The Book of Tibetan Elders: Life Stories and Wisdom from the Great Spiritual Masters of Tibet"A historically isolated people, the Tibetans have now indeed come to the land of the red man, and nearly every other country on earth. When the Chinese invaded the country in 1959 and proceeded to destroy the ancient-wisdom culture as well as nearly a sixth of the population, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans fled to India and parts west. In the 1980s, the prophecy was fulfilled, and the Dalai Lama, exiled leader of Tibet, met with Hopi and other American Indian elders in an effort to reunite the brothers." "Tibet's spiritual elders are dying off, and it is with them that so many of the secrets of survival lie. They are the ones who can find by touching someone's wrist what our medicine cannot detect; they saw the empty spaces of the atom before science considered the concept of subatomic particles; they know how to realign even severe emotional imbalances without drugs or therapy; they know what plants heal us (they have catalogued more than two thousand) and how to save them from destruction; they predicted the demise of their own country at the hands of the Chinese; they saw the coming of AIDS almost ten centuries ago. These people are dying off, and with them, the wisdom we need to make it through the next century and beyond." "After the Chinese occupation of their country, many Tibetan elders were killed in reeducation camps. Many survived, however, to escape what has now become a brutally oppressive environment. Sandy Johnson traveled around the world gathering the life stories and teachings of Tibetan doctors, the state oracle, the previous Dalai Lama's tailor, the great women masters - the entire range of the culture. An astrologer offers to produce Sandy's chart, including the date of her death; a stone carver shows her the rocks with prayers painted on them that he places in the river at the end of every day so that the water may carry blessings to everything it touches; Johnson meets a woman of indeterminate age who lives her life in a cave praying that people might be less distracted by material things and learn to care for each other again. At the same time, Johnson herself is on a spiritual quest, and interwoven with the stories of the elders comes her own physical healing as well as a long-awaited reconciliation with her family. The book is filled with predictions made by the Tibetan elders about the course of Johnson's life - most of which have already come true."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
LITTLE TIBET | 9 |
SPACEMEN AND CAVE DWELLERS | 20 |
Copyright | |
4 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
The Book of Tibetan Elders: Life Stories and Wisdom from the Great Spiritual ... Sandy Johnson No preview available - 1996 |
The Book of Tibetan Elders: Life Stories and Wisdom from the Great Spiritual ... Sandy Johnson No preview available - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
anger asked astrology become began begin betan blessing body Buddha Buddhism called China Chinese Choedon compassion culture Dagchen Dalai Lama deity Dharamsala dharma doctor dream Drepung monastery everything eyes father feel felt friends Gadong Geshe guru Gyalwa Rinpoche happy head heart Holiness the Dalai India Kalachakra karma Khamtrul Rinpoche knew Ladakh Lama Rigzen Lama's learned Lhasa lineage lives Lobsang Lhalungpa looked mantra master medicine meditation mind monastery monks morning mother Native American Nechung oracle never nuns oracle Padmasambhava peace person Potala practice pray prayer prison Rinpoche's robes Sakya Sakya Trizin Shambala smiled Sogyal Sogyal Rinpoche someone spiritual talk Tara taught teacher teachings tell Tenzin thangkas things thought Tibet Tibetan Tibetan Buddhism tion told took tradition trance tsampa tulku understand Vajrayana walk Wandrak Wanla wanted wisdom woman women