Currently serves as Director of the KAIST Center for Contemplative Science,
leading research that bridges traditional meditation practices with scientific inquiry.

Received his Ph.D. from Oxford University for research on the Theravadin Doctrine of
Momentariness, and served as a senior researcher at Harvard University’s Center for
the Study of World Religions. Created Heartsmile Training,
a contemporary compassion meditation program that transforms traditional spiritual
wisdom into practical guidance for personal wholeness and flourishing.

His major publications in Korean include Lectures on Early Buddhist Scriptures,
Mind Happiness, and Compassion. In English, his works include a paper titled
"Chapter 2: The Heartsmile Training: The Compassion-Based Intervention Program of Korean Sŏn in the AI Digital Era" in the co-authored book Buddhism, Digital Technology and New Media in Korea: Ŭisang's Ocean Seal Diagram edited by Hyangsoon Yi and Dal Yong Jin (Routledge, 2025), and his Oxford D.Phil thesis has been published as The Theravādin Doctrine of Momentariness: A Survey of its Origins and Development by Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg in 2023 (Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis, 24).