About
History
We’ve been here in Lawrence Kansas since 1978. Over time we’ve grown, solidified our practice, and enlarged our offerings. A member of the Kwan Um School of Zen, we were fortunate to have Zen Master Seung Sahn visit us every year for 14 years. Other teachers in the Kwan Um School of Zen visited us regularly as well — even in the early days we were able to sustain three or four retreats a year, which eventually grew to nearly every month. In 2019 we completed the building we currently occupy. Thanks to Zoom, our community has grown to include people from literally all over the world, sustained through hybrid practice. We added a dharma school for kids, are developing a native plant garden that will be a resource for the community, have hosted concerts, and look forward to other community events.
And we have a remarkable record: Of the fully authorized teachers in the Kwan Um School of Zen in the Americas who teach in the U.S., five come from Kansas Zen Center — Zen Master Dae Kwang (guiding teacher of Great Lake Zen Center in Milwaukee) our teachers Zen Master Hae Kwang (Stan Lombardo) and Zen Master Bon Hae (Judy Roitman), Dennis Duermeier JDPSN (now at Providence Zen Center) and Rebecca Otte JDPSN (the guiding teacher of Prairyerth Zen Center in Topeka).
Zen Master Seung Sahn
Founding Teacher
Zen Master Seung Sahn is the founding teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen. The 78th patriarch in his line of dharma transmission in the Korean order of Chogye Buddhism, he founded Zen centers all over the world. We were privileged to have him visit us and teach here at the KZC on a regular basis from the late 1970’s to the early 1990’s. After a long illness, he died at his home at Hwa Gye Sah Temple in Seoul on November 30, 2004. Many videos of his talks are available on YouTube.
Judy Roitman
Zen Master Bon Hae
Judy Roitman began practicing Zen with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1976. One of the founders of the Kansas Zen Center in 1978, she received inka (full authorization to teach) from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1998 and transmission from Zen Master Dae Kwang in April 2013. She is currently the guiding teacher of the Kansas Zen Center.
Stan Lombardo
Zen Master Hae Kwang
Stan Lombardo began practicing Zen with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1978. He was one of the founders of the Kansas Zen Center in 1978, received inka (full authorization to teach) from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1992, and transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1998. He is the guiding teacher of the Morning Star Zen Center (Fayetteville AR) and the Kwan Um group at the Ecumenical Buddhist Society (Little Rock AR).