Samu Sunim

Infobox Buddhist biography
name = Samu Sunim


img_size = 200
img_capt =
landscape =
birth_name = Sam-Woo Kim
other_names =
dharma_name =
birth_date = 1941
birth_place = Korea
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
denomination = Seon
school =
lineage =
title = Sunim
workplace = Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom
Maitreya Buddhist Seminary
education =
occupation =
teacher =
reincarnation_of =
predecessor =
successor = Linda Murray
Geri Larkin
student =
spouse =
partner =
children =
website =

Samu Sunim (b. 1941), born Sam-Woo Kim, is a Korean Seon sunim of the Jogye Order. He is a master who never received actual Dharma transmission, though is widely respected in his field. Nevertheless, there have been critics who are uncomfortable with teachers that lack formal transmission. Samu has reported to have experienced a 1977 vision in which his deceased teacher, Solbong Sunim, transmitted the Dharma to him. He has taught primarily in Canada and the United States, having opened centers in New York, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois as well as Mexico City.

Biography

Samu Sunim was born in Korea in 1941. Suffering the loss of both parents at an early age, he was orphaned at age eleven and became homeless. After several years of living on the streets, Samu was ordained as a Buddhist monk at Pomo-sa in Pusan, Korea in 1956 (age 15). He moved to Japan in order to avoid conscription and relocated to the United States in 1968, where he established the Zen Lotus Society in New York (today named the Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom).

In 1971 he spent three years in retreat in Montreal, Canada and then began teaching. He reported to have had a vision in 1977 in which his deceased teacher (Solbong Sunim) came to him and gave Dharma transmission, after which he began calling himself a Zen master. Although none of his teachings have been published as yet, tales of him appear often in works by his student Geri Larkin.

In addition to New York, he has founded Zen centers in Toronto, Canada, Chicago, Illinois and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in 1985 established the Maitreya Buddhist Seminary. Much like another Korean master, Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim, Samu Sunim does not require celibacy in his organization. [Ford, 97-98] [The Faces of Buddhism in America, 126-127]

ee also

*Buddhism in Canada
*Buddhism in the United States
*Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

Notes

References

*cite book| last =Ford| first =James Ishmael| authorlink =James Ishmael Ford| coauthors =| title =Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen| publisher =Wisdom Publications| date =2006| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70174891&referer=brief_results| doi =| id = | isbn = 0861715098

*cite book| last =Prebish| first =Charles S.| authorlink =| coauthors =Kenneth Kenʼichi Tanaka| title =The Faces of Buddhism in America| publisher =University of California Press| date =1998| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37782936&referer=brief_results| doi =| id = | isbn = 0520213017