In her compelling new book, Seeking Spirit: A Vietnamese (Non)Buddhist Memoir, Linda Trinh takes readers on her path of discovery as she searches for spiritual connections and fulfillment in her life. 

Trinh, who was born in Vietnam and grew up in Winnipeg, where she still lives, says, “I’m very conscious of having and grateful to have my basic needs met – shelter, food security, and a stable income. I also have my health and the love and support of my family. Yet I’m still seeking more. 

“The ‘something more’ may differ person to person. I define it for me as spiritual fulfillment.”

Trinh often felt she didn’t belong as a Vietnamese child in West End Winnipeg and as a visitor to Vietnam. 

“Being too much of something – too Vietnamese in some instances – and being too little of something else – not Buddhist enough in some instances – left me without an anchor when it came to exploring spirituality,” she says. “Which in some ways gave me freedom to explore and wander where my intuition led me.”

And wander Trinh does, from Vietnam to Egypt to China, in her search for spiritual awakening. 

“In every sacred space,” she says, “my insights are similar, that these spaces exist as glimpses of the divine, as true in the present day as it was true generations ago. When I’m feeling disconnected, lonely, untethered, I bring my mind back to one of these extraordinary moments, I breathe deeply, and I invite the divine into my ordinary life.”

To tell her personal narrative, Trinh structures her memoir into three engaging sections: “Spirit Studied,” “Spirit Experienced,” and “Practising Spirit.” A variety of entryways (like the seven gates of the underworld) and forms (such as diagrams, columns, and tables) are used within each section, reflecting the parallels Trinh finds between her journey of learning and various mythic, biblical, and historical stories and traditions.

The first section asks “the big questions about life and death” and shows how the beliefs of ancient Egyptian and Chinese civilizations parallel each other and provide teachings. Trinh also learns and unlearns from the story of ancient Sumerian goddess Inanna.

“The second section,” Trinh explains, “speaks to a specific period when I was going back to work after maternity leave and trying to grow my family and all the heartbreak of that time.” Throughout this section, there are references to Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and a recurring self-contained grid speaking to the areas of her life in transition.

The third section, “Practising Spirit,” explores the three touchstones of Buddhism: mandala, mudra, and mantra, and how she makes these ancient practices specifically hers and relevant to her life, especially as a creative writer. 

Trinh’s openness to the divine and wonder in the world is contagious. “I believe that life is mysterious and wondrous,” she says.

“There are things that can’t be explained, can’t be proven, things that can only be experienced. The memoir is my unique experience. I don’t have answers. I only have questions, and in questioning, I’m getting closer and closer to my spiritual truth.

“And hopefully, in sharing my unique experience, readers may find their own questions and what may be true for them.”