David Hinton, one of the world’s foremost translators of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy, presents The Way of Ch’an: Essential Texts of the Original Tradition. David will be in conversation with renowned Zen teacher/author/poet, Zoketsu Norman Fischer.

The Way of Ch’an illuminates the true story of Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism’s historical development in China. Here we have the essential source material in its own native understanding, free of the mistranslation and misrepresentation that has characterized it in the modern West. It offers a revolutionary understanding of Ch’an as a Buddhist-inflected form of Taoism, China’s native system of spiritual philosophy. This authentic Ch’an was a radical and wild practice cultivating a deeply ecological form of liberation: the integration of mind and landscape/earth/Cosmos.

David Hinton has published numerous books of poetry and essays, and many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy—all informed by an abiding interest in deep ecological thinking. This widely-acclaimed work has earned Hinton a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from NEA and NEH, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award (Academy of American Poets) and the PEN American Translation Award. Most recently, Hinton received a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Norman Fischer is a Zen teacher, poet, translator, and director of the Everyday Zen Foundation. A beloved figure in the Buddhist world, he is also well-known for his efforts at interreligious dialogue. His numerous books include The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path, What Is Zen?: Plain Talk for a Beginner’s Mind, and Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong.