Try free for 30 days

  • Magic & Mystery in Tibet

  • The Classic Account of a Woman's Extraordinary Journey to Tibet
  • By: Alexandra David-Néel
  • Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
  • Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (8 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Magic & Mystery in Tibet cover art

Magic & Mystery in Tibet

By: Alexandra David-Néel
Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $29.99

Buy Now for $29.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

This classic memoir by the remarkable French explorer and Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel is the one of the greatest Buddhist travelogues of the 20th century. She was the first European woman to meet the Dalai Lama (in the 1920s) and in 1924 became the first to enter the forbidden Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

She had already spent a decade travelling through China and Sikkim, India; lived and meditated in a cave on the Tibetan border; and everywhere learned about Buddhism from hermits, mystics and bandits. She recalled, 'In the course of my travels, I witnessed unusual events, met strange people and brushed the threshold of a particular spirituality'.

In Magic and Mystery in Tibet, Mme David-Néel recorded the mysterious, magical world she encountered. Among the extraordinary practices she described are the Tibetan mystics who could live naked in temperatures below freezing (tumo), monks who covered incredible distances on foot in strange leaps (lung-gom) and others who could seemingly defy gravity.

These practices became part of the legends of Tibetan Buddhism, as it became better known in the West - but they were first reported, from firsthand experience, by Mme David-Néel. Her writings proved a great influence on figures such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Alan Watts. What makes this audiobook a classic is that she was not just an observer or a travel writer but a meditator and practitioner, respected by the lamas and monks she met. Her descriptions of Tibetan Buddhism, though dating from a century ago, ring true now, even with our greater contemporary awareness and understanding.

Despite her decades of life travelling, often in great hardship, across the Far East and Central Asia, she lived until the age of 101, dying in her home country of France.

©1932 Alexandra David-Néel (P)2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd

What listeners say about Magic & Mystery in Tibet

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Based

loved it. a highly elucidating survey of various esoteric schools in Tibet. I've listened to it twice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.