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BUILDING SANCTUARY, BEING REFUGE

A Conversation with Buddhist Authors Zenju Earthlyn Manuel and Chenxing Han

A conversation with Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, author of The Way of Tenderness (2015), Sanctuary (2018), and The Deepest Peace: Contemplations from a Season of Stillness (December 2020); and Chenxing Han, author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists (January 2021). Following a reading from their forthcoming books, Zenju and Chenxing will reflect on Buddhist approaches to current events, engaging with questions of race and identity, hope and fear, refuge and being.

For a recording of this event, listen below:

Past: October 22, 2020, 5:30 pm

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel was raised in the Church of Christ where she was an avid reader of the Bible and adored the true teachings on Christ’s path well into adulthood. She also participated in ceremony with Ifá diviners from Dahomey, Africa and studied Yoruba. She holds a Ph.D. and formally worked for decades as a social science researcher, development director for non-profit organizations and those serving women and girls, cultural arts, and mental health. She is the dharma heir of Buddha and the late Zenkei Blanche Hartman in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi lineage through the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC). She was Shuso (head Student) with Kiku Christina Lehnherr and her Dharma Transmission was completed by Shosan Victoria Austin. Zenju’s practice is influenced by Native American and African indigenous traditions. Visit her website at http://zenju.org/

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Chenxing Han is a Bay Area–based writer whose publications have appeared in Buddhadharma, Journal of Global Buddhism, Lion’s Roar, Pacific World, Tricycle, and elsewhere. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA in Buddhist studies from the Graduate Theological Union. After studying chaplaincy at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California she worked in spiritual care at a nearby community hospital in Oakland. Her first book, Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists, is coming out with North Atlantic Books in January 2021. Visit her website at www.chenxinghan.com