Authors:
Ivanauskaitė, Jurga Published in: Vilnius
Published on: 1996
Publisher: Tyto Alba
“Tibet in exile” reveals the essential features of the Tibetan culture, telling about Tibetan history, religion, and the current state of the nation, mixed with lively author’s personal experiences and observations.
In 1994 Jurga Ivanauskaitė went to India and studied Tibetan Buddhism in Dharamsala. When leaving she said she will not write ficion as incompatible with Buddhist practice. However, traveling impressions and a new spiritual experience allowed her to fall in love with Tibet. Jurga felt as if Tibet was created for her, and she for him. There she experienced a lot of excitement, mystical and very personal experiences. Learned many things about Tibet and its traditions: went to rituals, funerals, christenings, weddings . That is why she decided her travel experiences to describe in the book “Tibet in exile“.
“Today, we are living through a hard times: we are a nation with a unique cultural heritage, but feeing the threat of destruction and disappearance. We need you and your international assistance. Old Tibetan culture belongs to everyone, and the responsibility for its preservation should not feel only Tibetans, but the entire world community” – said His Holiness the Dalai Lama. My book is a humble call to support this call. I intend not only to mark the most important Tibetan religious and cultural guidance, but also to describe their impressions of a trip to the Tibetan exiles in India colonies” – emphasizes Jurga Ivanauskaite at the beginnig of the book .
“Tibet in exile” in general the book provides a lot of unique information about Tibet, presenting country\’s culture, history and religion. Here you will find everything – from the palace intrigues to ordinary people\’s lives and expectations . Also descriptive travels in North and South India, with almost encyclopedic information, but without lack of enthusiasm and spiritual heat. Also Jurga Ivanauskaitė focuses on Tibetan Buddhism important sites and shrines, Tibetan buddhist theories, practices and mysticism. To read the book took me quite a while. It noticed many historical, cultural and religious facts that perhaps not everyone would find interesting, because in some cases they are presented in a very dry , encyclopaedic, boring way. However, the writer’s philosophical insight, knowledge about Tibet and the Buddhist spirit, often hooks up and rarely let go. This book is extremely valuable because it helped to understand better the Tibetan situation and the destructive threats to their culture and traditions.