The author majored in Buddhism at Dongguk University and got an M.A. in East Asian Philosophy from Sungkyunkwan University. He went on to receive doctoral degrees in East Asian Philosophy (Vinaya Pitaka) from Sungkyunkwan University, art history (architecture) from Dongguk University, Zen Buddhism from the Department of Philosophy at Korea University, and Korean Ancient History from the Department of History Education at Dongguk University. He has submitted over 150 scholarly papers having to do with India, China, Korea, and Japan in many academic journals of South Korean research foundations. He is the author of forty or more books, including The Origin of Korean Seon Buddhism, Jigong and Naong, and The Thesis of a Buddhist Monk.