Re-Enchantment
Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West
By
Jeffery Paine
W.W. Norton, 278 pages, $37.50
Reviewed by Jeff Presslaff
Among
Mao Zedong's many crimes against humanity, the destruction of Tibet
stands out for its brazenness. Until the Chinese invasion of 1951,
Tibet was an independent nation with a 1000-year-old culture of
peace and spirituality. It has been brutally occupied ever since.
The Chinese Communists have leveled more than a thousand monasteries,
destroyed countless ancient texts and precious works of art, tortured
and slaughtered thousands of Tibetans, forced many more into exile,
forbidden the practice of Buddhism, and promoted an overwhelming
influx of ethnic Chinese. Western leaders, fearful of losing access
to the world¹s biggest market, have remained silent on this
cultural genocide.
So if anyone¹s got a right to be really pissed off, it's Tenzin
Gyatso, aka His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual and
(rightfully) political leader of Tibet.
Yet in 45 years of exile, he has never once publicly raised his
voice against his oppressors. His message and example of compassion
and non-violence has instead led to extraordinary popularity for
both his cause and his religion. Buddhism is the fastest growing
spiritual practice in the West, and the Tibetan variety is its fastest
growing form. The story of this improbable turn of events is the
subject of Jeffery Paine's Re-Enchantment - Tibetan Buddhism
Comes to the West.
Jeffery Paine is the former editor of the Wilson Quarterly,
the author of Father India, and the editor of The Poetry
of Our World. Though he never states it outright, one suspects
he is a practicing Buddhist. Heck, it would take a heart of stone
to read this book and not want to seek out the nearest lama.
Paine poses the question: How did Tibetan Buddhism go from an obscure,
ancient, mysterious religion to a major modern spiritual force in
one generation? To answer this, he profiles the significant personalities
along the journey.
Starting with Alexandra David-Neel, the astonishing explorer who
was the first European to reach Lhasa, Paine gives us portraits
of Thomas Merton, Lama Yeshe, Chogyam Trungpa, Richard Gere, and
several others who illustrate the many varieties of East-meets-West
dynamics and historical circumstances that led to Tibetan Buddhism¹s
new status.
These profiles are engaging, readable, and a fine way to tell the
story. Paine¹s enthusiasm radiates from the page, sometimes
feeling a bit like an adoring People magazine piece, but mostly
weaving all strands together into a web of understanding and appreciation
of the amazing accomplishments of the Tibetans in exile.
Perhaps the most revealing chapter is on "the Star", the
Dalai Lama. He is the face of Tibetan Buddhism, and one can hardly
imagine its success without him. When Mao¹s advisers reported
on the quelling of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, he asked, "But
what about the Dalai Lama?" When told that he had escaped,
Mao lamented, "In that case, we have lost!" And indeed
they have. Maoism is dead. The Chinese govern Tibet, but more and
more, as Jeffery Paine demonstrates, Tibet governs the consciousness
of the West.
Jeff Presslaff is a musician living in Winnipeg who had 10 Tibetan
monks living with him for a week last November.
