T. Lobsang Rampa was preordained to be a Tibetan priest, a sign from the stars that could not be ignored. When he left his wealthy home to enter the monastery, his heart was filled with trepidation, with only a slight knowledge of the rigorous spiritual training and physical ordeal that awaited him. This is his story, a hauntingly beautiful and deeply inspiring journey of awakening within Chakpori Lamasery, the temple of Tibetan medicine.

It is possible that this book may be the absolute truth - yet another product of the incredible powers of the holy men of the Himalayas, who are said to have projected their reincarnations into the hilly areas of America, to avoid the holocaust brought by the Chinese to Tibet? Could we, as a nation, be ignoring one of the greatest gifts we have ever received?

According to Barker, who first published the book in the 1960s, Rampa's claim that his body had been taken over by a Tibetan Buddhist monk was in no way disproved. In fact, Barker provides a letter from a Tibetan Buddhist scholar stating that Rampa's writings about the inner workings of Tibetan Buddhism were quite accurate and actually revealed closely guarded secrets of the Himalayan monasteries.

T. Lobsang Rampa's Beyond the Tenth gives advice and teachings on the care of mankind's physical and spiritual forms. Proper preparation on this present plane of existence can equip one more fully for the life that commences in the astral world.

The dying man jerked and then collapsed. His body twitched, and then lay still. The Lama nodded again to the acolyte, who touched flame to the third stick of incense. "Spirit now released from the suffering body," said the Lama, "pay attention before setting out on your journey; pay attention for I shall detail to you the steps you must take, and the path you must follow..." The fourth stick of incense was lit, and the smoke trailed upwards, as if it had been drawn in blue-gray chalk, straight as a pillar in the almost airless room...