Korean Buddhism Abroad: A Critical Examination of Overseas Propagation Strategies of Jogye Order’s Hanmaum Seon Center

Abstract

In the decades following the Korean War (1950–1953), support from Korea’s Jogye Order, the largest of Korea’s Buddhist sects, was instrumental for establishing Korean Buddhism overseas. However, in recent decades, Korean Buddhism has been facing a growing domestic crisis and the number of the Jogye Order’s annual monastic recruits has been declining steadily. This domestic membership crisis has affected Korean Buddhism abroad, as the order has lost over half its foreign temples over the last decade. Nevertheless, despite these downward trends, the nine international branches of the Hanmaum Seon Center, founded by the Jogye Order’s Seon Master Daehaeng, have remained strong. Given the successful example of the Hanmaum Seon Center’s international branches, the Jogye Order’s future efforts abroad might find success by focusing on lay-oriented modes of practice, while balancing their involvement both with local Korean émigré communities and with outreach to local non-Koreans.