Suggested Reading and Viewing
Below are some highly recommended books and movies that will help you better prepare for your experiences this summer. If the time allows, borrow or purchase a few of these titles. Libraries are likely to have several of these as well. So that we have at least one book in common to discuss, please be sure to read The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison---it is a highly engaging whodunit that gives a wonderful overview of Tibetan Buddhist issues.
History
John Avedon, In Exile From the Land of Snows, NY: A Knopf, 1984. This excellent book and should almost be required reading! It offers a clear and concise background on Tibetan culture, and details the events surrounding the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese.
Tenzin Gyatso, H. H. the Dalai Lama, My Land and My People, NY: Potala, 1983. This is an autobiographical account of the history of modern Tibet, told by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the XIVth Dalai Lama. We also recommend any other publication by His Holiness such as Ethics for a New Millennium, The Art of Happiness, The Meaning of Life from a Buddhist Perspective, and The World of Tibetan Buddhism.
Mahatma Gandhi, (Louis Fischer, ed.) The Essential Gandhi, Vintage, 1962.
Mahatma Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Beacon Press, 1993.
Gitanjali Kolanad, Culture Shock! India: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette, Times Books Intnl., 1994.
Gita Mehta, Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East, Vintage Books, 1991.
David Snellgrove and Hugh Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, Shambhala, 1986.
For Participants interested in Women/Gender issues in Buddhism:
Susan Murcott, The First Buddhist Women, Parallax Press, 1991.
Travel/ Historical Fiction
Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Bantam Classics and Loveswept, 1983
Peter Mathessien, The Snow Leopard, Penguin Nature Classics, 1978.
Herman Hesse, Siddhartha, NY: New Directions, 1951.
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things, Harper Collins, 1998.
Rushdie, Salman et al., Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997, Henry Holt & Co., 1997. An excellent anthology; a good way to sample many authors who have written about India.
Buddhism/Hinduism
Surya Das, The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane: Wisdom Tales from Tibet, HarperCollins, 1992.
Diana Eck, Banaras, City of Light, Knopf, 1982.
Diana Eck, Darshan, Columbia University Press, 1998.
Michele Martin, Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Snow Lion Publications, 2002.
John Powers, An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995
Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Harper San Franncisco, 1994.
Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Boston & London: Shambala, 1973
Walpola Rahula, Paul Demieville, What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press, 1986.
A.L. Herman, A Brief Introduction to Hinduism: Religion, Philosophy and the Ways of Liberation, Westview Press, 1991.
Kim Knott, Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Juan Mascaro, ed., The Bhagavad Gita, Viking Press, 1983.
Juan Mascaro, ed., The Upanisads, Viking Press, 1965.
On teaching and the study and/or practice of religion
Maria Harris, Teaching & Religious Imagination, HarperCollins, 1987.
Note: Contact Snow Lion Publications at 1-800-950-0313 or Wisdom Publications at 1-800-272-4050 for titles that you cannot find locally.
Films (Available at most video rental stores)
Himalaya, Kundun, The Cup, Windhorse, Little Buddha, Saltmen of Tibet, Tibetan Book of the Dead (filmed in Ladakh), Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, Seven Years in Tibet, Gandhi, Earth, Saalom Bombay