Author: Thubten Samphel and Tendar
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 128
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8174360859
Description
Of sizeable contemporary interest and interspersed with rare archival photographs, this book is an emphatic look at the spiritual influence that continues to guide Tibetans today.
The book journeys through Tibet. . . the exile of the current Dalai Lama and his followers and their epic escape to seek refuge in India. . . the abrupt transportation of their lives from the medieval period to the twentieth century. . . The continuing non-violent struggle of His Holiness for Tibetan rights and his homeland . . . The worldwide respect and relevance accorded to Dalai Lama's teachings
Nestling amidst the great Himalayas, the tiny kingdom of Tibet evokes images of monasteries, meditating monks, Buddhism and, towering above them all, the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan Diaspora is perhaps the only community in the world today wherein the spiritual head also dons the mantle of political leadership.
Traversing the road backwards to the fifteenth century when Gerdun Drub became the First Dalai Lama, over the centuries, the role of the Dalai Lama only grew in stature - with the Great Fifth and the Great Thirteenth, in particular, each proving to be an 'ocean of wisdom', a living testimony to the title conferred upon them.
THE AUTHORS:
Thubten Samphel is Additional Secretary in the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala. Having acquired his Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University, USA, he has written extensively on Tibet in several newspapers and journals.
Tendar, co-author of the book, is a translator, and has specialized in rural journalism from the Xavier's Institute of Social Service, Ranchi, and worked as assistant editor of the Tibetan Bulletin.