Tag Tibet

Travel High in the Himalaya

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

You long for an up-close look at the world’s highest mountain range, but logistics, cost, and a long list of complications stand in your way.

Here is an alternative: Travel with Erika Fatland and her superb book, High, A Journey Across the Himalaya Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China.

The acclaimed author, anthropologist, and extreme adventurer from Norway traveled solo by foot, car, train, and plane for eight months, gaining access to riveting stories told by people from virtually every walk of life in all five nations. She stayed in local homes, monasteries, and other places that would intimidate many travelers. Her narrative and conversations will make you feel like you are in the room with her, sipping tea or a stronger drink while you watch and hear the people in the room. I hope you are an adventurous eater.

Everyday life, religion, culture, environment, history, transport, politics, arranged marriages, government, and more. She covers myriad topics effortlessly and expertly. She is warned that she could be in danger as a woman traveling by herself, but she keeps going.

Her experiences in western China captivated me. In Xinjiang, a region with 11 million people, mostly Muslim, she reports that more than a million Uyghurs are in “reeducation camps” while the government encourages Han Chinese to move there. She sees modern apartment buildings in Tibet, inhabited by Han Chinese in the government’s effort to dilute the influence of Buddhism.

She vividly describes the mountains that cut between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateau. More than 100 peaks exceed 23,800 feet and many of them are sacred to Buddhists, even off limits for climbers. She wrote the book in Norwegian, leaving Kari Dickson to translate into English.

If reading High tempts you to try a journey to the Himalaya, you will travel armed with a wealth of insights. Or you could remain in your armchair and let Erika Fatland bring the Himalaya to you.

Dalai Lama: How to Practice

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life is a brief guidebook to Buddhist thought and practice.

Are you interested in a quick look at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s philosophy? Or are you hoping to pick up some meditation tips? Or are you devoted to attaining enlightenment? This book has value for all three quests.

For 10 years, I have been puzzled about possible conflicting values from Buddhist teachings and reality. The exiled leader of Tibet promotes liberation from wants, not just for monastics, but lay people too. That means no expensive clothing and other high-cost material goods. But, during a 2009 visit to a Buddhist monastery in China, I saw monks with top-of-the-line cell phones and even one who drove a BMW.

“I thought Buddhist monks were to live a simple life and avoid attachment to material belongings,” I said to a woman guiding a group as one monk talked on his cell phone.

She quickly answered. “This is modern Buddhism. Some monks even drive expensive cars.”

What do you think?

I wonder what the Dalai Lama would say. He flies mostly on chartered planes and, on the rare occasion that he joins a commercial flight, I hear he is upgraded (free) to business or first class. Is this consistent with his philosophy?

Nonetheless, the Dalai Lama has devoted his life to his teachings around the world, urging followers to do no harm and to help others. He writes specifics about these two virtuous actions in this book.

Not a Buddhist? Or are you non-religious? I don’t think it matters because in this book you will discover wisdom for any life that looks for morality, calm, and selflessness.