Teachers of the Kwan Um School - Poland

Zen Master Wu Bong   (Jacob Perl)

Zen Master Wu Bong is the head teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen of Europe. Before meeting Zen Master Seung Sahn and becoming his first American student in 1972, he practiced with Suzuki Roshi at the San Francisco Zen Center, and spent a year practicing with Tarthang Tulku atthe Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center in Berkeley, California. He was born in Poland, and speaks Polish fluently. In 1978 he helped Zen Master Seung Sahn establish the first Zen center in Poland. In 1984 he was given teaching authority and soon thereafter started to teach regularly in the United States and Europe. He has a degree in mathematics from Brown University and is married to Grazyna Perl JDPSN. They have established a new Zen Center in Paris, France, and have two children.

Zen Master Bon Shim   (Aleksandra Porter)

Aleksandra Porter received inka in 1992 and dharma transmission in 2005. She is the Guiding Teacher of the Warsaw Zen Center and other Centers in Poland. She has been a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn since 1978, his first visit to Poland. She regularly leds Kyol Ches in Poland and teaches extensively throughout Eastern and Western Europe. She is also an active member of the Polish Union of Buddhists. She lives with her two sons at the Warsaw Zen Center.

Myong Oh Sunim JDPS

Myong Oh Sunim (Dorota Krzyżanowska) became a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1979 and received inka in 1992. She was ordained a Zen nun in 1998. Currently she is the abbot and Guiding Teacher of Gdansk Zen Center. Her personal web page: http://strony.wp.pl/wp/myongoh108/

Zen Master Bon Yo   (Grazyna Perl)

Grazyna Perl SSN is the guiding teacher for the Kwan Um School of Zen in France, Belgium, and Spain. She received transmission on April 9, 2005. Zen Master Bon Yo started practicing in 1983 at Gdansk Zen Center, Poland. In 1988 she started her intensive practice at the Providence Zen Center under Zen Master Seung Sahn and other teachers of the Kwan Um School of Zen tradition. In 1994 she received inka (authorization to teach) from Zen Master Seung Sahn and became a dharma master in the Kwan Um School of Zen. In 1995, Soen Sa Nim and her husband, Zen Master Wu Bong, moved to France and founded the Paris Zen Center. Since then, she teaches around Europe and follows her artistic career as a painter and illustrator.

Andrzej Stec JDPSN

Andrzej Stec received inka in August 1998. He met Zen Master Seung Sahn in Poland in 1981, and started formal practice at Gdansk Zen Center. Currently he is the abbot of the Cambridge Zen Center.

Andrzej Piotrowski JDPSN

Andrzej Piotrowski had his first contact with Zen practice as a member of theatre group which organized a series of workshops on human spirituality with teachers from various traditions. A few years later he became a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn. He has trained extensively at the Warsaw Zen Center, the School's head temple for eastern Europe, and leads a prison dharma group. After fourteen years of practice, he received inka on March 5, 2000. Piotrowski PSN works as a physical therapist in consultation with practitioners of complementary medicine.