Book Description

On the day of her orientation ceremony to start university, Jaun runs into the young Monk Hyegang, an old friend, who has a gift for her, a rosary, from his guardian, Monk Dasol. Upon thanking him for the gift, Jaun is surprised and curious to learn this great monk has been watching her from afar for many years, perhaps since her mother’s death. But why? Jaun was only school-aged back then and can’t remember ever meeting him. Her mother had been teaching Korean language to grade ten boys, and Hyegang was her student. Before Jaun can discover more, Monk Dasol passes away. However, when Jaun’s aunt reads of Monk Dasol’s death in the newspaper, she gives Jaun something that has been in her possession since Jaun’s mother died, something that might give Jaun some answers—her mother’s journal. At Monk Dasol’s cremation ceremony, Monk Hyegang invites Jaun to sit with him and Jaun shows him the journal. She hasn’t read it yet. Together, Jaun and Hyegang decide to read the journal, which takes place during the ten-month period before her mother’s death. Deeply moving and scattered with the teachings of Buddhism, The Whisper of the Breeze from Pine Trees and Flowing Streams uninhibitedly confronts what it means to be human in this often lonely and disconnected world.