Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal

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University of California Press, Sep 27, 2004 - Philosophy - 217 pages
"An immensely engaging work that contributes much to our understanding of the social-religious culture of Tibetan village life at the local level, providing a rich and deeply personal account of the ebb and flow of life and death, of communal harmony and discord, of personal conflicts and social resolutions. The author shows that the Himalayan enclaves of Nubri and Kutang are genuinely human communities with their own complications and contradictions."—Bryan J. Cuevas, author of The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead

"An immensely readable and genuinely moving account of Tibetan lives and religion. Childs provides mutually illuminating narratives of the present and past that reveal an intimate portrayal of a Tibetan community in the Nepalese highlands."—David Germano, University of Virginia

"A splendid book that displays a remarkable ability to combine a critical understanding of the difficulties of Tibetan life with a great sensitivity to its humane atmosphere and its cultural complexities. This rich anthropological study is also a good read that conveys valuable insights through an entertaining and at times moving narrative. In short, a must read for all those who love Tibetans and their culture, as well as a most welcome addition to the developing field of Tibetan anthropology."—Georges Dreyfus, Professor of Religion, Williams College, author of The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk
 

Contents

Prologue
1
Raising the Curtain
7
The Lay of the Land
19
The Life
38
Family Needs versus
56
The Pilgrimage
74
Commencing
98
The Imponderable
114
The Anxieties
129
Death Is But a Transition
142
Rising Corpses and Reincarnations
157
Place Names
171
Glossary
189
Index
213
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About the author (2004)

Geoff Childs is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Washington University.

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