Ven. Misan Sunim, founder of the Heart-Smile Training Research Institute, entered the Buddhist monastic community in 1972 at Baegyangsa Temple in Jangseong, South Korea. He practiced Ganhwa Seon (a Korean form of koan Zen) at major Seon (Zen) centers including Bongamsa and Baegyangsa Temples. He also practiced the meditation of Early Buddhism in India and Myanmar.
After graduating from the Dept. of Seon Studies at Dongguk University, he received his master’s degree from the University of Pune in India based on his research on Pali and Sanskrit texts. He received his PhD from the Dept. of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford with his dissertation "The Doctrine of Momentariness in Theravāda Buddhism." He then worked as a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University and as a professor at Joong-Ang Sangha University.
Currently he is the Dharma Master of Sangdo Zen Center and has developed the practice of Heart-Smile Training so that everyone can practice cultivating loving-kindness and compassion in daily life. He has published in Korean, ‘Lectures on Early Buddhist Suttas’, ‘Happiness’, and ‘Compassion’ and translated Larry Rosenberg’s ‘Breath by Breath’ and ‘Three Steps to Awakening’ into Korean.
After graduating from the Dept. of Seon Studies at Dongguk University, he received his master’s degree from the University of Pune in India based on his research on Pali and Sanskrit texts. He received his PhD from the Dept. of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford with his dissertation "The Doctrine of Momentariness in Theravāda Buddhism." He then worked as a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University and as a professor at Joong-Ang Sangha University.
Currently he is the Dharma Master of Sangdo Zen Center and has developed the practice of Heart-Smile Training so that everyone can practice cultivating loving-kindness and compassion in daily life. He has published in Korean, ‘Lectures on Early Buddhist Suttas’, ‘Happiness’, and ‘Compassion’ and translated Larry Rosenberg’s ‘Breath by Breath’ and ‘Three Steps to Awakening’ into Korean.