[Buddha-l] Chen Yen survival or revival?

[Jeff Wilson]

Dear Kate,

Thanks very much for that follow-up post. I have visited those websites in
the past, though I hadn't thought about them in a while. Can you provide
some secondary source citations? I work with a large variety of Buddhist
groups, all of whom have their own claims for lineage (and, usually,
venerable tradition). Some claims are more reliable than others. I've
observed that in many cases claims that a group is secret, underground,
esoteric, or persecuted are used to mask the group's recent creation and
inability to accurately document their claims.

This does not mean that the groups you are speaking about necessarily
present this situation, but because I haven't personally encountered
scholarship which backs up their claims, and because their claims are not
consonant with what I've been taught, I hesitate to take claims published on
the internet as accurate. I am particularly hesitant to immediately accept
claims put forth exclusively on British websites, as Westerners have
historically been subject to a great many dubious claims about ancient or
esoteric Buddhist teachings which they are not equipped to evaluate. Tuesday
Lobsang Rampa was a Brit, after all, though he's only the tip of a
fascinating iceberg of "creative" interpretations of Asian religious
traditions in Europe and the Americas.

This is not meant as an attack on the sincere belief in their historical
claims or sincerity of Buddhist practice of these groups you pointed to,
which I am not in any position to evaluate positively or negatively. But
before I present infomation in a classroom setting, particularly revisionist
information, I need something some substantive than a couple of
self-published websites by recently founded British temples. Can you, or
other listmembers, help me out with some secondary works in their area that
back up their claims in some way? Thanks!

Sincerely,
Jeff Wilson
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