Originally published in 1927 by Harper and Brothers, this book is the culmination of more than twenty years of Madame Alexandra David-Neel's intensive study and daring adventure in mysterious territories of the East. In order to penetrate Tibet and reach Lhasa, she used her fluency of Tibetan dialects and culture, disguised herself as a beggar with yak hair extensions and inked skin and tackled some of the roughest terrain and climate in the World. With the help of her young companion, Yongden, she willingly suffered the primitive travel conditions, frequent outbreaks of disease, the ever-present danger of border control and the military to reach her goal. The determination and sheer physical fortitude it took for this woman, delicately reared in Paris and Brussels, is inspiration for men and women alike. David-Neel is famous for being the first Western woman to have been received by any Dalai Lama and as a passionate scholar and explorer of Asia, her's is one of the most remarkable of all travellers' tales.

Alexandra David-Neel was the first European woman to meet the Dalai Lama and in 1924 became the first to enter the forbidden Tibetan capital, Lhasa. She had already spent a decade travelling through China, living in a cave on the Tibetan border, where she learned about Buddhism from hermits, mystics and bandits. Magic and Mystery in Tibet records the mysterious, magical world David-Neel discovered in Tibet. Among the extraordinary events she describes are the Tibetan mystics who could live naked in temperatures below freezing, the psychic sports practiced in Tibet, the lamas who could run for incredible distances without rest, food or drink and the monks who could defy gravity.

This is an account of the Madhyamika (Middle Way) school of Buddhism, a method of mediation and enlightenment that was developed by the great Indian teacher Nagarjuna. In a collaboration between the Frenchwoman Alexandra David-Neel and her friend, the Tibetan lama Aphur Yongden, these teaching are presented clearly and elegantly, intended for the layman who seeks a way to practice and experience the realization of oneness with all existence.

Alexandra David-Neel was born in 1868 in Paris. In her youth she wrote an incendiary anarchist treatise and was an acclaimed opera singer; then she decided to devote her life to exploration and the study of world religions, including Buddhist philosophy. She traveled extensively to in Central Asia and the Far East, where she learned a number of Asian languages, including Tibetan. In 1914, she met Lama Yongden, who became her adopted son, teacher, and companion. In 1923, at the age of fifty-five, she disguised herself as a pilgrim and journeyed to Tibet, where she was the first European woman to enter Lhasa, which was closed to foreigners at the time. In her late seventies, she settled in the south of France, where she lived until her death at 101 in 1969.

This is a new release of the original 1932 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1934 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1959 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1932 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1934 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1959 edition.

2014 Reprint of 1932 New York Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Alexandra David-Neel was a Belgian-French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist and writer, most known for her visit to Lhasa, Tibet, in 1924, when it was still forbidden to foreigners. David-Neel wrote over 30 books about Eastern religion, philosophy, and her travels. Her teachings influenced beat writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, philosopher Alan Watts, and esotericist Benjamin Creme. Seeker, adventurer, pilgrim, and scholar, David-Neel (1868-1969) was the first European woman to explore the once-forbidden city of Lhasa. This memoir offers an objective account of the supernatural events she witnessed during the 1920s among the mystics and hermits of Tibet - including levitation, telepathy, and the ability to walk on water. Includes all the photographs from the original edition.

Originally published in English in 1932, Magic and Mystery in Tibet is an account of traveler and spiritualist Alexandra David-Neel's 14 years in Tibet, at a time when the country was closed to foreigners. This true story reads like a novel compared to earlier travel books from the 19th century, artfully invoking pictures of what it was like to live in Tibet during a time when few outsiders had seen its soil. David-Neel lets readers inside her head and describes what it was like to live with and learn from a people whose way of life was vastly different from their western counterparts'. Her stories will fascinate anyone interested in culture, travel, and the far east. ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL (1868-1969) was a French-Belgian Buhddist, spiritualist, writer, and explorer. She authored more than thirty books from 1898 to 1968 on her travels and Eastern philosophy and religion. She is best known for her trip to Tibet in 1924, when the country was closed to foreigners, though she also traveled to India twice (including to the Royal Monastery of Sikkim, where she met the Dalai Lama), Vietnam, and Japan.

1934. The Gesar of Ling Epic is the Iliad of Central Asia. The origin of the work has come under much discussion. Some declare it is Buddhist, others see in it a solar myth that symbolizes winter and spring. The version presented here was the result of the author having the opportunity to hear the story told by the wandering Rhapsodists and was then able to note down their recitations.

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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.