Flight of the Bön Monks
eBook - ePub

Flight of the Bön Monks

War, Persecution, and the Salvation of Tibet's Oldest Religion

  1. 296 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Flight of the Bön Monks

War, Persecution, and the Salvation of Tibet's Oldest Religion

About this book

An inside account of the Chinese invasion of Tibet told through the voices of three persecuted monks • 2024 International Book Award Nonfiction - Creative Category• Shares the true story of three monks' heroic escape from occupied Tibet and the subsequent rebirth of the Bön religion in exile• Introduces Bön, Tibet's oldest religion, and a traditional way of life extinguished by foreign occupation• Reveals details of the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet and the exodus of thousands of Tibetans to neighboring countriesProviding an inside view into the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the tenets of Bön, one of the world's oldest but least known religions, this book chronicles the true story of three Bön 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 Bön 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, Bön'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 Bön religion and begin collecting scattered works of Bön scripture. A chance meeting with British scholar David Snellgrove brings the three monks together and dramatically changes their lives. Tenzin founds a Bön settlement in exile in India, Sangye is chosen as the thirty-third Menri Trizen, Bön's highest office, and together the three monks help rebuild the nearly extinct Bön religion. Aside from the escape of the Dalai Lama, no other escape from Tibet has been so consequential for so many.

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Yes, you can access Flight of the Bön Monks by Harvey Rice,Jackie Cole in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Chinese History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright & Permission
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Foreword by the Dalai Lama
  7. Prologue; A Deadly Encounter at 15,000 Feet
  8. 1; Beginnings
  9. 2; An Artist Becomes a Monk
  10. 3; Four Years in a Cave
  11. 4; Invasion
  12. 5; Recluse Nation
  13. 6; Best Friends
  14. 7; Tibet’s Harvard
  15. 8; Broken Promises
  16. 9; Iron Hell
  17. 10; Flight
  18. 11; Forsaken Vows
  19. 12; Enter the CIA
  20. 13; Ambush
  21. 14; Prisoners
  22. 15; Tenzin’s Escape
  23. 16; Refugees in a Foreign Land
  24. 17; Snellgrove
  25. 18; London
  26. 19; Return
  27. 20; Promised Land
  28. Epilogue; Where They Are Now
  29. Main Characters and Glossary
  30. Acknowledgments
  31. Notes
  32. Bibliography
  33. Index
  34. About the Author
  35. Books of Related Interest
  36. About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company
  37. Backcover