The Rivers of the Mandala: Journey Into the Heart of Buddhism

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Today's young travelers are in many ways similar to those who in previous generations also set out to explore the world, both literally and in the imagination. But there are vital differences. Travelers now, as enthused as ever by cultures other than their own, want their experiences imaginatively re-created, and their information imparted, in a way that relates to twenty-first century life back home: a noisy, raucous, digitally influenced, comic-book, mixed-media life of intense experiences thrown together without homage to tradition. In this captivating book, two young Frenchmen focus on Mount Kailash, the sacred mountain in Tibet venerated by Buddhists who look upon it as a mandala, a design representing the different stages that lead towards the Budha's awakening. Drawings in pencil, charcoal, and ink, photographs of awesome landscapes and humorous incidents alike, computer-created collages all testify to each moment of an amazing journey. Following the four great rivers, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Indus, and Karnali, that originate around Mount Kailash, with plentiful detours of the body (and the mind) into other countries and cultures, the authors enthuse and inform everyone.