Bedford Public Library

Flight of the Bön monks, war, persecution, and the salvation of Tibet's oldest religion, Harvey Rice and Jackie Cole ; foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-266) and index

illustrationsmapsplates

index present

non fiction

Flight of the Bön monks

bibliography

1373838535

Harvey Rice and Jackie Cole ; foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Sacred planet book

war, persecution, and the salvation of Tibet's oldest religion

Providing an inside view into the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the tenets of B̲n, one of the world's oldest but least known religions, this book chronicles the true story of three B̲n monks who heroically escaped occupied Tibet and went on to rebuild their culture through incredible resilience, determination, and passion. After taking his vows to become a B̲n monk and completing a pilgrimage around 22,000-foot Mount Kailash, the holiest mountain in Tibet, Tenzin Namdak envisions a life of quiet contemplation at Menri, B̲n's mother monastery. Instead, he finds himself fleeing for his life across the highest and most difficult terrain on the planet. After Tenzin's escape party is ambushed and he is severely wounded, Tenzin is taken to a concentration camp, where he overcomes his nearly fatal wound before making an arduous escape from Tibet over the daunting Himalayas. The other two monks, lifelong friends Samten Karmay and Sangye Tenzin, witness Tibet's capital explode in a violent insurrection against Chinese rule. Escaping to Nepal, they worry about the survival of the B̲n religion and begin collecting scattered works of B̲n scripture. A chance meeting with British scholar David Snellgrove brings the three monks together and dramatically changes their lives. Tenzin founds a B̲n settlement in exile in India, Sangye is chosen as the thirty-third Menri Trizen, B̲n's highest office, and together the three monks help rebuild the nearly extinct B̲n religion. Aside from the escape of the Dalai Lama, no other escape from Tibet has been so consequential for so many

War, persecution, and the salvation of Tibet's oldest religion