Zen Master Wu Bong was the head teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen of Europe. Before meeting Zen Master Seung Sahn and becoming his first American student in 1972, he practiced with Suzuki Roshi at the the San Francisco Zen Center, and later with Tarthang Tulku at the Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center in Berkeley, California. He was born in Poland, spoke Polish fluently, and held a degree in mathematics from Brown University. He also practiced martial arts and received the 4th don black belt in Shim Gum Do, a Korean art of Zen Swordsmanship. In 1978 he helped Zen Master Seung Sahn establish the first Kwan Um Zen center in Poland. In 1984 he was given teaching authority (inka) and started teaching regularly in the USA, Europe, and Africa. In 1993 he was given Dharma Transmission and soon thereafter, together with his wife and children, moved to Paris, France, where they founded the Paris Zen Center. In 2008 he moved to Korea to prepare himself to become a monk. In order to keep a place in Europe he moved into the Berlin Zen Center, which from that time onward became his home in Europe. In 2009 he was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Korea. Wu Bong Sunim Seon Sa left his body after a cardiac arrest on Wednesday April 17th 2013 at 1 pm while leading a Yong Maeng Jong Jin at Paris Zen Center. He is greatly missed by his family and all his students and disciples in the Kwan Um School in Europe and worldwide.