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With a foreword by the Dalai Lama, this remarkable volume presents an intimate, Family of Man like portrait of Tibet and its people. According to Tibetan belief, existence is an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and in this exquisitely illustrated volume authors Carroll Dunham and Ian Baker take us through the Tibetan wheel of life, from birth and childhood through adolescence and midlife to old age and death. We meet a pregnant woman who is married to four brothers. She dreams of turquoise--a sure sign that she will give birth to a boy. Ten-year-old Tulku Ralo yawns as he sits on a grand throne blessing the reverent throng who flock to him; it is not easy being a god-child. The pilgrimage of a family to Lhasa takes several years, for they cover the entire distance by prostrating the length of their bodies across the earth, surrendering to the primordial ground from which all Buddhas have arisen.
Set against Tibet's staggeringly beautiful mountain landscapes, as well as against the ongoing struggle of the Tibetans to win independence from China,
Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life portrays the many faces of an earthy yet devout people steeped in a rich heritage. Includes a foreward by The Dalai Lama.
List of contents
Foreword by the Dalai Lama; Between Earth and Sky; Childhood Becoming Growing Up; Adolescence; Coming of Age; Adulthood; Ways of Living; Celebration; Tragedy; Pilgrimage; Old Age; Death and Liberation; Bibliography; Index
About the author
A native of Santa Fe,
Thomas Kelly has lived in Nepal since 1978. Formerly a Peace Corps volunteer and CARE program officer, he has been a professional photographer since 1985. His books include
The Hidden Himalayas and
Kathmandu: City on the Edge of the World, and his work has appeared in such magazines as
Natural History, Smithsonian, and the French and German editions of
Geo. An anthropologist, educator, and documentary film maker,
Carroll Dunham is the author of
The Hidden Himalayas. Her films include
Strange Relations (an episode in the PBS
Millenium series),
A Bride for Four Brothers (National Geographic), and
The Dragon Bride (BBC). The director of Sojourn Nepal, a school in Kathmandu, she lives in Nepal with her six Tibetan foster children.
Ian Baker, a writer, photographer, and educator, lives in Kathmandu, where he develops and directs college programs in Nepalese and Tibetan studies. A student of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tantric tradition, he has spent long periods of time in remote parts of the Himalayas and has studied with many of the great masters whose lives are described in this book.
Summary
Provides an intimate portrait of Tibet and its people as they make their pilgrimage through the wheel of life. In Tibetan belief, existence is an endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth. This book traces that journey from birth and childhood to adolescence, marriage, midlife, old age and death.
