Fifty years ago, Tibetan Buddhism was the religion of an isolated mountain people, known to outsiders only as a kind of fairytale faith involving flying monks, reincarnated spirits, demons, and superhuman feats of physical endurance and extrasensory perception. Then, the Chinese invaded Tibet, targeting Buddhist monks and monasteries for elimination. The Dalai Lama and other monks and lamas made their way into exile in India, where they began to attract Western disciples among the throngs of hippies and other seekers who migrated to India in the 1960s and 1970s wanting to study meditation techniques to reach enlightenment. Some of these lamas made it all the way to America, and Tibetan Buddhism became, in terms of percentages, the most rapidly growing religion in the West. This is the story Jeffery Paine tells in his riveting narrative-and he tells it with tremendous intelligence and writing verve. The book is as full of fantastic characters as the most colorful novel: Alexandra David-Neel, the indomitable French woman who made a suicidal journey through the mountains, disguised as a Tibetan, to become the first westerner ever to enter the holy city of Lhasa; Lama Yeshe and Chogyam Trungpa, who proved to be charismatic and gifted ambassadors for their ancient religion. Writing with a wryly objective eye, Paine doesn't miss the ironies and occasional humor of transporting religious beliefs across cultural borders; nor does he fail to acknowledge the twists and turns of individual character and experience. But with respect and sympathy, he leads the reader to understand the basic teachings of an ancient tradition and why they are so powerfully appealing to westerners today.
目次
INTRODUCTION A Thousand Years in the Eye of God 3 Book I TIBET, BEFORE I. Was 21 Book II WORLDS IN COLLISION II. Everyone Was Dear 53 III. Playboy of the Gods 78 Book III DAKINIS DESCENDING A STAIRCASE IV. A Tibetan Hermit, Made in England 115 V. Interlude: An American in Tibet 140 VI. The Reincarnation with the Beautiful Fingernails 144 Book IV BUDDHA: THE SCREEN TEST VII. Coming Attractions 165 VIII. The Star 183 Book V IN SEARCH OF THE ORDINARY: 3 VISITS Introduction 209 IX. The Buddhist Gatsby and a Modest Old Friend 216 X. Into the Closet 229 XI. To Hell and to Jail 241 CONCLUSION For a Future to Be Possible 253
