Authors
MASTER JINJE
About the Monk Jinje Beopwon
Jinje Beopwon was born in 1934 in Namhae, on the southern edge of the Republic of South Korea. He entered monastic life following an encounter at the age of 20 with Seon Master Seoku, at that time one of the most revered teachers in Korea. Fully ordained at 22 years old, he soon took up training under the guidance of the esteemed teacher Seon Master Hyanggok, who initiated Jinje into hwadu, the practice of investigating a single question for months or years to the exclusion of all other mental inquiry. This single-minded pursuit of realization culminated in 1967, when Jinje burst through his hwadu and received Dharma transmission from Master Hyanggok, a recognition of Jinje’s standing in Korea as the 79th Patriarch in the lineage stretching back to Shakyamuni Buddha. Four years later, in 1971, he founded the monastery of Haeunjeong-sa, located in Busan. Since 2012 he has served as head of the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist order in Korea, with the title of “Supreme Patriarch,” guiding tens of thousands of monks and millions of laypeople on the path to enlightenment. Jinje’s work is an expression of his commitment to spread Dharma through Seon practice and to collaborate with religious leaders for world peace.