BULTASA

4360 W. Montrose Avenue
Chicago, IL 60641
Founder: Ji Hak Sunim,
Telephone: (773) 286-1551
Contact person: Sunil Sunim (head monk)

Bultasa (the name means "Gathering of Buddhas" Temple) was founded in 1970; it is the oldest and largest of the Korean Buddhist temples in Chicago.  Bultasa moved to its present location in 1986, when extensive remodeling transformed the building into a temple complex. Bultasa is staffed by monks of the Chogye Order. A center of the Korean Buddhist community, Bultasa holds a variety of services and functions, notably a religious service every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in Korean (English translations can be provided from time to time) and commemorative services for the departed. There is also a children’s Sunday school.

The Kwan Um Zen Community, founded at the temple by Korean-, European- and African-Americans, holds meditation practice at its home temple on Thursdays (7:15-9:30 p.m.) as well as at DePaul University, Wheaton, Crystal Lake, Hobart (Indiana), and Westville (Indiana). Retreats are held several times a year with Zen Master Barbara Rhodes of the Kwan Um School of Zen, Providence, Rhode Island. Contact: Ron Kidd (773) 327-1695.