Zen Master Soeng Hyang Barbara Rhodes

Barbara Rhodes (Zen Master Soeng Hyang), known as Bobby to her students, has almost five decades of Zen practice and teaching experience. She met the late Korean Zen master Seung Sahn in 1972, received inka (permission to teach) from him in 1977, and dharma transmission in 1992. She has been teaching and leading retreats since 1978, and has been the head Zen master of the global Kwan Um Zen tradition since her teacher’s death in 2004. A registered nurse since 1969, she worked as a nurse until 2014, with twenty-seven years spent as a hospice nurse. She lives with her wife, Mary. 

She is an outstanding down-to-earth teacher, well respected in the Buddhist community, reflected by her inclusion in Meetings with Remarkable Women: Buddhist Teachers in America, Revised and Updated Edition, by Lenore Friedman (Shambhala, 2000), which also includes such influential teachers as Pema Chödrön, Charlotte Joko Beck, and Sharon Salzberg. She was also included in Zen Master Who? A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen (Wisdom Publications, 2006), by James Ishmael Ford. Bobby is also a contributor to Being Bodies: Buddhist Wisdom on the Paradox of Embodiment (Shambhala, 1997), edited by Lenore Friedman and Susan Moon; and The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women (Wisdom Publications, 2013), edited by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon.

Her teaching has been published in Composting Our Karma: Turning Confusion into Lessons for Awakening Our Innate Wisdom (Shambhala, 2024). She continues to lead retreats and teaches worldwide both in-person and online, establishing kwanumzenonline.org, the global Kwan Um Zen online sangha. 

Related links:

kwanumzenonline.org

kwanumzen.org

Takeaways:

• Zen Master Soeng Hyang Barbara Rhodes, affectionately called Bobby, exemplifies the profound integration of Zen practice with everyday life and healthcare.
• Through her extensive experience as a hospice nurse, Bobby emphasizes the importance of listening deeply and compassionately to alleviate suffering.
• Bobby's teachings encourage individuals to embrace their innate wisdom by transforming confusion into actionable insights for personal growth and understanding.
• The necessity of dedicated practice, such as solo retreats, is underscored as a means of deepening Zen understanding and fostering significant personal insights.
• Bobby's stories illustrate that moments of awakening often arise unexpectedly when one is engaged and fully present in their surroundings.
• The conversation highlights that the true essence of Zen lies in questioning and seeking clarity amidst confusion, guiding us towards compassionate action.