Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime
Hailed as a "wondrous book" by Gretel Ehrlich, and winner of the Kekoo Naoroji Book Award for Himalayan Literature, a journey of healing that becomes a pilgrimage for the soul.

Stephen Alter was raised by American missionary parents in the hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he and his wife, Ameeta, now live. Their idyllic existence was brutally interrupted when four armed intruders invaded their house and viciously attacked them, leaving them for dead. The violent assault and the trauma of almost dying left him questioning assumptions he had lived by since childhood. For the first time, he encountered the face of evil and the terror of the unknown. He felt like a foreigner in the land of his birth.

This book is his account of a series of treks he took in the high Himalayas following his convalescence—to Bandar Punch (the monkey’s tail), Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India, and Mt. Kailash in Tibet. He set himself this goal to prove that he had healed mentally as well as physically and to re-knit his connection to his homeland. Undertaken out of sorrow, the treks become a moving soul journey, a way to rediscover mountains in his inner landscape. Weaving together observations of the natural world, Himalayan history, folklore and mythology, as well as encounters with other pilgrims along the way, Stephen Alter has given us a moving meditation on the solace of high places, and on the hidden meanings and enduring mystery of mountains.
1120174474
Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime
Hailed as a "wondrous book" by Gretel Ehrlich, and winner of the Kekoo Naoroji Book Award for Himalayan Literature, a journey of healing that becomes a pilgrimage for the soul.

Stephen Alter was raised by American missionary parents in the hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he and his wife, Ameeta, now live. Their idyllic existence was brutally interrupted when four armed intruders invaded their house and viciously attacked them, leaving them for dead. The violent assault and the trauma of almost dying left him questioning assumptions he had lived by since childhood. For the first time, he encountered the face of evil and the terror of the unknown. He felt like a foreigner in the land of his birth.

This book is his account of a series of treks he took in the high Himalayas following his convalescence—to Bandar Punch (the monkey’s tail), Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India, and Mt. Kailash in Tibet. He set himself this goal to prove that he had healed mentally as well as physically and to re-knit his connection to his homeland. Undertaken out of sorrow, the treks become a moving soul journey, a way to rediscover mountains in his inner landscape. Weaving together observations of the natural world, Himalayan history, folklore and mythology, as well as encounters with other pilgrims along the way, Stephen Alter has given us a moving meditation on the solace of high places, and on the hidden meanings and enduring mystery of mountains.
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Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime

Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime

Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime

Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime

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Overview

Hailed as a "wondrous book" by Gretel Ehrlich, and winner of the Kekoo Naoroji Book Award for Himalayan Literature, a journey of healing that becomes a pilgrimage for the soul.

Stephen Alter was raised by American missionary parents in the hill station of Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he and his wife, Ameeta, now live. Their idyllic existence was brutally interrupted when four armed intruders invaded their house and viciously attacked them, leaving them for dead. The violent assault and the trauma of almost dying left him questioning assumptions he had lived by since childhood. For the first time, he encountered the face of evil and the terror of the unknown. He felt like a foreigner in the land of his birth.

This book is his account of a series of treks he took in the high Himalayas following his convalescence—to Bandar Punch (the monkey’s tail), Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India, and Mt. Kailash in Tibet. He set himself this goal to prove that he had healed mentally as well as physically and to re-knit his connection to his homeland. Undertaken out of sorrow, the treks become a moving soul journey, a way to rediscover mountains in his inner landscape. Weaving together observations of the natural world, Himalayan history, folklore and mythology, as well as encounters with other pilgrims along the way, Stephen Alter has given us a moving meditation on the solace of high places, and on the hidden meanings and enduring mystery of mountains.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781628729092
Publisher: Arcade
Publication date: 02/05/2019
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Stephen Alter is the author of fifteen previous works, including Becoming a Mountain, winner of the 2015 Kekoo Naoroji Book Award for Himalayan Literature. His other honors include a Guggenheim fellowship and a Fulbright award. He was writer in residence for ten years at MIT and directed the writing program at the American University in Cairo. He is founding director of the Mussoorie Writers' Mountain Festival and resides with his wife in Mussoorie, India.

Table of Contents

Foreword Alan Lightman xiii

A Note on the Himalayas xv

Flag Hill: Distant Prayers

Birthright 3

Recovering Memory 8

What Mountains Mean 37

Nanda Devi: Chasing Bliss

Approaching the Goddess 57

Slaughter Road 87

Lake of Sorrows 92

Writing with My Feet 111

Kailash: A Pilgrim's Crossing

Entering the Mandala 137

Frontiers of Faith 145

Trans-Himalaya 153

Brahma's Dream 164

Upon This Threshold 176

Circling the Summit 183

Cave of Mysteries 194

Bandarpunch: Returning Home

Healing Light 209

Ascent and Retreat 214

Reaching for Closure 257

Acknowledgements 261

Glossary 263

Sources 265

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