Lilu Chen

Lilu Chen

Core Faculty

lchen@shin-ibs.edu

Associate Professor of Spiritual Care and Interreligious Engagement, Director of Field Education

Lilu was born in southern China and immigrated to the United States as a young child. Her family converted to Christianity, and she attended a bilingual church until early adolescence. She received her BA in religion from Carleton College and PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University. Her first book, Chinese Heirs to Muhammad, examines origin narratives, notions of time, and religious history among Hui Muslims in 19th century China. 

Following health challenges, Lilu found herself drawn to chaplaincy and spiritual care. She spent two years volunteering at Stanford Health Care through the Sati Center Buddhist Chaplaincy Training. She went on to a residency in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA and internship at Kaiser Permanente in San Leandro, CA.

A dedicated Buddhist meditator in the Insight tradition since 2011, Lilu has completed more than 15 weeklong silent retreats at various centers across North America. A longtime participant at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA, she co-founded and co-facilitated the center’s Asian Dharma Circle from 2019-2025. Since becoming the parent of two children, Lilu’s engagement with Buddhism has shifted to center on daily life practice, ritual, and multi-generational communities. Today she is a member of San Mateo Buddhist Temple, where she is active in the Dharma school. 

Lilu’s research interests include the spiritual formation of North American Buddhists, comparative studies between Shin Buddhism and Sufi Islam, as well as the spiritual development of children. She is currently undertaking a book project with three colleagues from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim backgrounds tentatively titled Interreligious Perspectives on Reflective Practice.  

Degrees

PhD, Stanford University (Religious Studies)

BA, Carleton College (Religion)

Clinical Pastoral Education 

Residency, Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA

Internship, Kaiser Permanente in San Leandro, CA

Select Publications

  • “Buddhist Chaplaincy in the United States and Japan: Critical Reflections on Cross-Cultural Practice and Lived Experience,” Pacific World 4:6 (2025), pp. 215-8.
  • Review of Chenxing Han, one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care. In Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, Vol. 44 No. 44, Published Online Mar. 8, 2024.
  • Chinese Heirs to Muhammad: Writing Islamic History in Early Modern China, The Modern Muslim World, Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2020.
  • “Writing Cosmopolitan History in Nineteenth-Century China: Li Huanyi’s Words and Deeds of Islamic Exemplars” Challenging Cosmopolitanism: Coercion, Mobility and Displacement in Islamic Asia, edited by R. Michael Feener and Joshua Gedacht. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2018: 145-171.
  • Review of Mercedes García-Arenal and Fernando Rodríguez Mediano, The Orient in Spain: Converted Muslims, The Forged Books of Granada, and the Rise of Orientalism. In Religion, (Routledge: Taylor & Francis), Published Online Sept. 1, 2015.
  • Review of Marion Holmes Katz, Prayer in Islamic Thought and Practice. In Religion, (Routledge: Taylor & Francis), Published Online Nov.  19, 2014.

Courses Taught

Introduction to Field Education
Spiritual Reflection in Context

Courses Supervised

Advanced Field Study–CPE
Practicum Training for Chaplaincy Certificate