Tibet The Mysterious

A practicing Buddhist and Oriental linguist recounts supernatural events she witnessed in Tibet during the 1920s. Intelligent and witty, she describes the fantastic effects of meditation and shamanic magic — levitation, telepathy, more. 32 photographs.

First published in 2004. A secret traveller to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the author of this unusual volume was forced to live, dress and behave as a Tibetan in order to remain undetected. Because of his unique perspective, he is able to provide an excellent description of the diplomatic, political, military and industrial situation of the country in the 1920s. His account of life in the Forbidden City of the Buddhas contains a wealth of compelling stories and fascinating information.

This is a record of adventures, and of achievements in the face of supposedly insuperable obstacles, which is thrilling by reason of the size and color and significance of the events. Tibet and especially Lhasa, its capital city, is guarded from outsiders by fanatic natives, and the country is further guarded by the giant mountain ranges that hem it in. No white man before Dr. McGovern ever got through the ice-bound Himalaya passes in the winter, and no white man before him ever contrived to live in Lhasa long enough to photograph and study the Tibetans at close range. A party made up to go to Tibet, of which Dr. McGovern was one, was met in the mountains and told to go back. All the rest of the party turned in their tracks and dropped down into India. Dr. McGovern, accompanied only by his servant Satan, continued in disguise into Tibet, arriving ultimately after a series of almost incredible hardships in Lhasa itself. He interviewed the Dalai Lama and other officials and functionaries, studied the people and took innumerable photographs. Dr. McGovern, who by the way was related on his mother’s side to both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, was an Oxford man, a distinguished Orientalist, a lecturer of the Royal Asiatic Society, and the author of several books dealing with the Far East. He was especially equipped to capitalize in interest and information for his readers the amazing experiences through which he passed.

Excerpt from Tibet, the Mysterious For the illustrations I am mainly indebted to Major Ryder, Captain Rawling, Lieutenant Bailey, M. Sibikofi', Mr. Littledale, Mr. John Thomson, the Paris Geograph ical Society, and to the Royal Geographical Society for the use of their maps. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.