Heart of the World - Hardcover

Ian A. Baker

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0285637428 ISBN 13: 9780285637429

Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

Ian Baker travels into the unexplored heart of the world's deepest gorge, and discovers the fabled waterfall that Tibetan Buddhists believe is a gateway to the mystical paradise of Shangri-La. In Buddhist tradition there are beyuls, hidden-lands, and the most remote and inaccessible the beyul the more illuminating the paradise it conceals. The greatest of these sanctuaries is at the eastern edge of the Himalayas, veiled by an enormous waterfall in the heart of the forbidding Tsangpo gorge, the world's most impenetrable chasm. Tibetan pilgrims and westerns have been searching for a route to this mystic waterfall for generations. Until Ian Baker, British explorer, world-class climber and Buddhist scholar, the heart of the Tsangpo gorge had remained a blank spot on the map of world exploration. Ian Baker set out to discover the truth behind the Tibetan legends and after twenty years of interviewing lamas, deciphering obscure Tantric texts and making pilgrimages to the gorge he made international headlines by reaching the bottom of the gorge and finding a 108-foot-high- waterfall. He had discover the legendary grail of both Western explores and Tibetan seekers. One of the most captivating stories of discovery in recent memory, an extraordinary voyage not only into one of the most remote places on earth but a pilgrimage into the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist faith, and a meditation on man's place in nature

About this title

Review:

"Ian Baker recounts his journey into one of the world's last
secret places - the virtually inaccessible Tsangpo gorge in Tibet."
-- 'Wanderlust'

"There is a great deal in this book to enjoy - even to admire...
an absorbing, thoughtful read." -- 'Independent on Sunday'

Synopsis:

A pilgrimage, as much as an exploration, this is a brilliant, magically written account of a journey that is physical and spiritual. This is already a cult book with many potential mass markets - MBS, literary, religious, travel writing at its finest. Ian Baker's original discovery of the waterfall made international headlines, acclaimed as the greatest feat of exploration in recent memory. It has wide review coverage, high profile serialisation, endorsements from the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere. It includes author tour, events with Buddhist groups. "The Heart of the World" is the story of the most captivating story of exploration of recent memory, an extraordinary journey into one of the most inaccessible places on earth, a mediation on our place in nature and a pilgrimage into the Tibetan Buddhist faith. Ian Baker travels into the Tsangpo gorge, the world's deepest and impenetrable chasm, searching for a mythical waterfall that ancient Tibetan tradition believes to the gateway to a mystical paradise, Shangri-La.

The heart of the Tsangpo gorge was fully explored only recently by Ian Baker, after years of interviewing lamas, deciphering obscure Buddhist texts and making pilgrimages to the gorge. He descended into the gorge and made international news by finding a 108-foot-high waterfall.

About this edition

• Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0285637428
• ISBN 13: 9780285637429
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 544