This book weaves together the life stories of five extraordinary contemporary Tibetans involved in environmental protection (as well as a host of secondary characters): Tashi Dorje, a well-known and celebrated environmentalist; Karma Samdrup, a philanthropist, businessman, and environmentalist; Rinchen Samdrup, Karma's brother, another extraordinary environmentalist; Gendun, a painter, historian, and researcher from Amdo; and Musuo, a Tibetan from the Dechin area of northwest Yunnan who founded the Khawakarpo Culture Society. In the politically fraught and ever-worsening situation for Tibetans within China today, it is often said that the only possible path for a better solution will be through a change in the way that the majority Chinese society thinks about and understands Tibetans, their aspirations, histories, and desires. This book provides the first such account by drawing readers in with beautiful narrative prose and fascinating stories, and then using their attention to demystify Tibetans, cultivating in the reader a sense of empathy as well as facts upon which to rebuild an intercultural understanding. It is the first work that seriously aims to let the Chinese public understand Tibetans as both products of an admirable culture and as complex individuals negotiating religious ideals, economic change, and sociopolitical constraints. In short it opens up a whole new way of understanding Tibet.

In the novel, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Archaeologist Dr. Nima Ganpa heads an expedition to the no-man's land of the Western Himalayas for the recovery of primordial clay tablets of the "original" Bardo Thodol passed down by the founder of Swastika Bon. Its discovery would potentially change the history of Tibet-the many established and well-entrenched doctrines, practices and institutions of Tibetan Buddhism.

The ancient clay tablets contain sutras, tantric yoga techniques, and secretive vehicles to guide the initiate to attain spontaneous enlightenment, breaking the suffering of the endless cycle of death and rebirth. They offer a shortcut to attain Nirvana.

However, the archaeological expedition immediately attracts the attention of agents of Dharamsala, Tibet's sacred treasure hunters and a syndicate for stolen antiquities headed by a former Nazi SS and a former CIA who have been involved with the affairs of Tibet since the 1930s. Only Dr. Ganpa can stop the madness of the Forces of Light against the Forces of Darkness in an apocalyptic Armageddon of Shambhala.