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Himalayan Trilogy #3
Shambhala Sutra: The Road Less Travelled in Western Tibet [Full Color]
INTRODUCTION Deep down inside, we all know our planet is not sustainable the way it is being run. We need a new economic approach that embraces our environment, with new measures of success - both national and personal, that seeks balance between the material and spiritual. In Himalayan Notes we journey to the heart of ourselves to ask a hard question: is there another way?
Ancient Tibetan sutras predicted that we are now in the Age of Kali, the age of destruction, a time when short-sighted human greed results in cycles of war, poverty, and environmental destruction. In the end we all suffer. Nobody benefits.
However, these types of sutras also teach that we can avoid self-destruction.
Our universe is a vast matrix of cause and effect synergies. To change our own path of self-destruction, we must bring compassion, long-term vision, and care for others and the environment into our daily lives and action. We need a fresh economic paradigm, one that calls for compassionate capital, empowering people, and prioritising our environment. Spirituality can be more powerful than materialism. Holistic economics means sustainability of our planet. We all all interconnected with ourselves, and our environment.
In the first of this series Searching for Shangri-la our 2002 expedition sought to find the mythical paradise described in James Hilton's classic novel Lost Horizon. We learned that "Shangri-la" is a misspelling of "Shambhala" a core concept of Tibetan Buddhist cosmology. That led us to find Shambhala. Shambhala is a future realm of peace, harmony between man and environment, where those with wealth and health reach out to help those without. It is a future that we can arrive at if we want to get there. It all depends on our intention.
It took me many journeys to understand the meaning of Shambhala. Shambhala Sutra, the second book of the Himalayan Notes series, presents my 2004 expedition across western Tibet's Ngari region, when I went searching for the mythical kingdom of Shambhala, thinking it might be a physical place. Using an ancient sutra written by the Panchen Lama over two centuries ago as a metaphorical guidebook, he traces a route embedded with riddles through deserts and mountains. Eventually the expedition arrives at the lost kingdom of Guge, now abandoned and in ruins due to an epic war and desertification of once rich pastureland.
The discovery is not that Guge is Shambhala. On the contrary, lessons learned from this journey (as told in the sutra as a prophesy) are that short sighted greed, war and failure to protect our environment will cause kingdoms and empires to vanish. Mankind's future depends on assuring a sustainable planet through more holistic economics, empowering communities and people, and preservation of our environment. These are the messages hidden in the Shambhala Sutra.
Join me for the second journey in the Himalayan Notes series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laurence Brahm is an environmentalist, social entrepreneur, lawyer and global spokesperson for sustainable development, Member of the United Nations Theme Group on Poverty and Inequality and author of several books on Asian economics and global development. He is the founder of the Himalayan and African Consensus economic paradigms, and divides his time between these regions.
Ancient Tibetan sutras predicted that we are now in the Age of Kali, the age of destruction, a time when short-sighted human greed results in cycles of war, poverty, and environmental destruction. In the end we all suffer. Nobody benefits.
However, these types of sutras also teach that we can avoid self-destruction.
Our universe is a vast matrix of cause and effect synergies. To change our own path of self-destruction, we must bring compassion, long-term vision, and care for others and the environment into our daily lives and action. We need a fresh economic paradigm, one that calls for compassionate capital, empowering people, and prioritising our environment. Spirituality can be more powerful than materialism. Holistic economics means sustainability of our planet. We all all interconnected with ourselves, and our environment.
In the first of this series Searching for Shangri-la our 2002 expedition sought to find the mythical paradise described in James Hilton's classic novel Lost Horizon. We learned that "Shangri-la" is a misspelling of "Shambhala" a core concept of Tibetan Buddhist cosmology. That led us to find Shambhala. Shambhala is a future realm of peace, harmony between man and environment, where those with wealth and health reach out to help those without. It is a future that we can arrive at if we want to get there. It all depends on our intention.
It took me many journeys to understand the meaning of Shambhala. Shambhala Sutra, the second book of the Himalayan Notes series, presents my 2004 expedition across western Tibet's Ngari region, when I went searching for the mythical kingdom of Shambhala, thinking it might be a physical place. Using an ancient sutra written by the Panchen Lama over two centuries ago as a metaphorical guidebook, he traces a route embedded with riddles through deserts and mountains. Eventually the expedition arrives at the lost kingdom of Guge, now abandoned and in ruins due to an epic war and desertification of once rich pastureland.
The discovery is not that Guge is Shambhala. On the contrary, lessons learned from this journey (as told in the sutra as a prophesy) are that short sighted greed, war and failure to protect our environment will cause kingdoms and empires to vanish. Mankind's future depends on assuring a sustainable planet through more holistic economics, empowering communities and people, and preservation of our environment. These are the messages hidden in the Shambhala Sutra.
Join me for the second journey in the Himalayan Notes series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laurence Brahm is an environmentalist, social entrepreneur, lawyer and global spokesperson for sustainable development, Member of the United Nations Theme Group on Poverty and Inequality and author of several books on Asian economics and global development. He is the founder of the Himalayan and African Consensus economic paradigms, and divides his time between these regions.
- GenresBuddhism
214 pages, Paperback
First published August 17, 2006
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30 people want to read
About the author
Laurence J. Brahm
36 books3 followersLaurence J. Brahm is a global activist, international mediator, political-economist and author based in Beijing, China and Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. He is the leading advocate of a fresh development paradigm – The Himalayan Consensus – an innovative approach to development. The Himalayan Consensus emphasizes empowering people with local pragmatism in place of broad sweeping globalized ideology and theory. (from Wikipedia)
He resides in Llasa and Beijing.
He resides in Llasa and Beijing.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 27, 2018
Đối với mình thì cuốn này làm mình hơi khó hiểu về khúc cuối. Có lẽ mình chưa đủ tuổi để hiểu được những điều mà tác giả muốn đem đến. Có lẽ tác giả muốn nói rằng, đối với cuộc đời mỗi người, đích đến không phải là quan trọng nhất, hành trình mới là thứ quý giá hơn cả?
Mình chưa bao giờ được đến đất nước Tây Tạng và trước đây cũng ít khi tìm hiểu về vùng đất huyền bí này. Qua cuộc hành trình của nhân vật chính, tâm hồn của mình cũng thực sự đang bay bổng về nơi xa xôi ấy, mình cảm thấy được cái lạnh, cái nóng, cái mênh mông, cái cảm giác con người hoàn toàn bé nhỏ trước vũ trụ bao la.
Mình chưa bao giờ được đến đất nước Tây Tạng và trước đây cũng ít khi tìm hiểu về vùng đất huyền bí này. Qua cuộc hành trình của nhân vật chính, tâm hồn của mình cũng thực sự đang bay bổng về nơi xa xôi ấy, mình cảm thấy được cái lạnh, cái nóng, cái mênh mông, cái cảm giác con người hoàn toàn bé nhỏ trước vũ trụ bao la.
August 15, 2007
First I noticed the book was full of colour, different format than other travel book I came across. Laurence found the Shambala Sutra -an ancient script about journey to Shangri-La. Laurence set the journey as part of TV documentation. Interesting story but lacked of the details about places and the journey. Very good photos indeed specially about nomaden people in Himalaya.
June 3, 2011
A good read for those on (or planning) a trip to Tibet. Lack details.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews