We learn that Tenzing was 51 when Jamling was born in 1965. Although Tenzing's six living children enjoyed a good education and family closeness, Father Tenzing was distant. When Tenzing died at age 72 in 1986, Jamling was a college student with many unanswered questions about his father's life and values. Jamling became a capable mountaineer & a father himself. He struggled to overcome doubt in his parents' profound Nyingmapa Buddhist values while retaining his own educated worldview.
That struggle ended during the disastrous 1996 Everest season. After many setbacks, while climbing through fierce winds past the dead bodies of failed climbers, Jamling's heart opened to his father's protectress: Miyolangsangma, goddess of Chomolungma. Jamling not only summitted Everest, his father's mountain; he also entered the inner heart of his father's Buddhist reality. Listeners who love the Himalaya. Buddhism, and Sherpa Culture will thrill this compelling interior and exterior adventure. This review refers to the Audio Cassette , read by Norbu Tenzing (Jamling's brother, who has a beautiful reading voice.) Highly recommended!!
Sherpas: Reflections on Change in Himalayan Nepal by James F. FisherWith a foreword by Sir Edmund Hillary. The best account of modern Sherpa life in Kathmandu & SoluKhumbu that we have read. An ex-Peace Corps anthropologist who had lived in Sherpa communities during the 1960's comes back to interview Sherpas in the 1990's about love, money, family, politics, and religion. Describes the curious natural affinity between Himalayan Sherpa and heartland North American cultures. Also in hardcover. .Highly Recommended.
For kids! Triumph on Everest : A Photobiography of Sir Edmund Hillary by Broughton Coburn, Mingma Norbu Sherpa Loving picture book about the life of Ed Hillary, including his mountaineering career and later charitable efforts to establish and operate schools and hospitals in Khumbu and Shar-Khumbu (Solu) which are the central Sherpa kingdom. Includes timeline of events in Ed's life. Sir Edmund Hillary is immensely loved and respected in the Sherpa community worldwide, so we are pleased to recommend this book to you. Reading level: Ages 9-12 - Hardcover - 64 pages (October 2000) - Highly recommended
View from the Summitby Edmund, Sir Hillary Ed Hillary's life path as recalled by Ed in his late 70's. Bit of a choppy read, but nicely conveys the simplicity of Ed's character. Details his determination to use his worldwide fame to build schools and hospitals in the Sherpa lands of SoluKhumbu. For this, we are grateful.
High Religion - A Cultural and Political History of Sherpa Buddhismby Sherry B. Ortner - Paperback: 269 pages ; Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr; (September 1, 1989) ---Beautifully written, theoretically uncluttered account of Zhung (Junbesi) Gompa's history and culture. Retells the old stories of the Sherpa passage from Kham into Solu & Khumbu, and how the Sherpa clans began. Highly recommended.
Rhythms of a Himalayan Villageby Hugh R. Downs Beautifully photographed and poetically captioned journal of one man's personal transformation during his studies with a traditional Sherpa Lama artist. Highly Recommended
The Sherpas of Nepal : Buddhist Highlanders.by Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf --1972 -- Transatlantic Arts Recommended.
Body and Emotion : The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas (Series in Contemporary Ethnography); by Robert R. Desjarlais (Also in hardcover.)
Himalayan Traders by Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf . Prof. Von Furer-Haimendorf studied Khumbu Sherpa culture in the 1950's and 1960's, before the onset of the trekking industry. Fascinating observations on traditional (now, partially lost) Khumbu Sherpa lifestyle. Usually OOP, but hunt around! [Time Books International New Delhi 1988. (Original publishers, John Murray, London.) Recommended.
The Tibetan Symbolic World - A Psychoanalytic Explorationby Robert Paul. Tiresome, academic, but comprehensive description of Sherpa Buddhist society from the Freudian analytical perspective. [Originally published by the University of Chicago Press 1982. In India printed as The Sherpas of Nepal - In the Tibetan Cultural Context by Robert A. Paul Motilal Banarsidass edition 1987.
Living in the Middle : Sherpas of the Mid-Range Himalayas;by Donna M. Sherpa. A very personal account of one Pennsylvania high-school teacher's marriage to a Sherpa man from Pharak. Describes traditional family life in his village, relationships with relatives, tourists, etc., plus the trials and tribulations of their somewhat isolated life in the USA. Not well researched, contains a number of factual errors and incomplete tables. However the writing is sincere.
Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzingas told By Tenzing to James Ramsey Ullman.A charming interview with Tenzing, often known as Tenzing Norgay or Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who accomplished the first ascent Mount Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953. Honest reflections on Sherpa life in Darjeeling in the 30's, 40's, and 50's, plus marvelous stories of Tenzing many previous mountaineering adventures in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet. Includes wonderful tale of his travels across pre-occupation Tibet with the eccentric Tucci. Hard to find. [George Harrap London 1955.] Highly Recommended.
Sherpa Architectureby Valerio SestiniSlender volume on Sherpa building traditions, produced for UNESCO's restoration and rehabilitation programme. Recommended.
Sherpas Transformed : Social Change in the Buddhist Society of Nepalby Christoph Von Furer-Haimendorf Sterling Publishers Ltd. Bangalore (India)1984. 197 pgs, indexed. Over his long anthropological career, Furer-Haimendorf studied many Himalayan societies in Nepal, Tibet, and India. However, after he lived in Khumjung during the 1950's, he especially loved & admired Khumbu Sherpa life. The Sherpas Transformed was written in 1983, when F-H returned to Khumjung to analyze the radical social changes that occurred when the Sherpa economy shifted from India-Tibet trade to the trekking & climbing industries. A classic, written with obvious affection. Hard to find in USA (easy to find in Kathmandu.) Highly Recommended
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