including but not limited to books like The Mind Illuminated, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, and The Seeing That Frees
What a trio of books! All three of those sit prominently on my bookshelf, and have had significant impacts for me at different times. I absolutely treasure The Seeing that Frees. I am so happy that Rob lived long enough to give birth to that book, and his many talks online - though of course would have loved to have seen his later teachings on Soulmaking in book form.
Hi there - I found this article really interesting, as not from the Zen tradition myself. For this:
"Sekida's explanation of why this happens (a build up of spiritual energy) is obviously not a very useful model and at best a helpful metaphor for what it feels like to undergo kensho."
I also find this way off. If you want to use metaphors then it's more about what is let go of, allowing a direct realisation, rather than a building up of something. At least that's my personal experience and those I know.
Just to say that Culadasa's approach is as much Mahayana as it is Theravada in background. He draws on both.
take care