Tibet: An Inner Journey

A photographic journey into the heart of Buddhist spirituality and into the daily life and festivals of people in the Tibetan interior

Tibet is the Roof of the World, a place where you feel that you are in the sky just as much are you are on the earth. The intense blueness of space contrasts sharply with the deep green of eastern Tibet’s rolling grasslands and the mineral colours of the west with its expanses of barren rock. For over a thousand years, Buddhist culture has been at the heart of Tibetan society, and anyone who has travelled across these high plateaux will understand how this contemplative civilization flourished in a landscape of such vastness.

Matthieu Ricard's Tibet seeks to bear witness to all that survives of that ancient world – a world capable of making a valuable contribution to contemporary life. It also aims to provide a glimpse of a unique culture that is desperately trying to preserve its authenticity, despite the major upheavals that have shaken the land of its birth.

Contents List

Introduction • A Traditional Society • The Largest Printing Works in the World • A Sense of Celebration • The Top of the World • The Return of a Lama to the Country of Snow • A Visit to the Hermits • A Pilgrimage to a Commune • Humanity

About the Author

Matthieu Ricard is a French writer and Buddhist monk who resides at Shechen Tennyi Dargyeling Monastery in Nepal. He has been the Dalai Lama’s French interpreter since 1989.