World Could Be Otherwise
“Fischer is best at explaining these key concepts without making them too abstract, a skill gained perhaps through all of his years of teaching. His work with the imagination is stellar….
Fischer doesn’t end in thought but finds living examples in our shared lives. ”
Larry Smith, "Review: The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path," New York Journal of Books, April 2019.We are so obsessed now with data – facts and information. [This preoccupation] gives us the illusion that we know what is going on. To me, the world as we usually see it lacks imagination. We have relegated imagination to ‘content’ for ‘platforms’ – in other words, a tool for generating a harmless, entertaining commodity. But imagination is much more radical than this: our lack of real imagination is killing us.
“An Interview with Norman Fischer: Author of 'The World Could Be Otherwise',” The Zen Gateway, April 2019.“Fischer has developed a wide range of ways to re-imagine everyday situations, and to challenge the habitual feeling tones that they evoke.…
The Buddha’s message has moved through a number of different cultures in its long history. Will it put down lasting roots in our own? If it does, then it will have to adapt to this culture, keeping its spirit but re-imagining itself in new cultural forms. Who better for this task than a poet?”
"REVIEW: The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path Norman Fischer," The Zen Gateway, April 2019.