Edgar,
See Master Sheng Yen's autobiography, FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW. He puts it best
about what he did, and what faculty he used in order to do it. The concepts
are simple, and the translation is clear when it comes to such unambiguous
points.
And see about how he teaches (or says how he taught).
His experience with methods was Experience. And he could express himself
because his teachers demanded that he do so. Thus, he became able to teach
others, even quite minutely, and personally, and his teachers confirmed this
ability and suitability in him. In fact, he was a master of methods, and also
of the Retreat situation, a.k.a. in Japan and in the West as "sesshin" (as you
know). An absolute master of Retreat.
No methods our Shifu taught involved use of reasoning. That would be
Philosophy. He taught Ch'an methods, Edgar; a.k.a. Zen methods.
It should embarrass you to be seen constantly persisting in error about Zen,
Zen teaching, and Zen mastery. Especially in a Zen forum. Publicly.
But it takes all kinds. I don't need or care to understand the reasons for
their perversity.
I hope you will see a teacher and learn an authentic method, and practice it
thoroughly, and have an opening.
It's my wish for all Beings, and thus you are no different in this.
There is no "rational mind", by the way. That is your illusion.
But Humans can use reason when and if we want to.
--Joe
> Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote:
>
> 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!
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