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Magic and Mystery in Tibet

Alexander David Neal
Year read: approximately 1975, my age, approximately 34

This book describes the travels in Tibet of a French woman early in the 20th century. My wife, Mimi, read it, and turned me on to it.Niel's descriptions are in terms of travel adventure, but it reveals much about the worldview of Buddhism. With the destruction of Tibet by the Chinese and diaspora of Tibetan monks throughout the world, including to the US, we all learned a lot more about Buddhism. I studied briefly at the study center of Trugum Trumpa, the first Tibetan Buddhist teacher to come to the U. S. Later I studied with a monk named Lobsang, and with Robert Thurman, a prominent American teacher. But my first awareness came from Neal's book.

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