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Zen Master Bon Haeng, Co-Guiding Teacher

The North American Abbot of the Kwan Um School of Zen, a co-guiding teacher of Providence Zen Center, Cambridge Zen Center, as well as the guiding teacher of Open Meadow Zen Center in Lexington, MA. He has been a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn since the mid-70s. He received inka in 1990 and transmission to be Zen Master in April 2000. He is one of the founding members of CZC and founded Open Meadow Zen Group in Lexington. He teaches accredited Zen classes at Boston University and regularly leads retreats, teaching Zen Buddhism around the world.

Nancy Hedgpeth, JDPSN Co-Guiding Teacher

Nancy Hedgpeth, JDPSN has been a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn since 1979 and received inka in July 1994. She has held many positions at New Haven and Cambridge Zen Centers, and has done many long retreats in the U.S. and Korea. Nancy once served as the Abbot at the Providence Zen Center and now has a farm in South County, Rhode Island where she also founded the South County Zen Group, in Narragansett, RI.

Zen Master Soeng Hyang, Resident Zen Master

Zen Master Soeng Hyang — Bobby Rhodes — is the School Zen Master and Guiding Teacher of the International Kwan Um School of Zen. She received dharma transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn on October 10, 1992. She was one of Zen Master Seung Sahn’s first American students, having studied with him since 1972. She helped found Providence Zen Center and has lived here for over seventeen years, serving in a number of administrative capacities.

José Ramírez, JDPSN, Guest Teacher

José Ramírez, JDPSN is the Guiding Teacher of the Delaware Valley Zen Center, which he helped found in the Spring of 1999. He has been practicing in the Kwan Um School of Zen since 1994, and received Inka in April 2009. He has a degree in mathematics from the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, and a Masters and Ph.D in statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his role as an industrial statistician he works closely with engineers and scientists to help them make sense of data. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island with his wife and daughter.

Jason Quinn, Abbot

Jason Quinn grew up in California and started practicing with the Dharma Sound Zen Center in Seattle in 1997. In 1999, he moved to Providence Zen Center, to do monastic training. After nine years at Providence Zen Center, Jason relocated to Empty Gate Zen Center, returned to lay life, and took on the position of abbot. In May 2012 Jason returned to PZC to serve as our Abbot. To contact the Abbot please email abbot@providencezen.org.

Doug Walsh, Vice Abbot

After attending an agricultural high school, Doug Walsh entered the Navy for two enlistments. He was then employed by a local process controls manufacturing company for 37 years and has been retired for the past 2 years. He came to the Kwan Um School of Zen at Providence Zen Center in 1998. In July 2010 he took his Bodhisattva Teacher Precepts and in June 2011 he became Do Gam (Vice Abbott ) at PZC.