Our Abbot, Hwalson Sunim

Hwalson Sunim founded the Detroit Zen Center in 1990.  Hwalson is his ordination name; Sunim is the title given a monk in the Korean tradition.   

Sunim was born in Detroit in 1941.  He worked as a public school teacher in the City, and later as a sociologist at Penn State, & McMaster University in Toronto, Canada.  There, he met his first Zen teacher, Samu Sunim, under whom he became a monk,
as well as a carpenter. 

He went on to train and live in the monasteries of South Korea, as a student of Master Wondam, at Sudeoksa Temple.  In 1989 he was directed back to the US by Wondam, to begin teaching on his home soil.  

He arrived in Detroit with $50 and a backpack. 
With his incredible heart and work ethic, he propelled this grassroots Zen Center into existence.

​

Sunim offers apprenticeship and teaching to those who take up serious practice at the Center.

Our Vice-Abbot,
Myungju 

Myungju Sunim took up Zen study as a teenager, and was ordained in 2004 at Sudeoksa Temple, Korea.  (Myungju is her ordination name, Sunim is the title given an ordained monk in the Korean tradition).

​

She became the Director in 2012, and launched Living Zen Organics.

​

Myungju became the Vice-Abbot in 2018, and teaches new students who come to the Center.

About Us

The Detroit Zen Center was founded in 1990 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  Our mission is to both model and promote peace & sustainability.  We work toward this aim by the principles of Zen Buddhism.  As a residential home for monks, their apprentices and students, an immersive environment is created, which is also open in various ways for Zen center members, and the public, to engage.

​

Membership, apprenticeship & study is open to the general public.

​

Our current offerings include a daily meditation schedule, public meditation instruction, monthly retreats, zen classes, residency & guest stays (Temple Stay), Living Zen Organics (plant-based food services & education), yoga instruction, a public green roof & gardens, a podcast, & a daily volunteer schedule.

Our Community

We are a diverse group of individuals, with the common aim of self-enlightenment, & cultivating a mind & lifestyle based on compassion, wisdom & service.