Dharma Lineage
Master Won Ji Do Chong
|
Master Dai Phuong Nhu Minh
|
Master Seon Hae Daesa
|
Master Tendo Fusho
|
Deok Seung Mountain Lineage (Master Seung Sahn)
The Most Venerable Deok Shim Sunim (Dr. Joshua R. Paszkiewicz) received confirmation of his awakening (inka) on November 2nd 2012 from the Zen Master Won Ji Do Chong. On this occasion he was offered the following poem:
"From teacher to student and student to teacher,
two minds are the same path- what is this very moment?
How may I help you is always manifest,
not making anything for a lifetime of ease."
This was followed with formal lineage transmission (jeon beop) with the name An Ja Wan Ji (安子完智, “Perfect Qualities, Peaceful Descendent”) as a 81st Generation Zen Master on June 13th 2015 with the following poem:
“There is no good or evil in our intrinsic nature;
holy and secular are just misguided ideas.
In front of the door of our awareness,
A mountain of balance to find our true home.”
Sunim practiced with Master Won Ji beginning in 2010, and from 2014 to 2019 he lived with him practicing full time. Won Ji Zen Master passed into Nirvana in 2021.
|
|
|
In the Korean Deok Seung Zen tradition, it is common for Zen Masters to test and confirm their awakening with other Zen lineage holders. Zen Master Seung Sahn required that his inka recipients engage in dharma exchange with at least three other Zen masters from outside his lineage.
Seung Sahn himself received transmission of the dharma from Master Ko Bong at age 22, and preceding this he received the sanction (inka) of three other Zen Masters, namely Geum Bong, Geum Oh, and Chun Song.
One of Seung Sahn Sunim's dharma uncles, Jeongang Yeongshin recieved dharma transmission at age 25 from Zen Master Man Gong (Seung Sahn's dharma grandfather), and subsequently recieved inka from six other Zen Masters, naemly Hye Bong, Hye Wol, Ha Nam, Geum Bong, Bo Wol and Yong Seong.
Due to various circumstances pertaining to his original teacher's (Won Ji Do Chong) institutional history, Deok Shim Sunim took up this call to dharma exchange and confirmation in earnest. In accordance with the Deok Seung tradition and various causes and conditions (paccaya), a number of remarkable relationships emerged in Deok Shim Sunim's training life, which are detailed below.
Seung Sahn himself received transmission of the dharma from Master Ko Bong at age 22, and preceding this he received the sanction (inka) of three other Zen Masters, namely Geum Bong, Geum Oh, and Chun Song.
One of Seung Sahn Sunim's dharma uncles, Jeongang Yeongshin recieved dharma transmission at age 25 from Zen Master Man Gong (Seung Sahn's dharma grandfather), and subsequently recieved inka from six other Zen Masters, naemly Hye Bong, Hye Wol, Ha Nam, Geum Bong, Bo Wol and Yong Seong.
Due to various circumstances pertaining to his original teacher's (Won Ji Do Chong) institutional history, Deok Shim Sunim took up this call to dharma exchange and confirmation in earnest. In accordance with the Deok Seung tradition and various causes and conditions (paccaya), a number of remarkable relationships emerged in Deok Shim Sunim's training life, which are detailed below.
Vietnamese Lam Te Lineage (Master Thiên Ân)
Accordingly, Deok Shim Sunim received confirmation of his awakening from the Vietnamese Rinzai Master Đại Phương Như Minh in 2014 who bestowed on him the name Pháp Ấn Đường (法印堂, “Dharma Seal”) and awarded him the rank of Thượng tọa,” or “Great Master.”
Master Như Minh served as the third Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Churches and the Ancestral temple Chùa Phật Giáo Việt Nam, after the famed Masters Mãn Giác and Thiên Ân.
Deok Shim Sunim studied, traveled, and taught with Master Như Minh from 2014 until his passing into Nirvana in 2022, and during that time served as his "International Secretary General."
Master Như Minh served as the third Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Churches and the Ancestral temple Chùa Phật Giáo Việt Nam, after the famed Masters Mãn Giác and Thiên Ân.
Deok Shim Sunim studied, traveled, and taught with Master Như Minh from 2014 until his passing into Nirvana in 2022, and during that time served as his "International Secretary General."
|
|
|
Il Bung Seon Kyo Lineage (Master Kyung Bo Seo)
In 2015 Deok Shim Sunim received confirmation of his enlightenment from Seon Hae Daesa. Seon Hae was the American dharma heir of great Korean master Il Bung Seonsa (who himself was ordained by Ko Bong Sunim, Zen Master Seung Sahn’s dharma father) who presented him with formal dharma transmission or “jeon beop” as a 78th Generation Zen Master with the following poem:
“Two dragons meet in the West;
the line secured and vows renewed.
Where the pilgrim goes now,
he finds himself the host.”
Deok Shim Sunim studied with Seon Hae Daesa until his passing in 2023. Seon Hae was also the head of a Korean Buddhist Temple Martial Arts lineage, which he handed down to Deok Shim Sunim.
|
|
|
White Plum Rinzai-Soto Lineage (Master Taizan Maezumi)
Finally, in 2023, Deok Shim Sunim received formal recognition of his awakening and dharma transmission in the Japanese Rinzai-Soto Zen lineage from Tendo Fusho Roshi. Passing through over 400 koans between 2018 and 2023, Deok Shim Sunim was appointed as a teacher in 2019, and finally a lineage holder in 2023 as an 86th Generation Zen Master with the name “Kojo” (浩乘, "Vast Vehicle") and the following poem:
“Accomplish with
no accomplishment,
Dharma speads by itself
to all places.”
Fusho Roshi was a student of Kozan Kimura Roshi and Taizan Maezumi Roshi. He eventually received Inka Shomei and Dharma Transmission from Shuzen Roshi. Deok Shim Sunim studied actively with Fusho Roshi through 2026, and maintains a positive connection with him to this day,
|
|
|
Although Deok Shim Sunim's awakening and position as a teacher has been confirmed in four distinct Zen lineages, he continues to regard Master Won Ji as his root teacher, and situates himself firmly in the tradition and lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn. Respecting the various names that he has been given by his teachers, Sunim continues to use his ordination name "Deok Shim" primarily, although he has also been known as "Sunyananda" for many years.
Zen Master Deok Shim has had meaningful relationships with a number of other dharma teachers, who have had a significant impact on his life and Zen teaching. He initially took refuge on the Buddhist path through the guidance of Stephen Klick (d. 2007), he took the five lay precepts with Lama Changchup Kunchok Dorje (1949-2021), and received the Bodhisattva Vow from Lama Kunzang Tenzin (Surya Das). Deok Shim Sunim was initially conferred the Dharmaguptaka Bhikshu precepts by the Most Ven. Thich An Duc (Suhitananda Mahathero; d. 2013), and subsequently spent the remainder of his dependency period (nissaya) under the Most Ven. Thich An Giao (Kozan Roshi; 1945-2024), both of whom expressly taught within an ekayana milieu.