Great Zen Master Chang Sik Kim

Shim Gum Do Founding Master Great Zen Master Chang Sik Kim, Sa Bu Nim

January 8, 1944 – March 12, 2021

Shim Gum Do Founding Master Great Zen Master Chang Sik Kim passed away on Friday March 12. Known as “Sa Bu Nim” (father teacher) he was the creator of Shim Gum Do (Mind Sword Path), an integrated practice of Zen martial arts and meditation. With branches in Italy and Korea, Shim Gum Do’s world headquarters, Shim Gwang Sa (Mind Light Temple), is in the historic 1894 First Parish in Brighton stone church on Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Sa Bu Nim was born in a small farming village in Korea in 1944. When he was 13 he entered the Hwa Gye Sa temple of the Jogye Order of Zen Buddhism and began his formal Zen training under Zen Master Seung Sahn Lee, Dae Seon Sa Nim. Dae Seon Sa Nim gave him the precept’s name “Won Gwang” (Universal Light).

When he was 21, Sa Bu Nim underwent a 100-day meditation retreat and during that time attained Mind Sword enlightenment. Following his retreat he began teaching his path, emphasizing compassion and meditation through the practice of his martial arts. He always said that Shim Gum Do training was about developing a clear mind, clear thinking and clear action. He came to America in 1974 and became a United States citizen in 1985.

In addition to his teaching , Sa Bu Nim was an accomplished calligraphy artist and poet. He has written more than 83,000 poems, some of which are published in his 18 poetry books beginning with The Pillow Head Collects Your Dreams in 1996. His work has been translated into Korean, French, Spanish, Persian and Japanese. In 2014 he was awarded the International PEN Korean Center’s Special Literature Award for his book Great Nature: Poems for All of Nature. He has also written two books about Shim Gum Do.

He is survived by his wife, Shim Gum Do Head Master Mary Jeanette Stackhouse, a large extended family, and by the worldwide Shim Gum Do Family of Heroes.

Shim Gum Do Founding Master Great Zen Master Chang Sik Kim’s March 20, 2021 Memorial Ceremony video is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA2NFcHWEZI

IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, DONATIONS IN HIS HONOR MAY BE MADE TO THE AMERICAN BUDDHIST SHIM GUM DO ASSOCIATION: https://shimgumdo.org 
 

To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Great Zen Master Chang Sik Kim, please visit our Tree Store.