Re-enchantment
Book Description
In the span of just fifty years, Tibetan Buddhism transformed from an obscure mountain faith into one of the fastest-growing spiritual movements in the Western world. Jeffery Paine chronicles this remarkable journey of cultural transmission and spiritual awakening in a narrative that reads like an adventure story filled with extraordinary characters and unlikely encounters.
When Chinese forces invaded Tibet, targeting Buddhist monasteries and forcing the Dalai Lama into exile, an ancient wisdom tradition faced extinction. Instead, this displacement became the catalyst for an unprecedented spiritual migration. Tibetan lamas found themselves in India, where they encountered Western seekers drawn by the promise of meditation techniques and paths to enlightenment during the transformative decades of the 1960s and 1970s.
Paine brings to life the colorful figures who bridged these vastly different worlds, from the fearless French explorer Alexandra David-Neel, who risked everything to become the first Westerner to enter the sacred city of Lhasa, to charismatic teachers like Lama Yeshe and Chogyam Trungpa, who became skilled ambassadors for their tradition in foreign lands.
This compelling account reveals how a religion once dismissed as fairy-tale mysticism found new life and meaning across cultures, offering contemporary readers insight into both the resilience of spiritual wisdom and the universal human search for deeper understanding.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~8 hours)
📄 Length: 278 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Travel
- ✓ Understand Buddhist philosophy and practice
- ✓ Explore Tibetischer Buddhismus
- ✓ Explore Tibet autonomous region (china), description and travel
- ✓ Explore Buddhism, doctrines
- ✓ Explore Description and travel
- ✓ Explore Buddhism
- ✓ Explore Doctrines
