Joe, You wrote, "Sheng Yen afterward became such a great, detailed, teacher of practice methods:"
In other words Sheng Yen used his rational mind and reason to instruct because he understood the value of the rational mind in traveling the path to enlightenment which is what I say here all the time and YOU deny here all the time! Edgar On May 23, 2013, at 2:07 AM, Joe wrote: > Mike, > > It's no secret that Sheng Yen found a lot in his tradition as practiced in > China and Taiwan in the 20th Century which he felt could be returned to its > roots, and reformed. > > He told us about this, and writes about this and his early training days in > the monastery, and tells about how he received little training in traditional > and effective practice methods. So, he sought this out, and put these ways > into practice. > > This is one reason why Sheng Yen afterward became such a great, detailed, > teacher of practice methods: he knew the value of them! > > He also felt afterwards -- and this was after he was already transmitted by > both his T'sao Tung and Lin Chi Ch'an masters -- that he needed an ACADEMIC > degree in order for him to be accepted in the West, and not just his monastic > credentials and his Inka, the authorization to teach Ch'an. > So he took the PhD in Buddhist Studies at Rissho University in Japan -- the > first Chinese National ever to do so-- and also practiced Zen in Japan with > Japanese monastics while there. > > I feel Sheng Yen is a reformer of Ch'an, and I know that some progress is > occurring especially in Taiwan to train monks and nuns and lay people at > Dharma Drum University. This is the university that Sheng Yen founded in his > lifetime and dedicated to full operation shortly before he died in Feb., > 2009, in Taiwan. > > There may be differences between JMJM's ways, and those of Sheng Yen at > Dharma Drum and elsewhere, but I don't know how "big". Let's just say that > Ch'an is a-"chan-ging"! > > JMJM may know about developments in Taiwan. > > --Joe > > > uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > > > Bill!, Yes, there does seem to be a big difference between Joe and Sheng > > Yen's Ch'an and JM's. I can't help but think JM's Ch'an is closely > > associated to the esoteric version of Taoism. > >
