John H. Crook (1930–2011)

I read this book in Ladakh in 2007. It allowed an insight into a culture that was from a much greater depth than simply being in Ladakh observing and drinking butter tea, chang, & . I followed their journey described in the book (for a short time), and shared for a night the hermit cave of Padmasambhava high above Sani, and next day crossed the fast flowing icy river that the authors also crossed to get to the 1000 year old Stupa at the town of Sani 2000 feet below in Zanskar.

Some people in show more Ladakh were disturbed the authors shared some aspects of some 1000 year old secret practices, but Im glad they did as it allowed this writer here to not die camped overnight at 16,000 feet on a glacier at Kang La....

A highly recommended read.. show less

I read this book in Ladakh in 2007. It allowed an insight into a culture that was from a much greater depth than simply being in Ladakh observing and drinking butter tea, chang, & . I followed their journey described in the book (for a short time), and shared for a night the hermit cave of Padmasambhava high above Sani, and next day crossed the fast flowing icy river that the authors also crossed to get to the 1000 year old Stupa at the town of Sani 2000 feet below in Zanskar.

Some people in show more Ladakh were disturbed the authors shared some aspects of some 1000 year old secret practices, but Im glad they did as it allowed this writer here to not die camped overnight at 16,000 feet on a glacier at Kang La....

A highly recommended read.. show less

Who would have guessed that such a rich tapestry of people and mini-dramas could grow out of a quest for such a simple and unassuming truth. Don't be put off by the tone of the serious review on the back cover. The authors may have scholarly intentions but they don't fail to provide an intriguing purview into the little known lives of honest to goodness yogis.

I was reminded of the exploits of other curious travelers such as Alexander David-Neel, Ekai Kawaguchi, and Lama Anagarika Govinda. show more The present authors are more informed however, yet their trials to reach an even higher fruit are no less entertaining.

Complete with a translation of Tipun Padma Chogyal's Mahamudra meditation manual. Many greyscale pictures. show less

Review from Good Reads:

This was a rather special book. It contains a history of Buddhism, as well as a history of philosophy of mind. But amazingly it also reviews evolutionary theory, psychology, global economics, bioethics, education and a ton of other topics. All of this builds to some interesting suggestions for dealing with difficult societal issues. I think there's valuable insight woven into this book's multidisciplinary coverage of history, science and philosophy, and I'll try to show more keep mining its depths over the next few years. show less