History

Seung Sahn, the 78th Patriarch of Chan, granted this school, named the “Society before Heaven and Earth,” to his disciple, Ji Myong, the Head Guide of the Small Forest Temple. By this authorization, the Small Forest Temple, as the training temple and headquarters of this society, has as its mission to pass on the unbroken line of teaching that began at Shaolin 1500 years ago, to preserve the spiritual truth of this life that has been lived for millennia, and help save all beings from suffering.

Chan Was born at the Shaolin Temple in China and it has been passed down meticulously among masters for centuries and is alive and strong here at the Small Forest Temple. When Bodhidharma, an Indian Buddhist Master in the 6th century C.E., came to China he practiced with Taoist masters. Having already attained Buddhist enlightenment, he too attained Taoist enlightenment and realized that they were the same truth only the paths were different. He then went to the Shaolin Temple and taught the monks there the Taoist practices of energy-breathing, tai chi, chi kung, and wisdom questions. He thereby synthesized Buddhism and Taoism, into a practice called Chan. Chan is the mother-discipline of Zen and is the practice preserved and taught at The Small Forest Temple.
It is a practice which reveals the secrets of Life as revealed by Nature rather than a religion or doctrine.

Chan Integrates meditation, wisdom-training, Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and Kung Fu to correctly balance wisdom and power: wisdom to understand one’s life, power to guide it. The name for this path is the Empty-Handed Way.