Prajna Institute for Buddhist StudiesFaculty | Prajna Institute for Buddhist Studies

Rev. Myogak Foster

Kun Sunim — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:01:22 +0000

Myo Gak Kun Sunim is the founder and president of the Prajna Institute for Buddhist Studies.

Kun Sunim is an ordained Bodhisattva Priest and transmitted teacher in the Korean Zen lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn. He began studying and practicing Buddhism in the late 1980’s at the Dharma Rain Zen Center in Portland Oregon.

A former fully ordained Bhikshu in the Tibetan Drikung Kagyu school, and priest in the Japanese esoteric Tendai lineage, Kun Sunim has received extensive teachings on sutra and tantra and has been fortunate enough to be able to practice these teachings both in everyday life, and during retreat.

In 2008, Myo Gak Kun Sunim received authorization as a Dharma Holder in the Korean Zen lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn, and in 2011 he received the “final seal” of Inga from Zen Master Won Ji Do Chong, becoming the 81st Ancestor in this lineage of Zen.

Rev. Jigong Billings

Kun Sunim — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:02:42 +0000

Rev. Jigong has an interdisciplinary Master of Art’s degree in Humanities from California State University, Dominguez Hills. His concentration in the program was Philosophy, specifically in the space of Philosophy of Religion.

Since receiving his MA, he has taken graduate level courses on Buddhism at the Institute of Buddhist Studies as an external student and joined the Prajna Institute for Buddhist Studies. He is a Buddhist practitioner with a background in Tibetan Vajrayana, and Mahayana Buddhism with some connection to both Tendai and Zen lineages of practice. In early 2009, Rev. Jigong was ordained as a Zen priest, and in 2011 received full precept transmission as a Bodhisattva Priest.

In 2012 Rev. Jigong was installed as the Do Gam, or Vice Abbot of the Great Cloud Zen Society.

Rev. Bonyon Neal

Kun Sunim — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:34:13 +0000

Rev. Bonyon (Laura Neal) practiced in the Tibetan and Vipassana traditions before landing solidly in Korean Zen. She operates Yoga@Cattitude in Bar Harbor, Maine, where her mindfulness yoga classes emphasize the traditional purpose of yoga as a pathway out of suffering and liberation from conditioned reactivity. Ordained by Rev. Myogak in August, 2011, she is the abbot of the newly formed True Nature Zen Center in Bar Harbor. Rev. Bonyon teaches Applied Yoga Philosophy at College of the Atlantic, and mindfulness classes and meditation at area workplaces. And she really, really likes cats.

Rev. Jisho Sears

Kun Sunim — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:01:03 +0000

Rev. Jisho (Dr. Richard Sears) is a licensed psychologist in the state of Ohio, is a full-time core faculty member of the Psy.D. Program in Clinical Psychology at Union Institute & University, and is the Director of the Center for Clinical Mindfulness and Meditation. He is also adjunct faculty at Wright State University School of Professional Psychology and the Prajna Institute for Buddhist Studies. He runs a small private psychology and consultation practice out of his office.

Rev. Jisho is also executive director of the Society for Clinical Mindfulness & Meditation, and chief editor of the Journal of Clinical Mindfulness & Meditation.

He has studied the Eastern Wisdom traditions extensively (Buddhism, Zen, meditation, Tendai mikkyo, Vajrayana, etc.), and is currently studying the Zen koan system, and has received Bodhisattva Priest ordination, and authorization as a Dharma Holder in the Seung Sahn lineage of Korean Zen.