A brief biography of COMMONFOLK CHINA's Project Director
Edward A. Burger has lived in China for nine years. He has a BA degree in Religious Studies from The College of Wooster (1998). During his student years, Burger traveled to India to study Buddhism with the Antioch Buddhist Studies Program. During this time he spent one month under temporary Bhikkhu ordination in a monastery in Burma. After graduation he spent a summer as a fire lookout for the Mt. Adams Forest Service in Washington State. Originally drawn to China by his interest in the Buddhist hermit tradition of the Zhongnan Mountains and inspired by the writings of Bill Porter, Burger spent his first year in the PRC studying Mandarin Chinese with CET, Stanford and Peking University while searching for a hermit master with whom to study. He became a formal disciple of Master Guangkuan in the winter of 1999 while living at Master Guangkuan’s hermitage. Burger has lived mostly in Beijing since then, traveling to Shaanxi province often to live and study with his master. For some years he worked as a translator and interpreter for a variety of cultural-related projects including magazine publications and film/t.v. productions. He directed his first documentary film in 2003 about his master and other recluses living in central China’s remote Zhongnan Mountain range. “Amongst White Clouds” was chosen for the NYU Center for Religion and Media film series in 2007. It has played in a number of film festivals across North America including Mill Valley, Taos, Denver Starz, True/False, Tahoe and Sante Fe. DVDs are currently available from the producer at www.amongstclouds.com and through Festival Media distribution.
In the summer of 2006 Burger acted as guide and interpreter to Dr. Ishwar Harris for his research on Chan Buddhism in China. Summer of 2007 Burger designed, directed and led a group of three College of Wooster students on a summer Zen Studies program funded by grants from the Lilly Foundation. Currently, Burger is translating the teachings of his teacher, Master Guangkuan in preparations to write his own book combining his teacher's words and personal reflections on his eight years as Guangkuan's disciple.
Burger screens his film and gives talks at Universities and Colleges each spring.
Burger’s interest in Buddhism brought him deep into the Shaanxi countryside. Being a folk musician himself and having grown up in a rural Ohio town, he found himself drawn to the local folk culture in towns surrounding the mountain region. Burger went on to complete his second documentary entitled, “A Life In Shadows” in 2006. www.alifeinshadows.com “Shadows” brings us into the lives of a community of farmer-artists as they travel village to village performing shadow puppet theatre. This exploration of the origins and future of shadow puppetry in China’s countryside sheds light upon conceptions of history and identity in a modernizing China. Produced by Beijing-based Canadian Producer Chad Pankewitz (COSMOS Pictures). “Shadows” currently awaits final post-production. An article on the art of shadow puppet theatre was published in issue #69 of the Kyoto Journal this year.
Burger's is currently producing "The Dreaming Buddhas Project", a series of academic short films on Buddhism in China for scholars and educators of Chinese Buddhism, Chinese culture and thought and related fields. Principle photograph has begun. This project is sponsored by the Buddhist Film Society 501(c)(3) not-for-profit.