Hugh Curran was born in Donegal, Ireland into a Gaelic speaking family, and after moving to Canada did undergraduate studies in Nova Scotia.

He subsequently lived for five years as a Zen monastic and took a three-month pilgrimage to India and Japan before moving to Maine.

He became a founding member of the Morgan Bay Zendo where he is on the board of directors and guides retreats. He also founded the Friends of Morgan Bay which oversees several nature preserves.

During the 1990s Hugh became the director of a homeless shelter in Downeast Maine and has published articles and spoken on several national radio programs on homelessness issues.

Since 2002, he has been a lecturer in the Peace & Reconciliation Studies Program and was co-director of a number of peace conferences.

Hugh has co-written a book on local Maine history with Esther Wood and has published poetry in various poetry journals as well as compiling a classroom text, “Excerpts from Classical & Modern Writers on War & Peace.” In July 2017, he was invited to present a paper on a “Buddhist Interpretation on the Ethics of Animal Suffering” at St. Stephen’s College, Oxford University, UK. and on October 7-12, 2019 he was invited to give a presentation on tolerance and nonviolence at the Global Council on Tolerance and Peace in Malta.