Most Westerners today know who the XIV Dalai Lama is. Many would be able to recognize a picture of him. Some, like me, have even seen his wax likeness at Madame Tussauds. Less known is Tertön Sogyal, a lama who was a contemporary of the previous Dalai Lama. It is this man whose journey Matteo Pistono followed over the course of nearly ten years. Out today, “In the Shadow of the Buddha” details not only Pistono’s pilgrimage but also the countless human rights violations committed against the Tibetan people by their Chinese occupiers.
Tertön Sogyal was a teacher of the XIII Dalai Lama at the turn of the twentieth century. Over the course of his life, he faced growing Chinese opposition to Tibetan Buddhism and strove to protect its roots in Tibet. Now, in a new millennium, Tibetans continue to face similar and in ways more extreme oppression. While Pistono was on his own spiritual journey across Tibet — and really, across the world — he learned of egregious abuses endured by Tibetans, particularly monks and nuns. Soon Pistono was providing information to the outside world about China’s human rights violations, smuggling documents and photos out of the country by sewing them into boots and backpacks in order to share them with international news organizations and the U.S. government. The Chinese government works to suffocate this kind of speech, but Pistono’s stories have escaped the plateau and have the potential to truly educate outsiders on the reality of the circumstances in which Tibetans live.
Pistono writes with the calm openness one would expect from a Buddhist. He deftly paints expansive scenes without forsaking details and crafts an overarching narrative that is intuitive without being simple. The tales of Tertön Sogyal’s journey move in parallel with Pistono’s personal adventures, overlapping enough to alert the reader to the importance of the congruences without disrespecting the original master’s saga.
I learned more about Buddhist history and practice from this book than I expected, and that was a pleasant surprise. Beyond the gripping narrative, “In the Shadow of the Buddha” offers education to those of us who are ill-acquainted with Tibetan Buddhism. It is an opportunity to learn more about a people whose voices are stifled against their will. And what better person to speak for them than Matteo Pistono, a man who has not only lived among them but struggled for them as well?
Tertön Sogyal was a teacher of the XIII Dalai Lama at the turn of the twentieth century. Over the course of his life, he faced growing Chinese opposition to Tibetan Buddhism and strove to protect its roots in Tibet. Now, in a new millennium, Tibetans continue to face similar and in ways more extreme oppression. While Pistono was on his own spiritual journey across Tibet — and really, across the world — he learned of egregious abuses endured by Tibetans, particularly monks and nuns. Soon Pistono was providing information to the outside world about China’s human rights violations, smuggling documents and photos out of the country by sewing them into boots and backpacks in order to share them with international news organizations and the U.S. government. The Chinese government works to suffocate this kind of speech, but Pistono’s stories have escaped the plateau and have the potential to truly educate outsiders on the reality of the circumstances in which Tibetans live.
Pistono writes with the calm openness one would expect from a Buddhist. He deftly paints expansive scenes without forsaking details and crafts an overarching narrative that is intuitive without being simple. The tales of Tertön Sogyal’s journey move in parallel with Pistono’s personal adventures, overlapping enough to alert the reader to the importance of the congruences without disrespecting the original master’s saga.
I learned more about Buddhist history and practice from this book than I expected, and that was a pleasant surprise. Beyond the gripping narrative, “In the Shadow of the Buddha” offers education to those of us who are ill-acquainted with Tibetan Buddhism. It is an opportunity to learn more about a people whose voices are stifled against their will. And what better person to speak for them than Matteo Pistono, a man who has not only lived among them but struggled for them as well?