Chronicling the inner as well as the outer journey, an influential author offers his personal view of his spiritual adventure amid the breathtaking vistas of the Himalayas.

The Author Has Examined All The Narratives Of The Western Visitors To Mount Kailas, And In So Doing Has Compiled What Amounts To A Chronicle Of The Explorations Of This Part Of Tibet. Clean Copy

A fascinating exploration of the symbolism of mountains in the mythologies, religions, literature, and art of cultures around the world.

"Ginny Anderson is a sure-footed guide, not only to natural treasures in the Bay Area, but to the richness of our inner experience. Circling San Francisco Bay brings the outer and inner worlds together. It is a gift to the community of life and a valuable tool for deeper connection-a book that not only informs but also enchants." -Lauren deBoer, executive editor, EarthLight magazine "Shamanic naturalist Ginny Anderson takes us to seven sacred sites around San Francisco Bay to gain a better understanding of their connections, and ours, in the complex web of life. This is a celebration of our glorious bioregion, and our responsibility to it-and not a moment too soon." -M. Macha NightMare, priestess, ritualist, and author "Anderson shows us how to find these pillars of our paradise, as we come into a deeper and more spiritual bond with Mother Earth. A numinous, sentient work, and a signpost on the path to true joy in life." -Sandy Miranda, KPFA FM host/producer. "In Circling San Francisco Bay, a graceful meditation on reciprocity with the natural world, Ginny Anderson shows us that we need look no farther than our own Bay Area greenbelt for the balm that soothes the nerves and feeds the soul." -Lorraine Anderson, editor, Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature "Ginny Anderson's tour of Bay Area sacred mountains elicits the fragrance of native herbs, the sparkle of crystal rock outcroppings, and the wisdom of the natives who dwelled in this land we now call home. Circling offers its readers exercises to enhance their sensory awareness of specific sites - and pathways to greater methaphorical insights. At every stop, we read the voices of other Circling participants, telling how the wide vistas and meditations on nature's patterns have opened their souls to new understanding." -Debbie Mytels, Associate Director of Acterra: Action for a Sustainable Earth, and a participant in Circling the Bay 1991

Chronicling the inner as well as the outer journey, an influential author offers his personal view of his spiritual adventure amid the breathtaking vistas of the Himalayas.

The greatest athletes in the world today are not the Olympic champions or the stars of professional sports, but the "marathon monks" of Japan's sacred Mount Hiei. Over a seven-year training period, these "running buddhas" figuratively circle the globe on foot. During one incredible 100-day stretch, they cover 52.5 miles daily—twice the length of an Olympic marathon. And the prize they seek to capture is the greatest thing a human being can achieve: enlightenment in the here and now. This book is about these amazing men, the magic mountain on which they train, and the philosophy of Tendai Buddhism, which inspires them in their quest for the supreme. The reader will learn about the monks' death-defying fasts, their vegetarian training diet, their handmade straw running shoes, and feats of endurance such as their ceremonial leap into a waterfall. Illustrated with superb photographs, the book also contains the first full-length study in English of Mount Hiei and Tendai Buddhism.

"A superb account of a pilgrimage. . . . Characteristically beautiful, though uncharacteristically haunted." —Pico Iyer, New York Review of Books "Thubron walks for the dead and writes for the living, and I can't remember when I have been so thoroughly and deeply moved by an author's outward journey inward." —Bob Shacochis, Boston Globe New York Times bestselling author Colin Thubron returns with a moving, intimate, and exquisitely crafted travel memoir recounting his pilgrimage to the Hindu and Buddhist holy mountain of Kailas—whose peak represents the most sacred place on Earth to roughly a quarter the global population. With echoes of Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard, Peter Hessler’s Country Driving, and Paul Theoroux’s Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Thubron’s follow up to his bestselling Shadow of the Silk Road will illuminate, interest, and inspire anyone interested in traveling the world or journeying into the soul.