The Heart Of The World: A Journey To The Last Secret Place

Rating:
Summary: Heart of Adventure!
Review: Baker's book has dozens of great black and white shots taken by the author - and those pictures are my favorite part of the book. The text relates to an trek for the reality associated with the myth of Shangri-la - a myth which originated in Tibetan Buddhist beliefs of the existance of hidden lands, or sacred sanctuaries that reveal themselves to devout pilgrims in times of crisis. Allow me explain my reaction to the book.

Baker's expeditions make for interesting reading as he tells a story of his three trips to discover this exclusive 'location'. During the ordeal, reality strikes as hardships when disappointments abound on these journeys of discovery.

The outward physical quest seems to screen Baker's intent to promote Buddhist beliefs and Tibetan culture. Baker has long been a Buddhist follower, and his advancing volume tracks his inner journey as much as his outer one. And that's were the book begins to falter into a combination of self-absorbtion and exaltation of eastern beliefs.

On numerous occasions Baker's narration becomes almost no more than esoteric symbolism. For instance he writes, "The mist, the rain, the vegetal growth, the microorganisms veiled from sight, all entered through the pulsations and cuts in my scratched and torn hands, and where I could not go I could only yield and be entered. ... All Pemako seemed to coalesce into the square foot of rock directly before me, and all its hidden depths were concealed only by my limited awareness and the mechanisms of mind itself."

To be fair, he tries to explain these passages by invoking the context of the Tibetan Buddist belief of 'nonduality' where there are no opposites, no separations, no distinctions - all is one. As a result, his implication is there's no difference between the pride and humiliation, exhilaration and exhaustion, or the joy and sorrow experienced on the trips.

In short, what could have been a superior travel adventure (complete with detailed pictures, notes, glossary, & index) ends up being a confusing and frustrating read.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Journey
Review: I devoured this book. Ian Baker is an extraordinarily gifted story-teller and writer. He has woven his adventures, the adventures of his companions, his spiritual quest, the history of the area, and the culture of the area into a sinuous story that fully captures the reader. Ian makes the book accessible on many levels: read the book straight through and you have an amazing adventure story. Read the book with the footnotes, glossary, and captions, you begin to understand the complexity of the journey-and the questions and challenges that accompany it. This is a story of discovery, but it has very little to do with the actual waterfall that Ian `found'. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Spiritual Adventure
Review: I found myself capitavated by this story. It is an adventure on many levels. I appreciate the depth of Ian Baker's writing and after reading the book feel that in some way I have gotten to journey along with Ian to the hidden realms of Tibet that exist in the both the ordinary and non-ordinary world. I found myself traveling with him in my dreams and meeting the spirits of the places he visited. I couldn't put the book down and when I finished reading it I felt that I had somehow entered the beyul with him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Tibet or adventuring into unknown realms both in the physical world and beyond.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: I just finished the book and I didn't want it to end. It took me about a week and I tried to make it last, but I just couldn't put it down. Truly one of the best books I've ever read.

I wish I could express myself clearly, but I seem to be a little stunned - very thought-provoking. I have already started to read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: The Heart of the World is a book that is hard to put down. Outwardly, it may appear as an adventure travel book but it is so much more. It is really about the journey within. As such, it is inspiring and fascinating.
I award it five stars and have ordered it for all of my in-laws for Christmas!

Rating:
Summary: Life in Shangrila, A Remote Place.
Review: This book explains in detail what the nuns and monks who visited Knoxville want the world to know. It was a Shangrila before China took it over. It was the Center of a Marvelous Domain.

"The "long-ago and far-away" are always with you.Tibet is a land as big as France, Spain, and Germany put together. For many years I have been interested in this enchanting land. A group of Tibetan nuns came here last year to perform a religious ritual at Border's across from West Town Mall. It was a colorful and awe-inspiring thing to watch as they took turns using different shades of sand to create a Sand Mandala. The design they used here had the colors of green, dark blue, yellow, outlined in pink with the inner parts containing their religious symbols in black, turquoise and light blue.

Most times the Tibetans use the five colors which represent differentaspects of life in Tibet.In addition to sand, the nun told me that precious stones (crushed) which were very expensive were used. To them, it is not merely beauty they create, but a significant icon used as a blessing when it is completed. It was fascinating to watch this beauty take place right before our eyes.

A large gathering of watchers enjoyed the sight. I was struck by the appearance of these young women who had shaved their heads. This is a common practice in Tibet. I spoke with one of the nuns (the designated English-language spokesperson); when I asked why they had chosen Knoxville as one of the three or four cities to perform this all-day event, she stated they desire for other countries to be aware of the stifling conditions in Tibet after China took over their little principality. She feels strongly that it is imperative to spread the word of their peril at the hands of the Chinese officials. I told her that since I havebeen interested in Tibet for a long time that I am aware of this persecution they are enduring.

I asked if they'd been to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a group of Tibean monks live in convents up in the hills. She said they had visited there before coming to Knoxville and was surprised I knew they resided in that region. I asked again why they came to Knoxville and she explained that there is an active Buddhist group here supporting their efforts at regaining their much-cherished religious freedom.

A favorite actor of mine, Richard Gere, is a practicing Buddhist and marvelous spokesman -- he's the perfect example we were taught to revere in the "old days": one who "shows" by "doing." He has a book out called PILGRIM.

The lure of the East captivates and attracts the minds of intellectuals as well as adventurers. Reading Paul Theroux's factual account of his trip through China in RIDING THE IRON ROOSTER several years ago, I was impressed that he was brave enough to go where others dared not. His account of the car ride over the Himalayas resulting in an accident and the aid the erratic driver and he received to toll the vehicle to a safe location, the forbidden photos of the Dahlai Lama he distributed along the way while being persued by the Chinese officials made for many daring adventures and close calls before he reached his destination.

In Tibetan culture, art is a form of spiritual meditation. For the various colors, they use ground up minerals and precious stones (also gold dust). The designs are intricate and suggest a sense of harmony using traditional images.

It was inevitable that Red China would invade Tibet. It happened on October 7, 1950. Thirty years after the Dalai Lama went into exile in India, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.


Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This is an amazing story. Amazing. I give it 5 stars. This is wilderness exploration at its best, going far beyond the adage "because it was there" and describing a concurrent spiritual journey as intense, earnest and daring as the raw physical adventure itself. All of us who wander in the wild remote know about this inner world; few if any of us can describe it well. Ian Baker must be the most articulate nonfiction writer on the planet right now. In "The Heart of the World: Journey to the Last Secret Place", his language captures not just a visceral sense of the unparallelled Tsangpo Gorge, the hardships of an impossible journey, and the complexities of his research, but somehow manages to parallel the story-line with a most welcome comprehensible tale of an extraordinary spiritual endeavor. The unimaginable and indefinable not only make sense but grace the realm of possibility. I am at once inspired and in awe, wanting to know what comes after the next obstacle, over the next mountain pass, beyond the next spiritual abyss. The book is satisfying on all accounts - an awesome adventure, a spiritual quest, a tale of a holy grail actually found. How often on this ever-shrinking crowded planet will such an adventure occur? This book speaks to anyone: mountaineer, adventurer, intellectual, scientist, nature-lover, dreamer, priest, shaman you name it.
I'm reading another customer's review of this book and wondering what could have inspired such a person to be interested in anything beyond the most well-trod spring-break hot-spots of the so-called civilized world -- I will say that if you're looking for a "travel log" as that reviewer is, you'd be better off watching "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". If you're looking for the truly extraordinary, check out "The Heart of the World".