The Heart of the World

The myth of Shangri-la originates in Tibetan Buddhist beliefs in beyul, or hidden lands, sacred sanctuaries that reveal themselves to devout pilgrims and in times of crisis. The more remote and inaccessible the beyul, the vaster its reputed qualities. Ancient Tibetan prophecies declare that the greatest of all hidden lands lies at the heart of the forbidding Tsangpo Gorge, deep in the Himalayas and veiled by a colossal waterfall. Nineteenth-century accounts of this fabled waterfall inspired a series of ill-fated European expeditions that ended prematurely in 1925 when the intrepid British plant collector Frank Kingdon-Ward penetrated all but a five-mile section of the Tsangpo's innermost gorge and declared that the falls were no more than a "religious myth" and a "romance of geography." The heart of the Tsangpo Gorge remained a blank spot on the map of world exploration until world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker delved into the legends. Whatever cryptic Tibetan scrolls or past explorers had said about the Tsangpo's innermost gorge, Baker determined, could be verified only by exploring the uncharted five-mile gap. After several years of encountering sheer cliffs, maelstroms of impassable white water, and dense leech-infested jungles, on the last of a series of extraordinary expeditions, Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team reached the depths of the Tsangpo Gorge. They made news worldwide by finding there a 108-foot-high waterfall, the legendary grail of Western explorers and Tibetan seekers alike.

The Heart of the World is one of the most captivating stories of exploration and discovery in recent memory-an extraordinary journey to one of the wildest and most inaccessible places on earth and a pilgrimage to the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist faith.

Editorial Reviews

A heady melange of history, wilderness exploration and Tibetan Buddhism study, this true story of the search for the "hidden-lands" of Pemako, Tibet, is scholarly, entertaining and transcendent. Baker first heard of this place "where the physical and spiritual worlds overlap" in 1977, while living in Kathmandu, and spent much of the next 22 years obsessively exploring it, as both an adventurer and a Buddhist pilgrim. As far back as 1377, Tibetan lamas were led by dreams and visions to secret texts hidden in Pemako's caves and behind its waterfalls: the manuscripts supposedly described physical and spiritual landscapes leading to an Eden-like earthly paradise. Baker chronicles British imperialist explorations of this area as well as Tibetan lamas' pilgrimages there. Local deities called Suma protected Pemako from "those whose intentions are not in harmony with [its] spirit" (including the latest "liberation" by the Chinese), until 1998, when Chinese scientists penetrated its deepest wilderness and began planning to destroy it with a hydroelectric dam. Interspersing the account with tales of Tibetan rimpoches (monastic lamas) and British botanists, Baker describes three of his trips to Pemako: to a gorge (perhaps the world's deepest), a sacred mountain and, finally, an elusive, mythic waterfall. His success is intimately tied to his deepening understanding of Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan culture. Heartbreakingly, his sportsman's ambition collides with his appreciation of the mystery when his "discovery" of the last hidden place threatens it with the onslaught of civilization. Photos. Agent, Owen Laster. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

About The Author:

Ian Baker has lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, and been a student of Tibetan Buddhism for more than twenty years. He studied fine arts, literature, and comparative religion at Middlebury College, Oxford University, and Columbia University. He has written several books on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, including The Tibetan Art of Healing, Celestial Gallery, and The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple: Tantric Wall Paintings from Tibet. He is also the coauthor of Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life and has contributed articles to Explorers Journal and National Geographic magazine.