Ultimate Journey : Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk Who Crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment

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Enlightenment search through Asia's ancient path

"Ultimate Journey" is an excellent read for anyone interested in exploring the journey of a Buddhist monk in search of enlightenment. The book provides a vivid reconstruction of the spiritual and physical journey of Hsuan Tsang, taking readers along through Asia's ancient path. It's an incredible story of perseverance and faith that will inspire and motivate readers to discover their personal paths to enlightenment.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Ultimate Journey : Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk Who Crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment

Regular price
Unit price
per
Compare to estimated retail price: RM112.00 MYR  
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ISBN: 9780375400094
Publisher: Knopf
Date of Publication: 2001-03-13
Format: Hardcover
Related Collections: Religion, History, Travel
Related Topics: History, Buddhism, Asia, History
Goodreads rating: 3.48
(rated by 110 readers)

Description

Richard Bernstein's story of his long journey through Asia is at once a memoir of adventurous travel and a record of cultural discovery and spiritual quest.In the year 629, a greatly revered Chinese Buddhist monk, Hsuan Tsang, set out across Asia in search of the Buddhist Truth, to settle what he called the "perplexities of my mind." Nearly a millennium and a half later, Richard Bernstein retraces the monk's from the Tang dynasty capital at Xian through ancient Silk Road oases, over forbidding mountain passes to Tashkent, Samarkand, and the Amu-Darya River, across Pakistan to the holiest cities of India—and back.Juxtaposing his experiences with those of Hsuan Tsang, Bernstein reconstructs the hazards and glories of this long and sinuous route, comparing present and past. The monk described what he saw and landscapes, customs, and, above all, people and the variety of religious beliefs held by those he met. So does our present-day author—taking us to Buddhist cave temples, to the holy places of the Buddha's own life, to the ruins of the Gandharan civilization in Pakistan, to the university in the Ganges Valley where Hsuan Tsang studied. He too encounters extraordinary figures— among them a German monk in Bodhgaya, a down-and-out maharaja, and a supposed reincarnation of Shiva.And he follows the path of Hsuan Tsang not only in physical but in contemplative ways, reflecting on the mysteries and paradoxes of Buddhist philosophy and on the nature of the Ultimate Truth that was Hsuan Tsang’s goal.Ultimate Journey is a vivid, profoundly felt account of two stirring adventures—one in the past and one in the present—in pursuit of illumination.
 

Enlightenment search through Asia's ancient path

"Ultimate Journey" is an excellent read for anyone interested in exploring the journey of a Buddhist monk in search of enlightenment. The book provides a vivid reconstruction of the spiritual and physical journey of Hsuan Tsang, taking readers along through Asia's ancient path. It's an incredible story of perseverance and faith that will inspire and motivate readers to discover their personal paths to enlightenment.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.