NYers: Really cool event at my NYC Zen Center on Friday. Please come!

Here is a note I just sent out to friends and since you are my friend, too:

Hi Folks--

Sorry for group email. I'm just writing to a group of friends who have, at one time or another, expressed interest in my Zen school.

This Friday, April 15, we have a very unusual event happening. Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Bobby Rhodes), who is the guiding teacher of the entire Kwan Um School of Zen, will be visiting and giving a dharma talk along side our resident NYC Zen Master Wu Kwang (Richard Shrobe).

Bobby has a charismatic every day feel and Richard is very deeply steeped in Buddhist history and tradition (he has authored several compelling books on Zen). The combination of the two of them will be amazing (their bios are below the sign off).

[UPDATE: It turns out that ZM Soeng Hyang has been detained by the untimely death of a dharma brother and so won't be there. But the inimitable ZM Wu Kwang will be. So come just the same!]

I certainly will be there and I hope you can come too. The talk starts at 7:45 PM on Friday and is at 400 E 14th St, Apt 2D/E (just east of 1st Ave). Don't be confused: the building offers no outward appearance that there is a Zen center inside, but there is!

Hope to see you there!

All the best,

Colin

 

Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Barbara Rhodes) is the School Zen Master and Guiding Dharma Teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen. She received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn on October 10, 1992. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn's first American students and studied with him since 1972. She was given inka in 1977. A registered nurse since 1969, she works for Hospice Care of Rhode Island. She helped found Providence Zen Center, and lived there for seventeen years, serving in a number of administrative capacities. Zen Master Soeng Hyang has a daughter and lives with her partner, Mary, in Massachusetts.

Zen Master Wu Kwang, (Richard Shrobe) is guiding teacher of the Chogye International Zen Center of New York and lives in New York with his family. Before he began practicing Zen he studied intensively with Swami Satchidananda, living with his wife and children for four years at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York. He has a Master's degree in Social Work and did six years of postgraduate study in Gestalt, including training with Laura Perls. He has been director of a drug program, and has served as an instructor in psychiatry and Gestalt therapy. He started practicing with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1975 and was given inka in 1984. He received dharma transmission on August 1, 1993. A former professional musician, his undergraduate training was in music theory, and he also studied with jazz pianist, Barry Harris. Currently he has a private practice in psychotherapy specializing in the Gestalt approach. He has written three books: Open Mouth Already a Mistake, Don't Know Mind: The Spirit of Korean Zen, and Elegant Failure: A Guide to Zen Koans, all available from from Amazon.com.