My Current Favorites [April 2021]: Mystics of Tibet and Sinuhe the Egyptian

Nguyên Phong is a respected author and translator in Vietnam. I’ve already recommended his book Journey to the East here.

I then became interested in the books he translated, thinking that he must have read a lot, but only chose the best to translate. So I read four books selected by Nguyên Phong, three of which are about Tibet.

• Sinuhe the Egyptian (The Egyptian) by Mika Waltari: The character Sinuhe takes on some traits of the protagonist of the same name from an Egyptian tale. In this novel, he is set during the reign of Akhenaten, a pharaoh who undertook enormous religious changes but unfortunately failed. During our trip to Egypt, the tour guides all told us about this pharaoh, but I was so focused on the works of Ramses II that I didn’t grasp his importance. In this novel, there are not only many lessons to be learned from Sinuhe’s personal life, but also conversations he has with Akhenaten about religion, astrology, the essence of life… There are a few historical inaccuracies, but you really feel like you’ve traveled back in time and been swept into an extraordinary spiritual adventure.
• The Way of the White Clouds: Pilgrimages of a Buddhist Monk in Tibet (1932 to 1949) by Lama Anagarika Govinda: Born to a German father and a Bolivian mother, Lama Anagarika Govinda went to Sri Lanka, became a Buddhist monk, before spending many years in Tibet. He describes with great precision the mystical phenomena and traditions of Tibet. It’s like a travel diary, spiritual and mystical. I noted all the place names, hoping to go there one day. It’s hard to believe all these accounts, but he tells them in such an obvious way that there’s no room for doubt. He observed such phenomena, period. His accounts echo the testimonies of Alexandra David-Néel. Among the masters he was able to meet and train with, I was most impressed by the man who takes care of the cleaning of a pagoda. He himself embodies the notion of “living in the present moment”.
• Mystics and Magicians of Tibet by Alexandra David-Néel: everything that Lama Anagarika Govinda observed is confirmed in this book, in an even more organized way. This author (French) had the opportunity to personally meet the Dalai Lama on several occasions before starting her spiritual journey in Tibet. She crossed paths with countless lamas, sorcerers, apprentices… to give us a very complete synthesis of Tibetan traditions. Here too, the author shows the imperceptible boundary between a sorcerer and a sage, how one can think one is doing good while sinking deeper into darkness. How the spiritual path is fraught with pitfalls and traps. And meditation, done poorly, can bring more harm than good.
• Spirit of Himalaya by Swami Amar Jyoti: this is a novel that summarizes the previous two books, telling the spiritual journey of a future lama, from his beginnings to the end of his path, through many tests and obstacles. This book is easier and faster to read than the rest. It’s a pleasant read but not essential, especially if you’ve read the books above.

After reading these books, curiously, I don’t really want to visit Tibet. Maybe because I don’t feel ready yet, or maybe the accounts were so detailed that I felt like I had traveled there myself.