The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk

Palden Gyatso was born in a Tibetan village in 1933 and became an ordained Buddhist monk at eighteen during a period of political upheaval in Tibet. When Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, it initiated a program of "reform" that would eventually affect all Tibetan citizens and nearly decimate the region's ancient culture. In 1967, the Chinese destroyed monasteries across Tibet and forced thousands of monks into labor camps and prisons. Gyatso spent twenty-five years enduring interrogation and torture for his religious beliefs. This memoir documents his experiences and serves as a witness to human resilience and the strength of Tibetan civilization in the face of cultural destruction. The work is presented in Tsering Shakya's translation.