The Secret Tibet. Customs, Beliefs and Magical Rituals of Buddhist Monks and Lamas

Famous scholar and traveler Fosco Maraini deeply studied Tibetan culture and religion. His book is the fruit of a long and extraordinarily fascinating journey to Tibet, by ship, by train, and then by caravan route to Lhasa, written in the language of a true master of words. Having visited Tibetan monasteries, Maraini described their inhabitants, way of life, traditions, mystical rituals, and sometimes amusing aspects of everyday life. While admiring chortens, symbolic representations of the entire Lamaist cosmogony, the author explained their meaning and significance for Tibetan religion. He also presented details of the lives of all layers of Tibetan society, from peasants to secular and religious nobility. Maraini paid special attention to the concept of Lamaism, and first of all to the personality of the one who initiated the great movement, Gautama the Buddha the Awakened.