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Full title: The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa.
Nonfiction. I read Mick Brown's book The Spiritual Tourist last year and really enjoyed it, and I thought this book might be interesting. It really was! This is less a look at Brown's own spiritual explorations as a biography of the 17th Karmapa of Tibet, and the events surrounding his reincarnation and recognition, and his high-stakes escape from Chinese-occupied Tibet into India in 2000. It turns out that those Tibetan Buddhist monks have all kinds of politics and scheming going on! Brown keeps a journalist's perspective, telling the story and interviewing all the participants without coming down on one side or the other. Instead he gives us a bit of the humanity of these larger-than-life spiritual figures. The whole book is pretty masterfully done from what I can tell (being as this was really my first foray into the realm of Tibetan history).
From page 17, when Brown meets the 17th Karmapa for the first time:
I told him that it was an honour to meet him, and congratulated him on his escape, then explained that I wished to write a book about his life and lives of the previous Karmapas. He nodded, encouraging me to go on. I talked a little about what I hoped the book to be, to whom I wished to address it. I was not a Buddhist, I said, not a devotee. But I wanted to write a book that would be of interest to people like me, who knew little of the lives or teachings of the Karmapas, but enough to be fascinated by them.
It was impossible to tell from his expression whether he thought all of this was a good idea or a bad one. He simply nodded, acknowledging my explanation, then whispered something to his translator. 'His Holiness says, be sure your motivation is correct.' He watched my response carefully, and then whispered again to his translator. 'And he says you will meet again.' Then he rose and walked back through the door.
Throughout the book, it really seemed to me that Brown was striving to follow the Karmapa's advice: make sure his motivation was correct. He doesn't sensationalize the events, or hype up the drama, or engage in gossip (and the gossip he reports from others is stated matter-of-factly as it was told to him). He really works to tell this story in such a way that the reader can draw her own conclusions.
I did not know much about Tibetan Buddhism before reading this. I feel like I learned something.
::edit:: I wanted to type up a quote from one of the monks that I found really interesting:
You know, the thing that really surprised me when I first went to the West was to hear people saying, "I hate myself", I could never understand that. But now I think I understand; when people say, "I hate myself" what they really mean is, "I love myself too much", and they are always disappointed for not fulfilling the expectations they have of themselves! I think what they mean is, "I am always disappointed in myself". -Tai Situ Rinpoche, quoted on pages 273-274.
Nonfiction. I read Mick Brown's book The Spiritual Tourist last year and really enjoyed it, and I thought this book might be interesting. It really was! This is less a look at Brown's own spiritual explorations as a biography of the 17th Karmapa of Tibet, and the events surrounding his reincarnation and recognition, and his high-stakes escape from Chinese-occupied Tibet into India in 2000. It turns out that those Tibetan Buddhist monks have all kinds of politics and scheming going on! Brown keeps a journalist's perspective, telling the story and interviewing all the participants without coming down on one side or the other. Instead he gives us a bit of the humanity of these larger-than-life spiritual figures. The whole book is pretty masterfully done from what I can tell (being as this was really my first foray into the realm of Tibetan history).
From page 17, when Brown meets the 17th Karmapa for the first time:
I told him that it was an honour to meet him, and congratulated him on his escape, then explained that I wished to write a book about his life and lives of the previous Karmapas. He nodded, encouraging me to go on. I talked a little about what I hoped the book to be, to whom I wished to address it. I was not a Buddhist, I said, not a devotee. But I wanted to write a book that would be of interest to people like me, who knew little of the lives or teachings of the Karmapas, but enough to be fascinated by them.
It was impossible to tell from his expression whether he thought all of this was a good idea or a bad one. He simply nodded, acknowledging my explanation, then whispered something to his translator. 'His Holiness says, be sure your motivation is correct.' He watched my response carefully, and then whispered again to his translator. 'And he says you will meet again.' Then he rose and walked back through the door.
Throughout the book, it really seemed to me that Brown was striving to follow the Karmapa's advice: make sure his motivation was correct. He doesn't sensationalize the events, or hype up the drama, or engage in gossip (and the gossip he reports from others is stated matter-of-factly as it was told to him). He really works to tell this story in such a way that the reader can draw her own conclusions.
I did not know much about Tibetan Buddhism before reading this. I feel like I learned something.
::edit:: I wanted to type up a quote from one of the monks that I found really interesting:
You know, the thing that really surprised me when I first went to the West was to hear people saying, "I hate myself", I could never understand that. But now I think I understand; when people say, "I hate myself" what they really mean is, "I love myself too much", and they are always disappointed for not fulfilling the expectations they have of themselves! I think what they mean is, "I am always disappointed in myself". -Tai Situ Rinpoche, quoted on pages 273-274.
