One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care by Han, Chenxing

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Occult Philosophy

One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care

Name: One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care
Price: 18.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6 (2 reviews)
Author: Han, Chenxing
ISBN: 9781623177850

Han, Chenxing

Reader rating

4.6

(1 reviews) 101 sold

$18.00

Editorial score How we rate

In stock

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📚 ABOUT THE BOOK

Navigate the wilderness of loss with a guide who finds intimacy in not knowing.

Chenxing Han's profound memoir, "One Long Listening," offers a deeply personal exploration of grief, friendship, and the nuanced practice of spiritual care. As an immigrant daughter, a novice chaplain, and a friend confronting loss, Han takes readers on an expansive journey from mountaintop monasteries to oncology wards. Her narrative artfully weaves together personal heartache, cross-cultural experiences, and the inexplicable brightness found within the human condition, challenging us to embrace impermanence and cultivate a compassionate presence in the face of life's most difficult passages.

Key themes

The Art of Caregiving Identity & Impermanence

Historical context

This memoir emerges from the intersection of contemporary immigrant narratives and modern chaplaincy practices, grounding spiritual care in lived experience rather than dogmatic tradition. It sits within the esoteric tradition of contemplative literature that values silence and presence over doctrinal certainty.

Difficulty

●● Moderate

Fans will love it

Parker Palmer · Frederick Buechner · Anne Lamott

🕯️ Occult Philosophy

🏛 North Atlantic Books 📅 2023 📖 304 pages 📔 Paperback 📐 Paperback ISBN: 9781623177850

Fun fact

Han's "One Long Listening" is a beautifully rendered, deeply intellectual, yet profoundly human memoir. It excels at blending personal narrative with rich spiritual inquiry, offering a unique perspective on grief through the lens of an Asian American chaplain. Those seeking prescriptive comfort might be challenged by its embrace of ambiguity, but readers open to a contemplative, globally-minded journey through loss and care will find immense wisdom. It stands as a vital voice in contemporary spiritual literature, expanding our understanding of human resilience.

📝 Description: One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care

For readers of The Wild Edge of Sorrow and Crying in H-Mart--a profound and searching memoir of life, loss, grief, and renewal from one of American Buddhism's most vital new voices. How do we grieve our losses? How can we care for our spirits? one long listening offers enduring companionship to all who ask these searing, timeless questions. Immigrant daughter, novice chaplain, bereaved friend: author Chenxing Han ( Be the Refuge) takes us on a pilgrimage through the wilds of grief and laughter, pain and impermanence, reconnecting us to both the heartache and inexplicable brightness of being human. Eddying around three autumns of Han's life, one long listening journeys from a mountaintop monastery in Taiwan to West Coast oncology wards, from oceanside Ireland to riverfront Phnom Penh. Through letters to a dying friend, bedside chaplaincy visits, and memories of a migratory childhood, Han's startling, searching memoir cuts a singular portrait of a spiritual caregiver in training. Just as we touch the depths, bracing for resolution, Han's swift, multilingual prose sweeps us back to unknowingness: 不知最親切. Not knowing is most intimate. Chinese mothers, hillside graves. A dreamed olive tree, a lost Siberian crane. The music of scripts and silence. These shards--bright, broken, giddy, aching--are mirrors to our own lives in joy and sorrow. A testament to enduring connection by a fresh and urgent new literary voice, one long listening asks fearlessly into the stories we inhabit, the hopes we relinquish, and what it means simply to be, to and for the ones we love.

💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Han’s narrative is a masterclass in empathetic listening, weaving personal heartache with professional insight into a cohesive tapestry of spiritual care. The strength lies in its rejection of easy comfort, instead offering the difficult gift of staying present. However, readers seeking structured theological doctrines or definitive solutions to suffering may find this approach frustratingly open-ended. It is not for those who prefer clear-cut answers or fast-paced plots. Instead, it demands patience and a willingness to sit with ambiguity. Those looking for traditional religious instruction might feel adrift, but anyone valuing the raw, unpolished reality of human connection will find this work deeply resonant and necessary.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers navigating their own terrain of loss will find profound solace in Han’s gentle guidance. This book is essential for those who feel overwhelmed by the demand to 'fix' grief, offering instead a model of compassionate presence that honors uncertainty. It suits spiritual seekers who prefer authentic human connection over rigid theology, and anyone interested in how cross-cultural identity shapes our approach to mortality. By witnessing Han’s journey from monastic silence to hospital wards, you learn that intimacy is found not in answers, but in the courage to listen deeply. It transforms the wilderness of grief into a shared space of brightness and impermanence, providing practical wisdom for holding space for others without needing to know the outcome.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

If you're grappling with loss, seeking deeper meaning in suffering, or curious about the intersections of spiritual care, cultural identity, and Buddhist wisdom, this memoir offers profound companionship. It's for those who appreciate nuanced reflections on life's hardest questions.

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Han’s narrative is a masterclass in empathetic listening, weaving personal heartache with professional insight into a cohesive tapestry of spiritual care. The strength lies in its rejection of easy comfort, instead offering the difficult gift of staying present. However, readers seeking structured theological doctrines or definitive solutions to suffering may find this approach frustratingly open-ended. It is not for those who prefer clear-cut answers or fast-paced plots. Instead, it demands patience and a willingness to sit with ambiguity. Those looking for traditional religious instruction might feel adrift, but anyone valuing the raw, unpolished reality of human connection will find this work deeply resonant and necessary.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While deeply informed by Buddhist principles like impermanence and compassionate presence, the book is first and foremost a memoir. It explores universal themes of grief and caregiving through Han's unique lens, which includes her Buddhist background, making it accessible to readers of all spiritual paths.

Rather than offering prescriptive solutions, "One Long Listening" invites readers into a space of shared inquiry and ambiguity. Han's journey embraces the 'not knowing' as a source of intimacy, suggesting that true healing often lies in presence and acceptance rather than definitive answers.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

The Art of Caregiving

Through her experiences as a chaplain in training, Han illuminates the profound and often unacknowledged work of spiritual care. She explores what it truly means to be present for others in their suffering, to listen deeply without judgment, and to offer solace in moments of vulnerability and impermanence, revealing the caregiver's own transformation.

Identity & Impermanence

Han's unique perspective as an Asian American, navigating diverse cultural landscapes, enriches her exploration of impermanence—a core Buddhist tenet. Her narrative beautifully intertwines personal history, ancestral connections, and the ever-shifting nature of existence, inviting readers to find solace and wisdom in life's inherent fluidity and change.

💬 Quotes from the book

“不知最親切. Not knowing is most intimate.”

“To truly listen is to enter the shared space between sorrow and unexpected joy.”

📜 Historical context

Han's "One Long Listening" joins a growing body of contemporary memoirs that blend personal narrative with spiritual inquiry, often drawing from Buddhist philosophy. It stands alongside works exploring grief and resilience through an Eastern lens, yet distinguishes itself by integrating the specific challenges of Asian American identity and professional spiritual caregiving within a global context, pushing the boundaries of traditional memoir.

📚 Glossary

Chaplaincy
Impermanence
Novice

📔 Questions to reflect on

Reflect on a time when 'not knowing' brought you closer to yourself or another person. What was that experience like?
How do you currently navigate the 'wilds' of your own grief or sorrow? What unexpected 'brightness' have you found there?
Consider an experience where you offered or received deep spiritual care. What made that connection feel profound or transformative?