Daehaeng

Daehaeng (1927–2012) was a Korean Seon nun whose unconventional path and distinctive teaching of Juingong, or "the inner master," made her one of the most original Buddhist voices of the twentieth century. Orphaned during the upheavals of twentieth-century Korea, she spent years wandering alone in the mountains, practicing meditation without formal monastic training. Her awakening came through direct, solitary investigation rather than through the traditional structures of monastic education and hwadu practice, giving her teaching a freshness and immediacy that distinguished it from more conventional approaches.

Daehaeng's central teaching revolved around the concept of Juingong — the fundamental, inherent Buddha-nature that she described as the true master within each person. She taught that all problems, whether spiritual, physical, or practical, could be addressed by entrusting them to this inner master and releasing the habit of trying to control outcomes through the discriminating mind. She founded Hanmaum Seonwon (One Mind Seon Center), which grew into a network of practice centers throughout Korea and internationally. Her teaching attracted both monastics and laypeople, and her emphasis on the capacity of ordinary people to access their own innate wisdom without depending on elaborate institutional structures resonated strongly with contemporary Korean society.