Interview with Ven. Samu Sunim

Ven. Samu Sunim was born in Korea in 1941. Orphaned during the Korean War, he entered a Buddhist monastery following a period of homelessness. He studied as a novice monk and then undertook and completed his Zen training under Master Solbong Sunim at Pomo-Sa monastery in Pusan, Korea. When he was conscripted into active military service even though he was a monk, he left his native country for Japan and finally the West. In New York City in 1968 he founded the Zen Lotus Society (now the Buddhist Society of Compassionate Wisdom).

After moving to Toronto in Canada in 1971 he completed a three year solitary retreat before beginning his teaching career. He reactivated the Zen Lotus Society from a basement apartment in Toronto serving the Korean-Canadian community and gave meditation instruction during the week. In 1979 Ven. Samu Sunim and a small group of his students (lay monastics in training) moved the Zen Lotus Society into a former flophouse. The building was extensively renovated through the effort and manpower of those first disciples.

Over the years Ven. Samu Sunim and the Zen Lotus Society has provided Buddhist meditation training, held Buddhist art and photography exhibitions, hosted visiting Buddhist teachers and organized public events such as Buddha's Birthday celebrations, benefits for the poor and hungry and peace vigils. In 1985 he established a three year Dharma Student Training Program (now the Maitreya Buddhist Seminary) to provide a consistent study-practice program for serious students wishing to train as priests or teachers. In 1986, he founded the Buddhist Institute of Canada to provide the public with accurate courses on Buddhism taught by qualified teachers.