This year we are offering a new Summer Reading program! We will be reading Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists by author Chenxing Han.

The Sangha will gather in person at Boundless Mind Temple in Brooklyn to discuss Be the Refuge on the evening of Wednesday, September 13, with Chenxing joining us by zoom. Please save the date! More details coming soon.

About the book

“A must-read for modern sanghas—Asian American Buddhists in their own words, on their own terms.

More than two thirds of U.S. Buddhists are Asian American. But you’d never guess this from mainstream representations, which all too often whitewash the racial and cultural diversity of American Buddhist communities.

Be the Refuge is both critique and celebration, countering the erasure of Asian American Buddhists while uplifting their stories and experiences.”

 

To kick off the Summer Reading program, Chenxing will be in conversation with BZC Director Ryan Lee Wong about her new book one long listening on Saturday, June 17, at Boundless Mind Temple in Brooklyn, at 11:20am EST. Copies of both her books will be available by donation at the event. More details about the Saturday program are available here.

About Chenxing Han

Chenxing Han is the author of the widely reviewed Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists, and the recently released one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care, both with North Atlantic Books. She is a regular contributor to Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and other publications, and a frequent speaker and workshop leader at schools, universities, and Buddhist communities across the nation. She has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Hemera Foundation, the Lenz Foundation, and elsewhere.

Chenxing holds a BA from Stanford University, an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, and a certificate in Buddhist chaplaincy from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. She is a co-teacher of Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard at Phillips Academy Andover, and a co-organizer of May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial for Asian American Ancestors.