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= Venerable Jongmae Kenneth Park =

Life and Work
Venerable Dr. Jongmae Kenneth Park, currently the Patriarch for the America-Europe Parish of the Korean Buddhist Taego Order, was born in Seoul, South Korea on June 17th, 1954. He ordained as a novice monk under Venerable Mu Gong in 1972 at the age of 18 but in 1975 he became a disciple of Venerable Do Kwang at Hwaeom Monastery. In 1976, he took the full bhikkhu ordination under Most Venerable Ku San and remained a monk of the Jogye Order until he joined the Taego Order in 2006,

In 1978, while a Buddhist chaplain in the South Korean military, Venerable Jongmae was arrested by the KCID (Korean Central Intelligence of Defense agency). Venerable Jongmae’s father (and other family members) had already left South Korea in 1976 for the United States and was protesting General Chung Hee Park, the then-dictator of South Korea. Venerable Jongmae had been in secret contact with his father in the U.S. and vowed to help those working for freedom. Though he never called from his own phone line or mailed letters from his own address, Venerable Jongmae was caught, accused of being a communist, imprisoned, and tortured for several months, After several month of torture, Venerable was released from prison in March of 1979. With the help of his father, the U.S. government, and Amnesty International, Venerable Jongmae was able to travel to the U.S. in June of that same year,

Just seven days after arriving in the U.S., Venerable Jongmae started working with his brother at Heuver Profiling Company in Carson, CA. cutting metal. Eventually, the company supported him in studying mechanical drafting at Los Angeles City College and he moved up within the company,

Although continuing to work, Venerable Jongmae founded Bo Kwang Temple in Anaheim, CA in 1987, In 1999, he returned to the role of Chaplain and to this added the role of Lecturer on Buddhism at the University of Southern California, though it was founded as a Christian seminary, during his own doctoral studies through USC and the Center for Buddhist Studies – Los Angeles from which he graduated with a Ph.D. in 2003, From 2007 to 2014, Venerable served as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Marymount University near Los Angeles,

In addition to his temple in the U.S., in 1992 Venerable Jongmae helped establish a Korean Zen temple in Vienna, Austria, Originally called Hua Yen Buddische Schule, the name was changed in the year 2000 to Mook Rim (pronounced “moong neem”) Zen Zentrum and its German sister temple became Mook Rim Zen Zentrum Germany. Venerable Jongmae currently has disciples in Austria, Germany, the U.K. and Poland in addition to his disciples in the U.S. and Canada, Starting in 2001, the Institute for Buddhist Studies Austria was founded,. An American branch was also established and both institutions now provide the two-year, pre-ordination education program for all Taego clergy (monastics and lay Dharma teachers) for the America-Europe Parish of the Korean Buddhist Taego Order.

Publications
Jongmae Kenneth Park. A Brief for Buddhism: The Teachings of Gautama Buddha. (English) India: Manohar Books, 2006.

Jongmae Kenneth Park. Die Lehren des Gautama Buddha. (German) Germany: LIT Publishers.

Jongmae Kenneth Park. Modern Buddhist Dictionary. (English-Korean-Chinese) Seoul, South Korea: Prunbook Publishing.

Jongmae Kenneth Park. Beompae's Aroma. (English-Korean) Beompae Museum and Art Gallery S. Korea.

Jongmae Kenneth Park. A Wandering American Monk. (English) Seoul, South Korea: Prunbook Publishing, 2015. (Published as Original American Monk in Korean.)