Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom (BSCW) is a North American Buddhist Order. The Society was founded in the summer of 1967 as the Zen Lotus Society by Venerable Samu Sunim at his flat in Manhattan, New York City. (See Stories) In 1990 the name of the Society was changed from Zen Lotus Society to Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom. The change of name reflected an important development in the movement of the Society. The experience of more than twenty years of Son-Zen Lotus Society paved the way for making the necessary transition from Asian forms of monastic Buddhism to salvation and enlightenment for all. On the surface this transition was the modern-day renewal and reapplication of the five major pronouncement of Mahayana teachings:

All sentient beings are buddhas.

Samsara is Nirvana.

One's passions are enlightenment.

We are an interrelated whole.

Everyday life is the Way.