Dalai Lama, My Son: A Mother's Story

by Diki Tsering, Khedroob Thondup (Introduction)

Overview

In this fascinating memoir the Dalai Lama’s mother tells a compelling woman’s story. With vivid and intimate details, she recounts her life’s humble beginning, the customs and rituals of old Tibet, the births of her sixteen children (only seven of whom survived), learning her son’s remarkable destiny, the family’s arduous move to Lhasa before the Chinese invasion of Tibet, and their escape and eventual exile. Rich in historic and cultural details, this moving memoir personalizes the history of the Tibetan people—the magic of their culture, the role of their women, and their ancient ideals of compassion, faith, and equanimity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101199435
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/2001
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	426 KB

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

Looking Back

I have had a strange, almost unreal life, now that I try to recollect my history. You must forgive me if my memory lapses occasionally. It is all so very long ago, and my childhood has never been a conversation piece until today! I don't know how to be interesting. It's amusing that you ask me the date of my birth. If I had ever asked my grandmother such a question, I would have been severely rebuked for showing such disrespect. How times have changed!

Chapter 2

My Earliest Years

A few days before my birth, my grandfather paid a visit to a local lama. He was insistent that his forthcoming grandchild was going to be a girl. "I feel it in my bones," he declared. "She is going to be someone. Please help me find a name for a very special girl who is going to be a very special woman." A few prayers and many hours of astrological consultation later the name Sonam Tsomo was decided on, Sonam meaning "fertility," Tsomo for the great goddess of longevity.

—Reprinted from Dalai Lama, My Son by Diki Tsering by permission of Viking Pub., a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright (c) 2000 by Diki Tsering. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Table of Contents

	Map	viii
	Introduction: Memories of My Grandmother	1
I.	Daughter of Peasants	13
1.	Looking Back	15
2.	My Earliest Years	18
3.	A Carefree Childhood	25
4.	Life on the Farm	30
5.	Amdo Society	34
6.	Foods of Home	37
7.	Dialects and Dress	40
8.	Traditional Festivals	44
9.	Haunted by Ghosts	49
10.	Getting Married	55
11.	Wifely Duties	71
12.	Death and Mourning	77
13.	Giving Birth	82
14.	A Tulku Arrives	84
15.	Ocean of Wisdom	88
II.	Mother of Compassion	99
16.	The Long Journey	101
17.	Arrival in Lhasa	107
18.	A New Life Begins	110
19.	Strange Customs	116
20.	Losar in Lhasa	119
21.	Grandmother and Widow	123
22.	A Political Crisis	132
23.	A Family Pilgrimage	138
24.	Communist Occupation	142
25.	A Tour of China	150
26.	Buddha's Birthday	165
27.	Escape into Exile	168
28.	Safe Haven in India	178
	Afterword	185
	Glossary	187