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Questions of Heaven: The Chinese Journeys of an American Buddhist
Gretel Ehrlich's path leads her to Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces in western China to climb Emei Shan, one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains. For Ehrlich, a practicing Buddhist, the climb is both a spiritual pilgrimage and a troubling encounter with a culture reeling from recent political history. Ehrlich visits Buddhist lamas who, until recently, were in hiding from...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published
March 31st 1998
by Beacon Press
(first published 1997)
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Although this book was originally recommended when I took a masters-level "Literature of Travel" course, this unique piece of literature has been calling out to me for quite some time. I'm glad I finally took time out to read it.
On one level, this is a book about the spiritual journey of an American Buddhist as she climbs the metaphorically important mountains of China. On another level, this book painted an important sociological and historical portrait of China in the aftermath of Mao's tyrann...more
On one level, this is a book about the spiritual journey of an American Buddhist as she climbs the metaphorically important mountains of China. On another level, this book painted an important sociological and historical portrait of China in the aftermath of Mao's tyrann...more
I found it too brief, too involved with describing the hardships of China in the 20th century. The writing style was too self-involved, the subject matter concentrating too much on surface ephemera, and not enough on buddhism. Many better books out there in the same sub-genre of "buddhist westerner going on pilgrimage"
Jan 01, 2012
Cindy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography__memoir,
essays
Small collection of essays about a mountain climbing pilgrimage to China in the mid-90s. Ehrlich finds it a depressing place - until she gets to Lijiang and meets musicians who are trying to preserve some of the heritage that has been shattered by the Cultural Revolution.
Nov 13, 2011
Cindywho
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography__memoir,
essays
Small collection of essays about a mountain climbing pilgrimage to China in the mid-90s. Ehrlich finds it a depressing place - until she gets to Lijiang and meets musicians who are trying to preserve some of the heritage that has been shattered by the Cultural Revolution.
Aug 23, 2007
Eric
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
spirtual seekers and people who question spirituality
A lot about music, a ton of about hope, that Mao lived by eating ashes, that nirvana can be found from the vertigo you get when you look out over a cliff and beyond below...it's a fantastic book that sticks with you.
Lovely passages about mountains and music.
Mar 22, 2013
Elizabeth Mountsier
marked it as to-read
Mar 11, 2013
Emma Ricci
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Mar 04, 2013
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Feb 09, 2013
Kathy
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Jan 17, 2013
Estelle Spencer
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Nov 21, 2012
Laurie
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Nov 06, 2012
Lisa Ulrich
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Oct 11, 2012
marianne
marked it as to-read
Aug 03, 2012
Mike
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Gretel Ehrlich is an American travel writer, novelist, essayist, and poet born on a horse ranch near Santa Barbara, California and educated at both Bennington College in Vermont and UCLA film school. After working in film for 10 years and following the death of a loved one, she began writing full-time in 1978 while living on a Wyoming ranch where she had been filming. Her first book, The Solace o...more
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