About:
What's in a name?
The Il Bung Zen Order or "Il Bung Son Jong Hoe" (一鵬禪宗會/일붕선종회) carries the name of it's founder, the Most Venerable Il Bung (the monastic name of Dr. Seo Kyung Bo). Il Bung roughly means "One Well Winged", the first character literally translating as "one" (in it's adjective form carrying the connotation of that which is singularly great, or ultimate) and the second being derived from a transliteration of the Sanskrit word "suparṇa", which is a reference to a great, golden winged Buddhist mythological bird creature known as a "Peng" in Chinese, or in Sanskrit, a "Garuda". A typical Chinese dictionary definition for "Peng" (鵬) is "a fabulous bird of enormous size", which certainly is a fitting description of our Order's founder.
The Most Venerable Il Bung (Kyung Bo Seo) was born in 1914 and lived a very full life to the age of 82, during which he penned some 700 books, and was awarded more than 100 doctorate degrees from Universities around the world (earning his first degree in 1962, and his first Western Ph.D from Temple University in Philadelphia with the dissertation "A Study of Korean Zen Buddhism Approached Through the Chodangjip" in 1969). Most Venerable Il Bung lived life with a degree of concentration, intention and productivity that few have even aspired to, always practicing, studying, and teaching the dharma wherever he went, a trait that he encouraged and inspired in his students.
The Most Venerable Il Bung (Kyung Bo Seo) was born in 1914 and lived a very full life to the age of 82, during which he penned some 700 books, and was awarded more than 100 doctorate degrees from Universities around the world (earning his first degree in 1962, and his first Western Ph.D from Temple University in Philadelphia with the dissertation "A Study of Korean Zen Buddhism Approached Through the Chodangjip" in 1969). Most Venerable Il Bung lived life with a degree of concentration, intention and productivity that few have even aspired to, always practicing, studying, and teaching the dharma wherever he went, a trait that he encouraged and inspired in his students.
The Birth of an Order:
Our Order was founded in 1975, eleven years after the Most Venerable Il Bung first came to the United States (in 1964) as the first teacher of Korean Zen Buddhism to the west. The Order initially served to simply unite the Most Venerable Il Bung's teaching efforts (which had by then stretched not only the whole of the United States, but also reached far across the globe), however it took on a distinct identity in by 1988 when our founder decided to part organizational ways with the Korean Buddhist Chogye Order.
The Il Bung Zen Order places emphasis on both scholastic study (kyo) and Zen practice (seon), noting that our founder was both a Zen Master and a Tripitaka Master. In particular, the Most Venerable Dr. Il Bung stressed the importance of the teachings of Korean Masters Bojo Jinul and Hyujeong (Sosan Daesa) (noting that he published an English translation of Jinul's "Chinsim Chiksol" entitled "Master Bojo's Zen Teaching"). Indeed, all of the Most Venerable Il Bung's ordained Western disciples had completed extensive training and study in the wider Buddhist tradition, readily were mature in their spiritual development, and well read across the spectrum of Eastern Philosophy, which allowed him to help many of them to 'finish their work' as it were, with his keen eyed Zen teaching. And, as a true Zen Master, our Dr. Seo made wide use of most any type of non-verbal teaching one could fathom, from silent seated and walking meditation, to advanced forms of yogic and danjun (abdominal breathing) exercises, Buddhist martial arts, and one-on-one, eye-to-eye dharma exchange (dokchom), whilst making skillful use of words (Zen question and answer dialogue) when necessary.
As an Order, we uphold in all forms of Zen practice that may appear between our teachers and disciples, the necessity of the presence of three gems that our founder taught as requirements for the study of Zen, that is, the need for 1.) A Zen Master, 2.) A Zen Temple and 3.) Spiritual friends.
The Il Bung Zen Order places emphasis on both scholastic study (kyo) and Zen practice (seon), noting that our founder was both a Zen Master and a Tripitaka Master. In particular, the Most Venerable Dr. Il Bung stressed the importance of the teachings of Korean Masters Bojo Jinul and Hyujeong (Sosan Daesa) (noting that he published an English translation of Jinul's "Chinsim Chiksol" entitled "Master Bojo's Zen Teaching"). Indeed, all of the Most Venerable Il Bung's ordained Western disciples had completed extensive training and study in the wider Buddhist tradition, readily were mature in their spiritual development, and well read across the spectrum of Eastern Philosophy, which allowed him to help many of them to 'finish their work' as it were, with his keen eyed Zen teaching. And, as a true Zen Master, our Dr. Seo made wide use of most any type of non-verbal teaching one could fathom, from silent seated and walking meditation, to advanced forms of yogic and danjun (abdominal breathing) exercises, Buddhist martial arts, and one-on-one, eye-to-eye dharma exchange (dokchom), whilst making skillful use of words (Zen question and answer dialogue) when necessary.
As an Order, we uphold in all forms of Zen practice that may appear between our teachers and disciples, the necessity of the presence of three gems that our founder taught as requirements for the study of Zen, that is, the need for 1.) A Zen Master, 2.) A Zen Temple and 3.) Spiritual friends.