The Carefree-Ease Record

In this radical new translation of a classic Ch’an (Zen) koan collection, David Hinton illuminates the Taoist dimensions of “carefree-ease,” the effortless joy of the enlightened mind in harmony with earth and cosmos.

First collected by the Ch’an master Wisdom-Expanse (Hung-Chih) in the twelfth century, this collection of one hundred kung-ans, or koans, is an essential text for students of Ch’an and Zen. These miniature masterpieces of Chinese philosophy and literature offer a unique way of ...