In the early 1960s, a Tibetan lama, a charismatic and learned visionary mystic named Tulshuk Lingpa, declared a crack in the world. He came to the then independent Kingdom of Sikkim in the Eastern Himalayas—sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Indian Bengal—in order to ‘open the way’ to a hidden valley of immortality fabled in Tibetan tradition.

He risked what we all would undoubtedly risk if we were to proclaim a crack not only in the tightly drawn mesh in the map of the world of latitude and longitude but in the very fabric of the world and then attempt to pass through it: while revered by some, he was labeled mad by others and risked confinement, first by the king of Sikkim and then by the king of Nepal, both of whom had plans to throw him in jail. And not only did Tulshuk Lingpa propose to pass through the crack he proclaimed in the world; he proposed to lead over three hundred followers through it as well, each of whom had left everything behind for a one-way journey to the Hidden Land, wholly believing that once they left this world, they could never return. Willing to bid goodbye forever not only to their families, but to the entire world to which we all cling, risking all by following this lama into the high snow mountains rising to Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain on the planet, they expected a crack to form in the fabric of what we call reality and a ‘way’ to open to a land we would all wish to inhabit if it were only there—a land of peace and concord.

   This book tells the story of Lama Tulshuk Lingpa’s life and his unlikely expedition to a land beyond cares while reflecting on what this means for the rest of us. It draws on both research and extensive interviews with his surviving disciples and family members. The book is richly illustrated with portraits of those who went with Tulshuk Lingpa and the places he traveled to. The book also delves into the tradition within Tibetan Buddhism of Shambhala and the hidden valleys, which mirror traditions around the world of utopias and lands of milk and honey, thus showing the quest for the hidden land is a universal urge of humanity.

The young Tulshuk Lingpa

Foreword

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 A Crack in the World

CHAPTER 2 Into the Rabbit Hole

CHAPTER 3 Eloping over Mountain Passes

CHAPTER 4 Behind the Heart of the Buddha of Compassion

CHAPTER 5 Invasions and Incarnations

CHAPTER 6 The Place of the Female Cannibal

CHAPTER 7 Sacrifices, Sponsors and Caves

CHAPTER 8 The Call

CHAPTER 9 The Discovery

CHAPTER 10 The Reconnaissance

CHAPTER 11 Géshipa

CHAPTER 12 The Auspicious Centre

CHAPTER 13 The Return

CHAPTER 14 Lepcha Tales

CHAPTER 15 Monarchical Machinations

CHAPTER 16 A Historical Digression

CHAPTER 17 Royal Inquiries

CHAPTER 18 The Miracle

CHAPTER 19 The Flight

CHAPTER 20 Opening the Gate

CHAPTER 21 The Aftermath

EPILOGUE

Glossary

Dramatis Personæ

Places

Acknowledgements

Photo Credits

To open the way to a hidden land of immortality would be no small feat. It would take an act of the imagination if not on par with Alice’s when she peered down the rabbit hole, at least with Lewis Carroll’s when he peered into the well next to Binsey Church outside Oxford and received the flash of inspiration that would lead him to write of Alice and her adventures in a place called Wonderland.

We have been taught from the earliest age to separate fact from fiction. We can read Alice in Wonderland and get transported to a land of marvels. Yet while we are there, we know Wonderland doesn’t really exist. By imagining it, we can partake in the hidden realm of wonders the author imagined but we retain our sense of propriety. We don’t redraw the line between fact and fiction; we suspend it, and we are entertained. That is certainly the sensible thing to do. We can assume it is what Lewis Carroll himself did. He could write his books about Wonderland and still maintain his position as a respected Oxford Don.

Imagine what would have happened if Lewis Carroll had proclaimed the reality of Wonderland. What if he had gathered a following and launched an expedition? Surely he would have been thought mad as a hatter in the Oxford of his day as he would be today. The line separating fact from fiction is certainly tightly drawn and enduring—as tightly drawn as that which separates sane from insane. Cross one, and you cross the other.

Mount Kanchenjunga, by Nicholas Roerich

It was on the slopes of this mountain straddling border between Sikkim and Nepal that

Tulshuk Lingpa went to find the hidden valley of Beyul Demoshong.

The southwest slope of Mount Kanchenjunga

From Round Kangchenjunga by Douglas W. Freshfield,  London, 1903

Watch excerpts of an interview with the author conducted in October, 2010 by an Australian film crew shooting a film on crazy yogis, in which he discusses his book A Step Away from Paradise.