Buddhist Life, Dalai Lama & Other Buddhist Spiritual Leaders, Spirituality, Buddhist Monasticism, Buddhist Biography

The Book of Tibetan Elders

Name: The Book of Tibetan Elders
Author: Sandy Johnson
ISBN: 9781573226073

by Sandy Johnson

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Overview

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

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Over the past few years, Tibetan Buddhism has become one of the most popular forms of Buddhism in the West. Here, Sandy Johnson, whose The Book of the Elders undertakes a similar exploration of Native American wisdom, collects the stories and wisdom of several Tibetan Buddhist masters. In 1991, Johnson's encounter with the Dalai Lama prompted her to learn more about the central teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Three years later, Johnson set off to travel around the Indian subcontinent to hear for herself and to record for others the teachings of some of Tibet's Buddhist masters. Johnson allows each teacher to tell the meaning of Buddhism in his own words. For example, a stone carver narrates the account of the ways he carves mantras in the river so that whatever touches the water will be blessed. Johnson's spiritual travelogue not only reveals the timeless wisdom of these great teachers as they live patiently the lessons of Buddhism in a homeland occupied by China, but also reveals the ways in which she is enlightened by her encounter with these men. (July)

Library Journal

Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, the great masters of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Dalai Lama himself, have been in exile throughout the world. Attracted by their spiritual teachings, Johnson (The Book of Elders: The Life Stories and Wisdom of Great American Indians, LJ 7/94) set out for India to gather their stories and wisdom. In riveting accounts that are part travel guide and part spiritual autobiography, Johnson records the masters' teachings on compassion and enlightenment and at the same time discovers her own spiritual self-identity. Johnson's often spellbinding account will be especially valuable in libraries where there is keen interest in Buddhism, but all libraries would profit from this.