Theos Bernard, the White Lama (eBook)

Tibet, Yoga, and American Religious Life

Paul G. Hackett (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2012
Columbia University Press (Verlag)
978-0-231-53037-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Paul G. Hackett is an editor for the American Institute of Buddhist Studies and teaches Classical Tibetan at Columbia University. He is the author of A Tibetan Verb Lexicon and numerous articles on Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy.

---

The life and adventures of an American explorer and iconic figure in the 20th century religious counterculture movement.In 1937, Theos Casimir Bernard, the self-proclaimed “White Lama,” became the third American in history to reach Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. During his stay, he amassed the largest collection of Tibetan texts, art, and artifacts in the Western hemisphere at that time. He also documented, in both still photography and 16mm film, the age-old civilization of Tibet on the eve of its destruction by Chinese Communists. Based on thousands of primary sources and rare archival materials, this is the real story behind the purported adventures of Bernard and his role in the growth of America's religious counterculture. Over the course of his brief life, Bernard met, associated, and corresponded with the major social, political, and cultural leaders of his day, from the Regent and high politicians of Tibet to saints, scholars, and diplomats of British India, from Charles Lindbergh and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Gandhi and Nehru. Although hailed as a brilliant pioneer by the media, Bernard also had his flaws. He was an entrepreneur propelled by grandiose schemes, a handsome man who shamelessly used his looks to bounce from rich wife to rich wife in support of his activities, and a master manipulator who concocted his own interpretation of Eastern wisdom to suit his ends. Bernard had a bright future before him but disappeared in India during the communal violence of the 1947 Partition, never to be seen again.“Well-written…A readable intellectual account of the life of an ambitious Tibetological pioneer.”—Asian Ethnology

Inhalt

List of IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Life in the Desert2. New York and New Mexico3. Two Parallel Paths (I)4. Two Parallel Paths (II)5. On Holy Ground6. Pretense and Pretext: Studies in India7. A Well-Trodden Path: Studies in Darjeeling and Sikkim8. Tibet, Tantrikas, and the Hero of Chaksam Ferry9." The Clipper Ship of the Imagination"10. Yoga on Fifth Avenue11. Tibetland and the Penthouse of the Gods12. To Climb the Highest Mountains13. The Aftermath14. Postscript: The View from Ki, Sixty Years LaterNotesBibliographyIndex

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.5.2012
• Zusatzinfo: 48 halftones
• Verlagsort: New York
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Fitness / Aerobic / Bodybuilding
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geografie / Kartografie
• ISBN-10: 0-231-53037-4 / 0231530374
• ISBN-13: 978-0-231-53037-8 / 9780231530378