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So Close to Heaven

The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas

Part of Vintage Departures

Author Barbara Crossette
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Paperback
$19.00 US
Knopf | Vintage
5.13"W x 7.92"H x 0.76"D  
On sale Jun 25, 1996 | 320 Pages | 9780679743637
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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This fascinating and colorful book takes students into a world that is just emerging from the middle ages and peering warily into the millennium ahead: the reclusive kingdom of Bhutan which remains true to that religion's riotous marriage of esoteric theology and gorgeous ritual, serenely meditating Buddhas and snarling deities entwined in sexual embrace. Traveling through Bhutan and the adjacent countries, Crosette discovers miracle-working lamas and separatist guerrillas, holy shrines, and the thieves who plunder them, all the while painting an extraordinary and deeply knowledgeable portrait of a culture struggling to survive.

"The past and present of the kingdoms of the Himalayas is examined in a history of both Buddhist thought in the region and a culture under siege. Enjoy a first-person journey which brings an immediacy to the atmosphere of the region and exposes newcomers to the cultures and lives of the peoples."—Midwest Book Review

"There is no other full-length contemporary American account of this likable and largely unvisited kingdom....Crosette unravels the intricacies of Buddhism with considerable clarity."—The New York Times Book Review
Barbara Crossette, who joined the New York Times in 1973, spent seven years as a correspondent in Asia, and is now UN bureau chief. She was a Fulbright Professor of Journalism in India and has taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and at Princeton University. She won the 1991 George Polk Award for foreign reporting. She lives in New York City and Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. View titles by Barbara Crossette
1. And Then There Was One
2. The Druk Gyalpo
3. Becoming Buddha
4. Before Tibet, There Was Bon
5. The Road from Lumbini
6. Ladakh: Eclipsed by Other Gods
7. Sikkim: “No One Heard Us Cry”
8. Buddhist Nepal
9. Buddha and the Bhutanese State
10. The Dragon People
11. All Sentient Beings
12. Aum Rinzi’s World
13. Two Capitals, Two Eras
14. To Tashigang
15. One Sunday in Bumthang

An Afterthought
A Glossary of Common Words
"There is no other full-length contemporary American account of this likable and largely unvisited kingdom.... Crosette unravels the intricacies of Buddhism with considerable clarity." —The New York Times Book Review

"Any traveler, actual or armchair, would have a significantly richer experience after reading this book. And for anyone with a serious interest in Buddhism, it's essential reading." —Washington Post Book World

About

This fascinating and colorful book takes students into a world that is just emerging from the middle ages and peering warily into the millennium ahead: the reclusive kingdom of Bhutan which remains true to that religion's riotous marriage of esoteric theology and gorgeous ritual, serenely meditating Buddhas and snarling deities entwined in sexual embrace. Traveling through Bhutan and the adjacent countries, Crosette discovers miracle-working lamas and separatist guerrillas, holy shrines, and the thieves who plunder them, all the while painting an extraordinary and deeply knowledgeable portrait of a culture struggling to survive.

"The past and present of the kingdoms of the Himalayas is examined in a history of both Buddhist thought in the region and a culture under siege. Enjoy a first-person journey which brings an immediacy to the atmosphere of the region and exposes newcomers to the cultures and lives of the peoples."—Midwest Book Review

"There is no other full-length contemporary American account of this likable and largely unvisited kingdom....Crosette unravels the intricacies of Buddhism with considerable clarity."—The New York Times Book Review

Author

Barbara Crossette, who joined the New York Times in 1973, spent seven years as a correspondent in Asia, and is now UN bureau chief. She was a Fulbright Professor of Journalism in India and has taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and at Princeton University. She won the 1991 George Polk Award for foreign reporting. She lives in New York City and Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. View titles by Barbara Crossette

Table of Contents

1. And Then There Was One
2. The Druk Gyalpo
3. Becoming Buddha
4. Before Tibet, There Was Bon
5. The Road from Lumbini
6. Ladakh: Eclipsed by Other Gods
7. Sikkim: “No One Heard Us Cry”
8. Buddhist Nepal
9. Buddha and the Bhutanese State
10. The Dragon People
11. All Sentient Beings
12. Aum Rinzi’s World
13. Two Capitals, Two Eras
14. To Tashigang
15. One Sunday in Bumthang

An Afterthought
A Glossary of Common Words

Praise

"There is no other full-length contemporary American account of this likable and largely unvisited kingdom.... Crosette unravels the intricacies of Buddhism with considerable clarity." —The New York Times Book Review

"Any traveler, actual or armchair, would have a significantly richer experience after reading this book. And for anyone with a serious interest in Buddhism, it's essential reading." —Washington Post Book World

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