The Whole World is a Single Flower 2011

Tour & Conference

16 ~ 26 October 2011, India

Two thousand five hundred years ago on Vulture Peak in India, the Buddha picked up a lotus flower and demonstrated universal truth.

At the end of World War II, Zen Master Man Gong took a petal from the leaf of the Korean national flower, dipped it in ink, and wrote a rough calligraphy that read: "The Whole World is a Single Flower."

This means equality, harmony and peace. It means that you and I, the sun and moon, earth and sky, air and water, are fundamentally not separate or different. We each have the same root.

It was the great hope of Zen Master Man Gong that all human beings return to this common root, our original substance, and from the root, a single beautiful world flower of equality, harmony, and peace might again appear.

Zen Master Seung Sahn founded the Whole World is a Single Flower conference as a way to bring people from many different countries and traditions together in the spirit of unity and harmony.

The Whole World is a Single Flower conference is held every three years and is organized by the Kwan Um School of Zen. It has been held in Korea, USA, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Poland and is attended by zen teachers and students from around the world. More information on this conference here.