Edgar, Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I'm more concerned with other things - like how his students conduct themselves.
________________________________ From: Edgar Owen <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, 22 November 2012, 13:35 Subject: Re: [Zen] the zen spirit Mike, What's your answer and why are you afraid to tell us? EDgar On Nov 22, 2012, at 8:34 AM, mike brown wrote: > > >>Do you believe any human being could subsist only on yam leaves and rice for >>6 years or do you agree with me it's simply impossible? > >And the new Donald Trump.. > > > > > > >________________________________ > From: Edgar Owen <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Thursday, 22 November 2012, 13:07 >Subject: Re: [Zen] the zen spirit > > > >Merle, > > >OK, please answer a simple question and we will see. :-) > > >Do you believe any human being could subsist only on yam leaves and rice for 6 >years or do you agree with me it's simply impossible? > > >The fate of your immortal soul and entry into the Buddhahood realm rests on a >correct and honest answer to this simple question! >:-) > > >I challenge everyone on this group who is at all interested in the truth and >who understands that belief in falsehood is illusion and thus that truth is >essential to realization to give us THEIR answer to this question. > > > > > > >Edgar > > > > > > >On Nov 22, 2012, at 1:44 AM, Merle Lester wrote: > > >> >> >> >> >> edgar..what do you take me for?..a fool..merle >> >> >> >>Merle, >> >> >>Get real and use your brain Merle! It's not the number of calories but the >>necessary nutrients for life are missing. >> >> >>Hot water? Well I like that myself (I usually add several spices and >>sometimes lemon juice) but I hope you don't think anyone can subsist on it? >> >> >>Edgar >> >> >> >> >> >> >>On Nov 20, 2012, at 5:22 PM, Merle Lester wrote: >> >> >>> >>> >>> because he did no heavy labour all day he needed less food... >>> how long did he live?... >>>plain hot water is great!... >>>does not believe in the principles of nutrition and you just ran with that >>>joe?.. >>>what?... >>>where is your zen spirit?. >>>.merle >>> >>> >>> >>>Anyone who tries to convince you he lived on wild yam leaves and rice for 6 >>>years begins to sound like the oriental typical guru putting one over on >>>gullible disciples. >>> >>> >>>How much did you pay him total for 'enlightening' you? >>> >>> >>>Edgar >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>On Nov 20, 2012, at 1:45 PM, Joe wrote: >>> >>> >>>>Edgar, >>>> >>>>Negative. >>>> >>>>I suggest a reading of Ch'an Master Sheng's autobiography. >>>> >>>>When he taught us, he would often urge us to eat "properly" in our daily >>>>lives as we practice. But he added that he "does not believe in the >>>>principles of nutrition". That was always very interesting to me, but I >>>>never questioned him in detail about what he believed (or followed) >>>>instead. I was already a vegetarian before I met him. >>>> >>>>On the veracity of his story of his cultivating the "Taiwan wild mountain >>>>potato", I had no reason to doubt him. He mentioned that this potato is >>>>different from what we call potatoes in the West. And I suspect it is not >>>>related to our Solanaceous plants, which I think are only indigenous to S. >>>>Amer., and not Asia. So the leaves of his plants may have been differently >>>>nutritious, indeed!, compared with those of our Deadly Nightshades. >>>> >>>>In fact, it is a type of Yam. >>>> >>>>I must assume that he also had Tea; maybe he did not mention it because >>>>it's like an Englishman taking tea "for granted" as a commodity, except >>>>more so!, for a Chinese! ;-) >>>> >>>>But, ...he taught us on Retreat to drink plain hot water, and we had urns >>>>of it: I personally called this "Sheng Yen Tea". So, maybe he did not have >>>>any tea at all during his 6-year retreat. It's possible that he may have >>>>found Ginseng root on the mountain, however, too. >>>> >>>>He mentions the Yam potato leaves several times in his auto-bio, and in >>>>fact, there is an entire chapter (Chapt. 11) there, called "Wild Potato >>>>Leaves"... . >>>> >>>>For your reading, here is the reference to Sheng Yen's best-known >>>>autobiography in English. The book is quite clear about his diet on the >>>>mountain: >>>> >>>>Sheng Yen; FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW; THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CHINESE BUDDHIST >>>>MONK, 2008, Doubleday. >>>> >>>>You can also see the Amazon page: >>>> >>>>http://www.amazon.com/Footprints-Snow-Autobiography-Chinese-Buddhist/dp/B003JTHRT6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1353436592&sr=8-3&keywords=footprints+in+the+snow >>>> >>>>Best, >>>> >>>>--Joe >>>> >>>>> Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I suggest you use the same investigative intelligence you used to debunk >>>>> the hurricane Sandy photos to debunk your teacher's story. >>>>> >>>>> No human being could live on only wild potato leaves and rice for 6 >>>>> years. That's quite obvious. >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > >
