From The Preface By Dan Stevenson

EN. SHENG YEH is a master in the Caodong and Linji lineages of Chan〈Zen〉 school, who for twenty five years now has been guiding students from Taiwan, the United States, and Europe in the practice of Chan Buddhism.

Hoofprint of the Ox provides a systematic introduction ─ in Sheng yen，s own words ─ to the principles that inform his particular style of Chan training.... In the final analysis, it is an unabashedly normative work ─ a book on Chan practice addressed to an English speaking audience with a personal interest in Buddhism.

To the extent that this audience is also primarily Western, Hoofprint is more than passive report of Sheng yen，s personal convictions. It situates those convictions in responsive relation to specific expectations about Chen practice current among Western students, with specific points to be made.