In the Shadow of the Buddha: One Man's Journey of Discovery in Tibet

by Matteo Pistono

Overview

Spiritual biography meets edge-of-your-seat undercover reporting: how an American Buddhist smuggled out hard evidence of abuse and torture in Tibet.

For nearly a decade, Matteo Pistono smuggled out of Tibet evidence of atrocities by the Chinese government, showing it to the U.S. government, human rights organizations, and anyone who would listen. Yet Pistono did not originally intend to fight for social justice in Tibet-he had gone there as a Buddhist pilgrim.

Disillusioned by a career in American politics, he had gone to the Himalayas looking for a simpler way of life. After encountering Buddhism in Nepal, Pistono's quest led him to Tibet and to a meditation master whose spiritual brother is Sogyal Rinpoche, bestselling author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Pistono not only became the master's student but also couriered messages to him in Tibet from the Dalai Lama in India. This began an extraordinary, and ultimately vital, adventure.

In the Shadow of the Buddha is a book about Tibet through the eyes of a devotee-a stranger hiding in plain sight. It's about how a culture's rich spiritual past is slipping away against the force of a tyrannical future. It's about how Tibetans live today, and the tenacity of their faith in the future in spite of dire repression and abuse. It's also about Pistono's own journey from being a frustrated political activist to becoming a practicing Buddhist mystic, a man who traveled thousands of miles and risked his own life to pursue freedom and peace.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101475485
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/20/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Matteo Pistono is a writer, practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, and author of In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet. Pistono’s images and writings about Tibetan and Himalayan cultural, political, and spiritual landscapes have appeared in BBC's In-Pictures, Men's Journal, Kyoto Journal, and HIMAL South Asia. Pistono was born and raised in Wyoming where he completed his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming, and in 1997 he obtained his Masters of Arts degree in Indian Philosophy from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. After working with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. on Tibetan cultural programs, Pistono lived and traveled throughout the Himalayas for a decade, bringing to the West graphic accounts and photos of China’s human rights abuses in Tibet. He is the founder of Nekorpa, a foundation working to protect sacred pilgrimage sites around the world, and he sits on the Executive Council of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Rigpa Fellowship, and the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture. Pistono and his wife, Monica, divide their time between Colorado, Washington D.C., and Asia.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Map xii

Part I 1

Chapter 1 The Mission Begins 3

Chapter 2 Following in the Footsteps of the Master 19

Chapter 3 A Different Kind of Pilgrimage 31

Part II 45

Chapter 4 From Bandit to Saint 47

Chapter 5 Taking What Is Given 58

Chapter 6 Disappearing Bodies 73

Chapter 7 In the World but Not of It 93

Part III 113

Chapter 8 In Service to the Dalai Lama 115

Chapter 9 The Merging of Politics and Spirituality 135

Chapter 10 Trouble on the Path 159

Part IV 179

Chapter 11 Wielding the Phurba 181

Chapter 12 Continuing the Pilgrimage 199

Epilogue 219

In Gratitude 221

Dramatis Personae 229

Notes 233

Glossary 249

Bibliography 255

Resources 263

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

"What a fabulous saga! . . . It is both unearthly and powerfully real."—Robert Thurman, author of Inner Revolution

"Pistono's account of his quest for spiritual illumination and political justice is heartbreaking and awe-inspiring."—Booklist (starred review)

"Part spy thriller, part Dharma travelogue, part spiritual autobiography . . . 100 percent page-turner."—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

From the Publisher