Secret Tibet/Fosco Maraini. Translated from the Italian by Eric
Mosbacher. Delhi, Book Faith India, 1993, 251 p., illus., ISBN
81-7303-015-4.
Secret Tibet/Fosco Maraini. Translated from the Italian by Eric
Mosbacher. Delhi, Book Faith India, 1993, 251 p., illus., ISBN
81-7303-015-4.
Contents: 1. From Naples to Yoga. 2. Indo-Gothic and invisible jungles. 3. From Fern to glacier. 4. The metaphysical adventures of Prince Gautama. 5. Rancid butter and the exotic in reverse. 6. Inner life of a Tibetan village. 7. Metaphysics and politics in upper Asia. 8. Rebellions, executions and black magic. 9. The prince gives his eyes to the beggar. 10. The mysterious Bon-Po. 11. The visions of the dead. 12. On the road to Lhasa. 13. Across the Himalayas; return to the west. 14. Mechanical wind-man. Some useful books. Index.
"There are two ways of travelling, one is to cover a long distance in a short time, taking in the general outline of mountain and valley and the most obvious characteristics of the people. The other is to stop, go deeper, strike roots to some extent, and try to imbibe from the soil the invisible sap which nourishes the inhabitants of the place.
It is in the latter style that Fosco Maraini, the Italian explorer has succeeded in conveying every kind of information, sensation and evocation of his Tibetan journey. His book makes one forget that one was not actually with him in the tumultuous voyage. It drenches one to the skin, freezes stiff, disgusts with smells, refreshes by the Ozone laden mountain air and gladdens by the warmth of a summer day. His observation and account are so gripping that the reader finds himself with him while talking to lay and ecclesiastics, mystics, scholars, theologicians, minstrels, shopkeepers, beggars, artists, priests, monks, peasants and shepherds.
The writings here admit one to the realms of thought really worthy of the boundless plateaux of Tibet." (jacket)