David Listen was a Chan/Zen Buddhist monk for 11 years, during which time he gained extensive experience in mentoring. In addition to learning and teaching about the Chan/Zen meditation and way of life, a big part of his service as a monk was to guide people on a personal level. Over the span of his monastic life, he led, attended and assisted with numerous intensive meditation  retreats in U.S., East Asia, and Europe, designed to help deepen the calm and clarity of one’s mind and balance one’s daily lifestyle. Because of these opportunities to sit in silence with  himself, he learnt how to clearly observe his  pains and obstacles, see their causes clearly, work with and gradually transform them. Having  such ability, he was able to understand other people’s issues and help them resolve theirs as well. During these retreats, he had the opportunity to work with many of Master Sheng Yen’s lineage successors, including Venerable Chi Chern (繼程法師), Zarko Andricevic, and Simon Child. Because of this, he was able to adopt aspects of their teaching style into his own practice.