Is Pure Land more practical than Zen?

There are some Pure Land teachers who claim that in this Dharma Ending Age, you can only hope to acheive result through Amitabha recitation. They believe that seeking rebirth in the Pure Land is the only reliable way of transcending Samsara. All the other Mahayana schools, especially Zen, only works for the ancients, who have greater aptitude & determination than any modern person. They say there are almost no enlightened Zen masters left in the world today, whereas there are still thousands of Pure Land practitioners who have achieved rebirth there. So this is a proven method with live examples that we should all follow. What are we to make of this kind of rhetoric?
Chan Master Ven Xuyun had this to say:

"For those who have attained enlightenment, all Dharmas are universally penetrating. Zen contemplation is the Way, Buddha recitation is the Way, even mundane chores like digging the soil is the Way. In my whole life I have never discouraged anybody from recitation, but I'm not happy with those people who discourage others from contemplation."

There are 84,000 methods that lead to enlightenment; no one path is superior to another. Zen is Zen & Pure Land is Pure Land, what good does it do to put down one in order to elevate the other? Saying that the ancients are superior to modern men is self-defeating talk. Although people of the present have much more distractions then those of the past, but in terms of intelligence, didn't modern men built airplanes, bullet trains, satellites, super computers, sky-scrapers & spaceships that could land on the moon? If we talk about the kleshas, the mental defilements that affect sentient beings are the same for all men, no matter whether they lived in the past, present or future. Just go through the Sutta Pitaka & you will realize that some of the Buddha's followers have even worse obstacles than we do, but that did not stop them from eventually reaching enlightenment in one lifetime. So why should we look down on ourselves & give up before we have even made a good effort?

As for saying that there are no more enlightened Zen masters left in the world; who then is Ven Xuyun? Who is Ven Yuexi? Are they Pacceka (Solitary) Buddhas who attain enlightenment on their own? Surely not. They too learned from other enlightened masters in their younger days. The fact is that the Chan lineage in China was never broken. The heart transmission of Zen carries on, generation after generation from the 6th Patriarch up to this day. The same could be said for the Zen lineages in Korea, Japan & elsewhere. Those who say that there are no more people who achieved result from Zen contemplation are surely misguided or misinformed.

Regarding the claim that many practitioners who practiced Amitabha recitation achieved rebirth in the Pure Land, with auspicious signs to prove, I believe that there is nothing wrong with that. These serve as inspirations for those inclined to practice the Pure Land teachings. However, at no point should anybody make use of these stories to put down other schools & propogate Pure Land as the only method that works! The scriptures say:

"Virtuous One, concepts of superiority & inferiority exist in your own mind. They are not in accordance with the Buddha's wisdom."

A truly wise teacher will not only encourage people to practice the method of his own school, but at the same time he should also praise the merits of the other schools without any discrimination. Only in this way the teacher can be in accordance with the Buddha's wisdom & ensure the long-term harmony of His Sasana, sadhu. Happy Chinese New Year 2007 to all!