2024 International Book Award Nonfiction - Creative Category
Shares the true story of three monks heroic escape from occupied Tibet and the subsequent rebirth of the Bn religion in exile
Introduces Bn, Tibets oldest religion, and a traditional way of life extinguished by foreign occupation
Reveals details of the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet and the exodus of thousands of Tibetans to neighboring countries
Providing an inside view into the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the tenets of Bn, one of the worlds oldest but least known religions, this book chronicles the true story of three Bn monks who heroically escaped occupied Tibet and went on to rebuild their culture through incredible resilience, determination, and passion. After taking his vows to become a Bn monk and completing a pilgrimage around 22,000-foot Mount Kailash, the holiest mountain in Tibet, Tenzin Namdak envisions a life of quiet contemplation at Menri, Bns mother monastery. Instead, he finds himself fleeing for his life across the highest and most difficult terrain on the planet.
After Tenzins escape party is ambushed and he is severely wounded, Tenzin is taken to a concentration camp, where he overcomes his nearly fatal wound before making an arduous escape from Tibet over the daunting Himalayas.
The other two monks, lifelong friends Samten Karmay and Sangye Tenzin, witness Tibets capital explode in a violent insurrection against Chinese rule. Escaping to Nepal, they worry about the survival of the Bn religion and begin collecting scattered works of Bn scripture. A chance meeting with British scholar David Snellgrove brings the three monks together and dramatically changes their lives. Tenzin founds a Bn settlement in exile in India, Sangye is chosen as the thirty-third Menri Trizen, Bns highest office, and together the three monks help rebuild the nearly extinct Bn religion. Aside from the escape of the Dalai Lama, no other escape from Tibet has been so consequential for so many.
