Career
At an early age, Kobong became a monk at Namjangsa. Known for spontaneous and eccentric teaching, he sometimes said that he preferred to teach laypeople because monks were too lazy to practice hard. Kobong never held a position at any temple or established a temple of his own.
When he was elderly, his student Seungsahn brought him to Hwagyesa in Seoul, South of Korea where Kobong died at the temple in 1962.
A large granite monument was built in his honor on the hillside overlooking Hwagyesa. Kobong Sunim was Dharma heir to Mangong Sunim, who was in turn Dharma heir to Kyongho Sunim.
Seungsahn Sunim received Dharma transmission from Kobong Sunim at 22 years of age. Kobong had never given inka to any monk before he met Seungsahn Sunim and Seungsahn remained his only dharma heir.
