Soenghyang

Soeng Hyang 성향
File:Soeng Hyang 2.jpg
Title	Soen Sa Nim
Personal
Born	(1948-04-15) April 15, 1948 Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Religion	Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism
School	Kwan Um School of Zen
Other names	Barbara Rhodes
Occupation	Hospice Nurse
Senior posting
Teacher	Seung Sahn
Predecessor	Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim
Website	www.kwanumzen.org/

Soeng Hyang Soen Sa Nim (성향선사, born April 15, 1948) is a Zen Master and the Guiding Teacher of the international Kwan Um School of Zen, and successor to the late Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim.

Biography

Born Barbara Trexler (later Barbara Rhodes through marriage to Lincoln Rhodes, also a Ji Do Poep Sa Nim in the order), her father was a Navy officer, and her family moved often. As a teenager in the 1960s, she traveled to California to participate in the counter cultural flowering around San Francisco, and briefly visited Tassajara Zen Monastery, though she did not practice there. She later moved back to Rhode Island, where she met Seung Sahn in 1972, who became her teacher. She was a founding member of the Providence Zen Center, now located in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Soeng Hyang received inka from Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim in 1977, and full Dharma transmission in 1992.

Personal life

She has two daughters, one adopted. She has been in a same-sex relationship for many years.

Background

Seong Hyang is a registered nurse and hospice caregiver.

See also

• Buddhism in the United States
• Buddhism and sexual orientation
• Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

External links

• Zen Master Soeng Hyang - Kwan Um School of Zen