the way,
or that involvement with the world is a deluded path,
and stomp both these ideas to pieces.
Then the great wisdom of your inherent nature
can freely flow forth.

                     -Daehaeng Kun Sunim

Kunsunim's book, No River to Cross: Trusting the Enlightenment that's always right here, is available from Amazon here. 

More about Daehaeng Kun Sunim here, at Buddhapia

2012 Protocol Retreat and Precept Ceremony

2012 Precept Ceremony of the Taego Overseas Parish in Grand Rapids, MI

The 2012 Spring Taego Protocol Retreat and Precept Ceremony was held over this past weekend at Muddy Water Zen in Royal Oak and also at the Grand Rapids Zen Center & Buddhist Temple from Thursday April 5, 2012 - Sunday April 8, 2012. 

The protocol retreat was lead by the Overseas Bishop of the Taego Order of Korean Buddhism, Venerable Dr. Jongmae Park and the participants included the clergy staff of Muddy Water Zen, IBS USA students from Michigan, Indiana, Canada, and the United Kingdom. 

Friday evening, April 6, 2012, Heather Emerick (Bup Seong) was officially ordained a Dharma Teacher (Bup Sanim) in the Taego Order by Overseas Parish Bishop Ven. Dr. Jongmae Park, which was followed by a sangha celebration.

Sunday, April 8, 2012, retreat members joined the Grand Rapids sangha in a Dharmacari Precept Ordination Ceremony. The Precept Ceremony was held at the Marywood Dominican Center in Grand Rapids and was attended by over 100 people. 17 individuals from the Grand Rapids sangha took the Panca Sila (5 Precepts) under the Dharma family name 'Ahm' (Stony, Diamond). 6 individuals from MWZ also took the Panca Sila under the Dharma family name 'Geum' (Golden). 4 individuals took the 10 Bodhi-cari Precepts and also became Haengja (noviciate), and thereby received permission to travel to Seonam-sa in South Korea later this fall for novice monk training. 

The Protocol Retreat and Precept Ceremony were both a great success and sangha fellowship was enjoyed by clergy, students, preceptors, family, and friends. The events held over this weekend mark a significant milestone in the development and growth of the Taego Overseas Parish, the 2nd largest Order of Korean Buddhism, an authentic tradition with a lineage going back over 1600 years. 

Check out the Photo Album linked below for some memorable moments from all the recent events. 

Link to Photo Album

ReligionMatters Show Interviews Bishop Jongmae Kunsunim

The Institute for Religious Tolerance's "ReligionMatters" Show interview Bishop Jongmae Kunsunim.

UPDATE: These videos are back online and available for viewing again. Enjoy! (3/19/12)
Part 1


Part 2