The Ocean Eyes Zen Center

Ocean Eyes Zen Center started as an idea that appeared to me during practice one day in Los Angles during  early 1991. Zen Master Seung Sahn was visiting Dharma Zen Center and was asked by the abbot Muryang Sunim to be available for morning interviews. I was living in Huntington Beach at the time but was working as the Plant Manager of a large manufacturing in Vernon, California. My work was about a fifteen minute drive from Dharma Zen Center so I would get up very early and drive to the center and arrive at about 5 am for morning practice. It was good for me because at 4 am there was no traffic on the LA Freeways, so I could arrive there in less than an hour and after practice I could go to work without dealing with the LA Freeways. I had been doing this for a few years and practicing with Zen Master Seung Sahn, and his Dharma Heir Robert Moore, JDPSN who eventually became Zen Master Jibong. Anyway, this particular morning I thought that if I had a Zen Center in Huntington Beach my life might be a bit simpler. I entered the interview room with Zen Master Seung Sahn and he said to me, “how are you, do you have any questions?” I was nervous, but I said to him, Sŏnsa-nim I would like to open a Zen Center in Huntington Beach, what do you think?’ He answered me, ‘When will it open?’ and then we engaged in our kōan work.

This was his support of my idea. ‘When will it open.’ How simple, no checking, no expectations, no engagement about how and when and why, just ‘when will it open?’ This is the essence of Seung Sahn’s lineage, a simple and supportive approach to the Dharma. I worked on it and eventually on August 13^th of 1993 I finally had everything in place. Zen Master Seung Sahn came with Musang Sunim and Muryang Sunim and a few of the students from LA. I had many friends who were there and a contingent of Bagwan Rajnish followers showed up. Bob Moore, JDPSN could be not there, who was our guiding teacher, so because of this Seung Sahn made the trip out to Orange County to do the ceremony because Bob wasn’t able to attend and my close friend Musang Sunim, feeling my disappointment,  asked Sŏnsa-nim  at the last minute if he could fill in. Sŏnsa-nim was so honored to do the ceremony, he was like a grandfather to me once he arrive and took me into one of the bedrooms so he could guide me in what needed to happen for the ceremonies to follow in the Korean Tradition. He even wrote his Dharma Talk in Korean/Chinese on the back of the ceremony booklet, I still have this document and value it immensely.

There was a guest book I had set out for all the guests who visited the Zen Center and was filled in for about seven years after the opening before it was completely filled up. The point I would like to make is that when Sŏnsa-nim signed the guest book he signed in as SSN (this was his signature until he became Daesŏnsanim when he started signing as DSSN) and in the field where the book asked for your address (so we at the Zen Center could contact you in the future) he wrote ‘the universe.’ I was so blessed by Zen Master Seung Sahn‘s presence and he also decided to performed the ceremony of installing me as the Abbot of the Zen Center which touched me deeply.

Zen Master Seung Sahn said at that time that this Zen Center which I and Carlos Montana and Robert Fittro had built was ‘better than a ten year old Zen center’ and this really touched my heart. We were originally opened as the Huntington Beach Zen Center, and on our first anniversary I asked Sŏnsa-nim to give us a Korean name for the center, he named us Haean Sŏnwon that means Ocean Eyes Zen Center.  He attended another three anniversary ceremonies before saying that anymore were not necessary. From the point that the Zen Center opened he always referred to me as “Great Abbot” any time I would meet him. I can tell you that I never felt more love from someone outside of family, as I felt from my teacher.