Furnace Mountain (temple name Kwan Se Um San Ji Sah) is an American

Zen Buddhist Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

retreat center in

Clay City, Kentucky Clay City is a home rule-class city in Powell County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2010 census. History The first European settlement in the vicinity of present-day Clay City was in 1786, by Stephen Collins and his ...

, co-founded in 1986 by

Seung Sahn Seungsahn Haengwon (, August 1, 1927November 30, 2004), born Duk-In Lee, was a Korean Seon master of the Jogye Order and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. He was the seventy-eighth Patriarch in his lineage. As one of the early ...

Soen Sa Nim and

Dae Gak Dae Gak (born 1947), born Robert Genthner, is a Zen master and the guiding teacher of Furnace Mountain in Clay City, Kentucky, a Korean Buddhist temple and retreat center co-founded in 1986 with Seung Sahn. He received Dharma transmission from ...

Soen Sa Nim as part of the international

Kwan Um School of Zen The Kwan Um School of Zen (관음선종회) (KUSZ) is an international school of zen centers and groups founded in 1983 by Zen Master Seung Sahn. The school's international head temple is located at the Providence Zen Center in Cumberland, Rhode Is ...

; it is now unaffiliated with the school in an official capacity. In 1990 the main Meditation Hall was completed, and in 1994 the temple was constructed and opened. Kwan Se Um San Ji Sah is modeled after a traditional

Korean Buddhist Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, the ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

—located on 850 acres (263 ha) of woods in part of The

Daniel Boone National Forest The Daniel Boone National Forest (originally the Cumberland National Forest) is a national forest in Kentucky. Established in 1937, it includes of federally owned land within a proclamation boundary. The name of the forest was changed in 1966 ...

(in The

Red River Gorge The Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the Red River in east-central Kentucky. Geologically it is part of the Pottsville Escarpment. The gorge lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest and was subsequently designated the Red River Gorge ...

area). The exact site of Kwan Se Um San Ji Sah was determined by the use of

geomantic Geomancy (Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy inv ...

divination, which was intended to help foster harmony. The Abbot and guiding teacher is Dae Gak Zen Master.

Gallery

Image:Dae Gak.jpg, Dae Gak, guiding teacher Image:Furnace Mountain road in.jpg, The road leading into the retreat center—you can see the bluff above Image:Furnace Mountain retreat house.jpg, Individual retreat house for guests

Notes

References

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External links

Furnace Mountain website
Buddhist temples in the United States Kwan Um School of Zen Buildings and structures in Powell County, Kentucky Seon temples Buddhism in Kentucky Zen centers in the United States Religious buildings and structures in Kentucky Tourist attractions in Powell County, Kentucky Asian-American culture in Kentucky {{zen-stub

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External links