Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life

With a foreword by the Dalai Lama, this remarkable volume presents an intimate, Family of Man like portrait of Tibet and its people.

According to Tibetan belief, existence is an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and in this exquisitely illustrated volume authors Carroll Dunham and Ian Baker take us through the Tibetan wheel of life, from birth and childhood through adolescence and midlife to old age and death. We meet a pregnant woman who is married to four brothers. She dreams of turquoise—a sure sign that she will give birth to a boy. Ten–year–old Tulku Ralo yawns as he sits on a grand throne blessing the reverent throng who flock to him; it is not easy being a god–child. The pilgrimage of a family to Lhasa takes several years, for they cover the entire distance by prostrating the length of their bodies across the earth, surrendering to the primordial ground from which all Buddhas have arisen.

Set against Tibet's staggeringly beautiful mountain landscapes, as well as against the ongoing struggle of the Tibetans to win independence from China, Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life portrays the many faces of an earthy yet devout people steeped in a rich heritage. Includes a foreward by The Dalai Lama.

A native of Santa Fe, Thomas Kelly has lived in Nepal since 1978. Formerly a Peace Corps volunteer and CARE program officer, he has been a professional photographer since 1985. His books include The Hidden Himalayas and Kathmandu: City on the Edge of the World, and his work has appeared in such magazines as Natural History, Smithsonian, and the French and German editions of Geo.

An anthropologist, educator, and documentary film maker, Carroll Dunham is the author of The Hidden Himalayas. Her films include Strange Relations (an episode in the PBS Millenium series), A Bride for Four Brothers (National Geographic), and The Dragon Bride (BBC). The director of Sojourn Nepal, a school in Kathmandu, she lives in Nepal with her six Tibetan foster children.

Ian Baker, a writer, photographer, and educator, lives in Kathmandu, where he develops and directs college programs in Nepalese and Tibetan studies. A student of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tantric tradition, he has spent long periods of time in remote parts of the Himalayas and has studied with many of the great masters whose lives are described in this book.