Journeys into the Unknown

I would like to show you the books that I am currently reading. The first book Heart of the World is a gripping page turner for me; I was wandering around the library and thought it looks adventurous enough so I took it. Upon reading it I just couldn’t put it down, I had to read what was going to happen next. The fact that it is a real account of exploration and that it involves the most inaccessible place on earth together with my boyhood infatuation of Tibet; couldn’t help but keep on reading. The Tsangpo gorge hides a waterfall in the worlds most deepest canyon .Tibetans call sacred places Beyul and they associate these places as having meaning more so to the yogi who will experience sattvic or pure states of meditation in such wild places. The particular Beyul in this book is Pemako located in a remote Himalayan valley. The plants there are said to give powers for one to heal and to gain siddhis (ability to have extra sensory magic), being a holy place it also involves kora which is walking clockwise around such a place. The same as pradakshina, kora can involve walking for days or weeks around a mountain such as Kailash. It also gives historical accounts of the first explorers there and how they encountered indigenous people who at first didn’t like white explorers coming to their quiet jungle villages. Usually those people experienced poisonous arrows and death. The groups of explorers we are following through Pemako are walking through Forrest thick in leeches and snakes and swamps and huge fallen trees which take a grunt or two to slide over. Sometimes they almost die falling into the coldest rivers but manage through it all to shiver into the camp and snuggle into a sleeping bag without a word. A humorous Tulku monk is walking with them too or should I say they are walking with him. He seems to be very equanimous in the difficult journey and helps them indirectly, he is looking for healing plants. Heart of the World is still to be finished as I’m on page 283 and another 150 or so to go.

I first read Spirit walker couple of months ago and had to read the sequel to this fascinating story (Medicinemaker). About a man who discovers he can travel in his dreaming state into the future; he also encounters the spirits on the other side a tall black shadow. Similar to the ancient cave paintings drawn by man long time ago. Shows that they were also experiencing such encounters with spirits in their dreaming. Actually this is not exactly dreaming, because he was paralyzed in his sleep so that he was alert when this shift happens in sleep. It is somewhat of a half way state, as he becomes the eyes of a man walking through the jungles and this is the start of a relationship he has with this man who is on a journey through unknown lands. The lands are the American mainland 3000 years into the future, so this second book is a continuation from Spirit walker and it shows how the Shaman works. I like it and find it also keeps one engaged in the continuing storyline. It also informs about visionary states in dreaming and about signs that you may already be having yourself before entering into such states. It is said that indigenous tribes used to stay awake in order to invoke such visionary experiences before sleeping. A nice read if you are interested in the magic of healing and the unknown .