writer David Hinton

There are no answers, only depths … but the depths—oh my, the depths are wondrous indeed! For those depths are beyond the words and explanations and understanding that answers normally entail—and there, anything and anywhere is the answer: willow seed fluff swarming sunlit through afternoon skies, hummingbird probing blue-violet iris blossoms veined gold, someone answering a knock at the courtyard gate …

Jon Joseph talks with poet and Chan/Zen scholar David Hinton about his book, Wild Mind, Wild Earth – Our Place in the Sixth Extinction. Hinton writes that we must rekindle our relationship to nature to avoid extinction, tracing Chan/Zen roots to the paleolithic/indigenous and Daoist concepts of ‘not born,’ or ‘no separation’ with the earth. Includes comments from John Tarrant and Allison Atwill.

Jon Joseph Roshi hosts a conversation with David Hinton, a poet and translator who specializes in Chan literature and poetry. His many books include The Selected Poems of Tu Fu (Du Fu), The Selected Poems of Li Po, and a translation of the I Ching. Hinton’s translations of the great Chan poets have earned acclaim for conveying “the actual texture and density of the originals.” As recorded January 23, 2022.