Ven. Seo Am, the eighth Buddhist spiritual leader of the Korean Jogye Order passed away at Bongamsa Temple, Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, March 29.
Born in 1917 in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, Ven. Seo Am entered the Buddhist priesthood at the age of 16 and was ordained five years later. In 1975, Ven. Seo Am, then 59, was appointed the president and executive director of the Jogye Order.
Ven. Seo Am became the chairman of the council of elders in 1991 and two years later became the eighth supreme patriarch of the Jogye Order. In 1994, he became embroiled in a factional strife at the country's largest Buddhist sect and resigned his post as the spiritual leader the following year.