REVIEW: Jeanine Cogan and Mary Hillebrand- Tears Become Rain (BOOK)
The new book is Tears Become Rain: Stories of Healing and Transformation Inspired by Thich Nhat Hahn, edited by Jeanine Cogan and Mary Hillebrand. The crux of the book seems inspired by a deeply personal place, particularly on behalf of Ms. Hillebrand. The introduction paints a heart-rendering backstory for what inspired Ms. Hillebrand to start entertaining the ruminations of Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn into her daily proclivities.
The introductory passage details the impending death of a friend, and from said potential inevitability Hillebrand’s implementation of Nhat Hahn’s lessons into the way she felt she can navigate the pitfalls of her grief. “As Thầy teaches, clarity comes when we calm ourselves, look closely, and listen deeply.
Sitting peacefully with our beautiful friend, who would have made an excellent editor for this book, Mary finally figured out what to do: join Jeanine on this project and, in doing so, carry Susan with us. What an opportunity to deepen our practice and create a gift that all three of us would want to give Thầy and the world: a book by regular human beings, just like us, who had been transformed by his presence and teachings,” Cogan and Hillebrand write. “…Many of us have stories of a moment that elicited a ‘wow’ of wonder or a sigh of relief, when we realized that we are okay — our tears have become rain.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Tears-Become-Rain-Transformation-Inspired-ebook/dp/B0BS2VYJ47
This book is a collection of such stories, with a common reason for that quiet confidence: Thích Nhất Hạnh. Some of the authors shine light on ugly truths, which readers may experience intensely. Other stories reveal humbling moments that many of us can relate to…All stories in this collection come from authors sharing what is real and true for themselves, ‘like water reflecting,’ as Thầy says. Some authors navigated illness or other challenges while at the same time writing, revising, and answering our questions.”
Through making Tears Become Rain: Stories of Healing and Transformation Inspired by Thich Nhat Hahn an actual anthology, Cogan and Hillebrand are able to showcase a rich and diverse set of perspectives adherent to the central tenet of the book — in effect, to showcase another masterwork’s principles, (one’s) Search for Meaning. Much in the way Viktor Frankl introduced the concept of Logotherapy to readers in Man’s Search for Meaning, it is about finding light in one’s darkness. Perhaps not light *in* the darkness in and of itself, rather finding redeeming qualities to empower one’s self perceptually in navigating that darkness. Each story in Tears Become Rain also correlate to Thich Nhat Hahn’s teachings.
They keep a kind of solidarity with each of his tenets, while presenting a modern-day, relatable context for such tenets to be shown in effect, in full glory. I thoroughly appreciated the intentions of editors Cogan and Hillebrand in implementing this kind of style, making what could seem like intellectually and spiritually exclusive stuff fully empathetic and applicable to a wide audience’s context. Cogan and Hillebrand not only do this in terms of approach, but also in terms of their own, emotive convictions as evidenced by the book’s opening statements. Respect.
Colin Jordan
