Zen Master Seung Sahn	Our Founding Teacher was the Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn. He was the 78th Patriarch in his line of Dharma transmission in the Chogye order of Korean Buddhism, and founded temples in Japan and Hong Kong. In 1972 he came to the United States and started what became the Providence Zen Center, the first center in what is now the Kwan Um School. His books include Ten Gates, The Compass of Zen, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, Only Don't Know and The Whole World is a Single Flower-- 365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life. You can read some of his teachings and learn more about him at www.kwanumzen.org
Tim Lerch, JDPSN	Our Guiding Teacher is Tim Lerch, Ji Do Poep Sa Nim.  He received inka from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 2001.  Tim was the abbot of the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, RI from 2000 to 2006 and has trained extensively in the US and Asia. From 1995-99 he was the resident director of the Dharma Sound Zen Center in Seattle. Prior to joining the Kwan Um School he trained in the Japanese and Vietnamese Zen traditions. He was ordained a monk in 1996. After having trained as a monk for 10 years, Tim returned to lay life in 2006 and is currently a musician and music teacher living in Seattle.
Zen Master Bon Soeng	Zen Master Bon Soeng (Jeff Kitzes) is a guest teacher who comes to lead some of our retreats. He received dharma transmission in from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 2001.  Jeff has been practicing Zen since 1975 and is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice with a specialty in the integration of Zen Buddhism and Western Psychotherapy.  He is the abbot and guiding teacher of Empty Gate Zen Center in Berkeley, California.
Zen Master Seong Hyang	Zen Master Seong Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the Guiding Dharma Teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen. She received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1992. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn's first American students and studied with him since 1972.