Chenxing Han

My work explores the possibilities that emerge at the intersections of Buddhism, Asian America, chaplaincy / spiritual care, and literature / creative expression. My first book, Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists (North Atlantic Books, 2021), draws from in-depth interviews with a pan-ethnic, pan-Buddhist group of 89 young adults to offer a culturally engaged, generationally informed picture of American Buddhism. Be the Refuge is a hybrid work that has led to community-building efforts such as Roots and Refuge: An Asian American Buddhist Writing Retreat at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies—for which I am the founding facilitator—as well as pedagogical projects such as Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard at Phillips Academy Andover, for which I serve as a co-teacher.

My second book, one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship and spiritual care (North Atlantic Books, 2023), offers a multilingual portrait of a Buddhist chaplain in training. Journeying from a mountaintop monastery in Taiwan to West Coast oncology wards, from oceanside Ireland to riverfront Phnom Penh, one long listening weaves letters to a dying friend with bedside chaplaincy visits and memories of a migratory childhood. My chaplaincy training began in Cambodia and continued in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I undertook chaplaincy training at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and Sojourn Chaplaincy, received a certificate in Buddhist chaplaincy from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, and completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at a hospital in Oakland.

My other publications include numerous articles and book chapters for academic and mainstream audiences. I am a regular contributor to Lion’s Roar and Tricycle magazines and a frequent speaker and workshop leader at schools, universities, and Buddhist communities across the nation. I have received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Hemera Foundation, the Lenz Foundation, and elsewhere. As the 2023–2024 Khyentse Visitor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, I am available for guest lectures and will be giving a public talk and workshop in Winter 2024.