A Step Away from Paradise: A Tibetan Lama's Extraordinary Journey to a Land of Immortality

A
STEP AWAY
FROM PARADISE:

The True Story of a Tibetan Lama’s
Journey to a Land of Immortality

THOMAS K. SHOR

Mount Kanchanjunga as seen from Darjeeling
from the Himalayan Journals of the British
Naturalist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, 1891

© Thomas K. Shor 2012 All Rights Reserved
www.ThomasShor.com

This book was first published by
Penguin Books India
in 2011

CLICK HERE TO ORDER PENGUIN EDITION

Thomas K. Shor is also the author of:

INTO THE HANDS OF THE UNKNOWN:
AN INDIAN SOJOURN WITH A HARVARD RENUNCIENT

Click
HERE
to order eBook from Amazon.com
See the END OF THE BOOK for more info and a sample

THE MONK AND THE SLY CHICKPEA:
TRAVELS ON CORFU

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HERE
to order eBook from Amazon.com
See the END OF THE BOOK for more info and a sample

This book is dedicated
to those who dared.

‘Don’t listen to anybody. Decide by yourself and practice madness. Develop courage for the benefit of all sentient beings. Then you will automatically be free from the knot of attachment. Then you will continually have the confidence of fearlessness and you can then try to open the Great Door of the Hidden Place.’
~from Tulshuk Lingpa’s
Guidebook to the Hidden Land

Tulshuk Lingpa,
shortly before he set out
on his visionary expedition

Map 1. South Asia map,
showing the main areas
where the story takes place

Foreword

by

Tenzin Palmo

A Step Away from Paradise
is a riveting tale of adventure, intrigue and devotion. It is an extraordinary account of Tulshuk Lingpa, a Tibetan lama who lived quite recently and received revelations concerning the Hidden Land to be found in a crack on the flanks of Mt Kanchenjunga in Sikkim, which according to Tibetan tradition is another dimension of existence beyond death, disease or suffering yet still on this very earth and accessible without the need of dying first.

I personally—as others who have read the manuscript—found it an engrossing read. After years of careful research, Thomas Shor delivers an enthralling account of the life of Tulshuk Lingpa, who was a modern day lama in search of this veritable Shangri-la along with 300 devoted followers. The author has gone to great trouble to make his research both accurate and accessible. It really is both a fascinating read, a commentary on the recent political history in Tibet and the Himalayan regions, and an aspect of Tibetan Buddhism not usually talked about. Thomas Shor, who is the author of
Windblown Clouds
about his early travels in India, is not just an excellent writer. I have attended a public lecture and presentation based on
A Step Away from Paradise
that Shor gave, and it left the audience spellbound and amazed that such events could have happened so recently.

A Step Away from Paradise
deals with an aspect of Tibetan Buddhism that is in some ways more honest to the real spirit of Tibet than all the usual books on Tibetan doctrine and will, I am sure, be of interest to a wide audience. It is a fascinating account of a little-known charismatic figure that will challenge even the most skeptical mind and provide a fresh perspective on what we normally regard as ‘reality’.

Like no other book I have ever read,
A Step Away from Paradise
is both unique and intriguing. Highly recommended.

~ Tenzin Palmo

Introduction

What would have happened
if Lewis Carroll had proclaimed the reality
of Wonderland?
What if he had gathered a following
and launched an expedition?