Joe, It is not surprising that Sheng Yen had good relationships with TNH, as they were similar. Dalai Lama is different, though they might respect each other, as they are both erudite scholars. Sheng Yen is against 'sexual rituals' in Tibetan Buddhism. I don't know how widespread that pracitice is in Tibetan religions, and I am not against sexuality, as it is the only way we continue our species, but to do it in a monastry is different. They propose to conduct the ritual as a way of converting ordinary actions into dharma practice, meanwhile they also quote the 'ecstasy' obtained from it. That sounds like degradation into vulgarism. From time to time, Dalai Lama has had trouble explaining that practice. Anthony
________________________________ From: Joe <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, 17 June 2012, 23:08 Subject: Re: [Zen] Speaking of Compassion Anthony, I don't have a way to cast the characters into type. I know that's a standard tool that many people have, but I have never looked into it. I suppose I could scan the letter that my shifu gave me, showing his handwritten characters for the name, and put up an image. First, I must find the letter. This may take a while!! Meanwhile, again, the "Xiang" is just the "Xiang" in the Heart Sutra: "Form". So Shifu says! I'll leave it to you to see which character that is: you can't miss it. BTW, in his lineage, disciples are named according to the order of characters in a particular poem. Each new generation begins with a particular character, which is also a word in the poem. So, in my shifu's generation, all his disciples' names begin with "Guo", and then the next character in the name comes according to the order or sequence of the following words of the poem. I am Guo-Xiang. Sorry I do not now know which poem is used! Sheng Yen's chief Chinese disciple in the USA, Professor Jimmy Yu, would know (at Florida State University; Asst. Prof. of Religion and Buddhist Studies; he is "Guo-Gu"; he was a monk in Sheng Yen's line for about 20 years, and is now a lay person again and has married). Sheng Yen was a monk, and previously a Captain in the Taiwan Army, even while a monk. He was also a scholar, and had his PhD in Buddhist Studies from Rissho University in Japan, the world's greatest Buddhist university: Sheng Yen was born and raised on a farm in Mainland China, but let us not say that he is untrained! He was a friend of the Dalai Lama, and of Thich Nhat Hanh. The Dalai Lama came to Sheng Yen for information and advice about how to restore the organization of Nuns in Tibet (well, in the exile community in India, now), because female monastic practice in Tibet had become lost, whereas, in Ch'an, it has always thrived, and continues to thrive. So, my shifu helped, there. He passed in Feb. 2009 in Taipei. In his life, he made many teachers to follow him, and built a fine new university center (!) in Taiwan to train monastics and lay people in academic Buddhism and Ch'an practice. The "three pillars" of Zen and Ch'an are still the same three as ever: "Teaching; Practice; and Enlightenment". Sheng Yen emphasizes all three: not all teachers do! He is considered the renewer, rivalist, and reformer of Ch'an in Taiwan, and was given a recognition by the President of Taiwan of this status and accomplishment. His organization in Taiwan, too, is an important charity, and feeds a lot of people; they also are very strong environmentalists. The President also named Sheng Yen "The Environmental Monk." --Joe > Anthony Wu <wuasg@...> wrote: > My Chinese writer did not work. Now it is back.
