Maybe this belongs in the open thread, but on the topic of rationalist interpretations of Buddhism, Eric Raymond just wrote something on "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him" (the following is just an excerpt):

I interpret Zen Buddhism as a set of practices for not tripping over your own mind -- avoiding our tendency to bin experiences into categories so swiftly and completely that we stop actually paying attention to them, not becoming imprisoned by fixed beliefs, not mistaking maps for territories, always remaining attentive to what actually is. Perhaps the most elegant expression of this interpretation is this koan setting forth the problem: "The mind is like a dog. His master points at the moon, but he barks at the hand."

In this sense, Zen is discipline that assists instrumental rationalism by teaching important forms of self-monitoring and mental hygiene -- in effect very similar to General Semantics.