Dr. Danette Choi teaches in Paris and Spain

Dr. Danette V. Choi who founded Hawaii Dharma Sa in Honolulu nine years ago and who has known Soen Sa Nim for many years, recently began teaching at the Paris and Palma de Mallorca Zen Centers at Soen Sa Nim's request. This gifted woman, whose teaching is from the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, has drawn large crowds attracted by her energy and psychic gifts. Taking time out from a busy schedule in Hawaii, she spent much of the summer giving talks and personal counseling in Paris and Spain, and is credited by Palma Zen Center Abbot Joan Insa with revitalizing that center. Since she started teaching with Soen Sa Nim several years ago, she has traveled extensively with him, especially in Europe and South America. A native of Korea, Dr. Choi was able to predict the future at the age of five. Because of this gift, her parents, who were Chirstian, supported her search within Buddhism for answers. Unable to find a temple that would take her spiritual search seriously, she went into the mountains during her high school years. Upon her return home, people began seeking her out for personal counseling. She came to Hawaii in 1967, married and worked in various businesses for 10 years. In 1977 she founded the Dharma Buddhist Temple and held several large, traditional Buddhist ceremonies such as the Festival of Land and Sea to let the people of Hawaii know that the temple existed. In 1982 three hundred people gathered at Kapiolani Park for a World Peace Ceremony. Among the distinguished guests were Soen Sa Nim and Aitken Roshi. In 1983 Dr. Choi conducted a joint workshop and Precepts Ceremony with Soen Sa Nim and his students. She received her Dharma Master Certificate in 1981 in Korea from the denomination which follows the Lotus Sutra. In 1982 in Los Angeles she received a PhD in Religious Science. She gives spiritual counseling to people in all walks of life, Although her personal style of practice differs from Soen Sa Nim's, she emphesizes the great value of his teachings and has incorporated such forms as the 108 prostrations and living in Zen centers into her own teaching. This article is drawn from an interview conducted in July in a Palma de Mallorca restaurant between Dr. Choi, Joan and Antonia Insa (Abbot and Head Dharma Teacher at the Palma Zen Center), and Do Mun Sunim, a Kwan Um Zen School monk who was former Vice-Abbot of the Providence Zen Center and is currently helping develop the Paris Zen Center as the Vice-Abbot ther