Animus, I think the weakness in your argument is that you ignore the oral histories which is a shame because that's where the truth is, not in books written by monks. Apart from books written by people like Hutton and his peers, most books in this area are not worth a light. As Occultist says we have studied for decades [over 30 years in my case] - practical, experiential study which is more valid than book research. Book research is by it's nature, dealing with the past or with opinions. I am reminded of a quotation by Krishnamurti - "The only thing you learn from books is other people's opinions". Comparing opinion A with opinion B with opinion C is not research ! In the first decades of my working life, I was an Industrial Chemist and new chemical entities and processes come from practical research, not library reviews.
I would welcome a discussion on practical experiences, that would be interesting.
