Tradition: Mahayana, Zen, Korean
31 Lingle Street
Robertson 4109
Phone : 3219 4110
Email : qzcinfo@gmail.com
Website : http://queenslandzencentre.com/

The Queensland Zen Centre - Dae Kwang Sa Inc. was founded by Zen Master
Seung Sahn.

The Queensland Zen Centre (QZC) was established in 1989 and in 1994, the late
Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn accompanied by the late Zen Master Su Bong,
came to Australia to officially open the Zen Centre, naming it the Queensland
Zen Centre – Dae Kwang Sa Inc. Dae Kwang Sa means Great Light Temple.
The QZC became part of the Kwan Um School of Zen, an international
organisation consisting of more that 60 centres worldwide, started by the late Zen
Master Seung Sahn as a way of bringing Zen to the west and making Zen readily
accessible to lay people and those aspiring to follow the monastic path. Later that
year in 1994 the QZC invited Jeff Kitz and Zen Master Dae Gak, both teachers in
the Kwan Um School of Zen, to lead retreats, give Dharma talks and one to one
teaching interviews. These retreats were a great success and in the following year
Zen Master Dae Gak returned with Kwang Myong Sunim, a nun in the Kwan Um
School and Abbess of Furnace Mountain Zen Centre in Kentucky, USA, to lead
another retreat thus building on the foundation laid down by Zen Master Seung
Sahn.
During this retreat a number of people took the Five Precepts and one person
ordained as a monk, further establishing the QZC as a serious place of Zen
practice in Brisbane. It then became clear that QZC needed a resident teacher.
Zen Masters Seung Sahn and Dae Gak recommended Kwang Myong Sunim to
the Australian Sangha as a good choice. Kwang Myong Sunin, who had received
Inka (permission to teach by Zen Master Seung Sahn) in 1996 landed in Brisbane
later that year and began her life here as our resident guiding teacher. From here,
the QZC continued to flourish undergoing a number of transformations from a
small, simple centre in suburban Cooparoo to a well established place of Zen
training offering a host of activities including public talks, daily and weekly practice sessions, monthly retreats, introductory courses and workshops for
students new to Zen, an annual two week sitting retreat and an annual ceremony
for the dead.
Also in 1996 the QZC became officially incorporated as a not for profit religious
organisation and has continued to function as such to this day. Since its
inception, the QZC under the guidance of Kwang Myong Sunim, has provided
scores of people with the opportunity to learn and practise Zen, to improve their
own lives as well as the lives of those around them.
After a decade of hard work in guiding the QZC and continuing her own practice
both here in Australia and in Japan, Kwang Myong Sunim received transmission
as a Zen Master in the lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn by Zen Master Dae Gak
in 2006. A public ceremony took place with a number of dedicated students
attending and the name Zen Master Sen Shin was bestowed upon Kwang Myong
Sunim.
After the death of her teacher Zen Master Seung Sahn, and in keeping with his
teaching, the QZC established itself as an independent Zen training centre. Zen
Master Sen Shin continued to deepen in her training by attending intensive
training periods in the Rinzai tradition under the guidance of Shodo Harada
Roshi, Abbot of Sogen-ji Temple in Japan and Tahoma Monastery in Seattle,
USA.
Zen Master Sen Shin is the author of Essence of Mind, a book containing many
of her Dharma talks given during retreats over the past 13 years. Essence of
Mind was officially launched at the Avid Reader Bookstore at West End on 16
June, 2009.
The Queensland Zen Centre – Dae Kwang Sa Inc. continues to flourish as a well
established training place for both monastic and lay people in the practice of
Korean Zen Buddhism for whoever wishes to discover their true self and true life
direction.