Master Sheng Yen is a decent Taiwanese Buddhist, uh, preacher, he has a lot of sermons on Youtube. I actually was first exposed to him from Buddhist tracts at my Asian market. He's unfortunately dead now, though.
I think one difference is actual Buddhist teaching is in some ways very different than Westernized teachings on it.
In this, he's very strictly anti-abortion under any circumstance whatsoever, he's actually more harsh in his views than most Christians, and even says if a woman is raped she should still give birth to the baby and it's just laws of karma and destiny/fate. No Westerner would make money from New Age hippy guru bullshit by saying anything like that. Nor from saying like Master Sheng Yen does, to not dwell on past lives at all and never seek out past life analysis/etc, and concentrate on your current life. Westerners want to use Buddhism mainly as a crutch to support their own morality as they see fit, or in a Tony Robbins self-help/self-improvement way. Once you start talking about literal hell or a very real possibility of reincarnating to a more negative landscape/personhood, abortion creating massive negative karma, how you should not eat meat, etc, no Westerner wants to hear that. So Westerners usually use Buddhism as a shield where they can mend the religion into a "You do you" affair and the gurus seem to want excessive amounts of money.
The Westerners promoting New Age retreats and all that have much more financial incentive.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190304041 ... rg/events/ This is a monastery affiliated with Master Sheng Yen, and their old 2019 prices. Generally they average out at $100 a day with accommodation and meals included. That's pretty comparable to what even a normal Catholic church would charge for a similar religious retreat, or maybe less. Meanwhile guys like Eckhart Tolle charge $1000 for 5 days and make you get your own hotel room and meals.
Participants booked through Eckhart Teachings to pay to stay in nearby hotels, ranging from $500 to $1000 for the five nights – a walking distance to the huge conference hall to listen to Eckhart. If participants make their own housing arrangements, then they pay Eckhart Teachings, a “commuter fee of $295 including meals and yoga mat.”
I'm not Buddhist, but I've genuinely learned from Master Sheng Yen's sermons, and I'd just like to compare and contrast him vs Western New Agers.