I decided to leave home and ordain. Still, lingering attachment remained. Was this truly what I wanted, or was it escapism? I told myself to enjoy freedom and pleasure for just three more months. I indulged in fine food and went out to dance salsa as much as I pleased. The delight of freedom on borrowed time was intense and stimulating. Yet the craving that never felt sated and the limits of fleeting satisfaction were unmistakable. “In the end, I concluded that practice was better. Lasting, deep ease cannot be compared with worldly, momentary pleasures. Someone like me, who has really partied hard, knows this for sure.”

A refreshing smile and unreserved talk. Laughter kept breaking out throughout the conversation with Venerable Hyeon-an, whom we met on the 13th at the Institute for Buddhist Rituals in Jongno, Seoul. His life path, quite unlike that of a typical monk, is remarkable as well. Having ordained in the United States in 2019, he met a Vietnamese American Zen master and carries on the Chinese Weiyang lineage.

After majoring in microbiology at university, he handled overseas sales at a biotech company before heading to the United States in his late twenties. He grew disillusioned with exhausting, predictable work and wanted to seek new opportunities and possibilities. After a period of trial and error, he put his major to use and jumped into the cosmetics business, and it went better than expected. In three years, sales rose fifteenfold. As the business grew and wealth increased, insomnia and mental turmoil worsened. “I am fairly smart, but my personality was not good, so I kept creating problems. By chance I heard through a platform called ‘Meetup’ that I could learn meditation, so I went to Nosan Temple near LA. I was drawn into the teachings of Venerable Yeong-hwa whom I met there. As I simply did what he told me, my mind eased and my life changed. People around me noticed that change first.”

As his inner issues improved, the business flourished even more. He enjoyed worldly pleasures without regret. He lived in a large mansion with a lawn, employed staff, and drove a German sports car. Whenever time allowed, he even flew business class to Cuba or Colombia to dance salsa. At the peak that seemed as if it would go on forever, the thought of ordination suddenly arrived.

“Shortly before I ordained, I once traveled to Korea with Venerable Yeong-hwa. I wanted to show him where I had lived. After we returned, when he said it would be nice if there were a Weiyang temple in Korea, I replied, ‘For that, there needs to be a Korean monk.’ Then he suddenly said, ‘You can do it.’ I was so shocked that the rice grains I was eating almost flew out of my mouth.”

He agonized for three days without sleep. Unable to find his bearings, he asked his teacher, “If I follow your words and it turns out to be the wrong path, in the next life you will pay me back with interest, right?” The teacher answered, “Yes, I will have to repay you.” “Then I will follow. Anyway, your answers have always been better than mine, and even if it goes wrong, since you will repay me with interest, there is nothing for me to lose.” Even after making the snap decision, he went through the three-month ‘mind check’ described above and shaved his head. On the day he ordained, friends who used to dance and party with him came by to take ‘proof shots’ saying they could not believe it, and the ordination ceremony, which is supposed to be solemn, was filled with laughter and energy.

After ordaining, he returned to Korea and has devoted himself to introducing the Weiyang lineage and Seon meditation. Over the past six years, three Weiyang practice sites have been established - Bosan Temple in Cheongju, Bora Seon Center in Bundang, and Bohwa Seon Center in Jongno - and seventeen people have ordained. He currently teaches meditation at Bohwa Seon Center. By asking young visitors why they have come and what they hope to gain, then communicating in a tailored way to bring about tangible change, the center has spread by word of mouth among people in their twenties and thirties as a ‘meditation hotspot’.

“I believe Buddhism should not be detached from reality. Earning money matters, and no one can let go of all desires at once. We have to look into them, reduce suffering, and find ways to solve problems; I would like to help in that way, just as I received help.”

He recently published a book titled <American Monk Adrift in Korea> (Mogwanamu). Coming to Korea without sufficient training after ordination and bumping around ever since, his life as a practitioner has been closer to a slapstick drifting tale.

“I wanted to talk about how meditation and practice change the direction of life, and about that power. There is no one more worldly and selfish than me. Because even I changed little by little, I believe anyone can do it.”