In the Shadow of the Buddha

November 8, 2010
Pistono draws on his experiences as a journalist, activist, and student of Tibetan Buddhism to explore the intersection between spirituality and politics. He weaves together the stories of his pilgrimages in Tibet, his role in smuggling out evidence of the Chinese government's human rights abuses to the West, and the history of Terton Sogyal, a lama who served as spiritual and political adviser to the current Dalai Lama's predecessor in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. Pistono follows the path of Terton Sogyal across vast expanses of the Tibetan landscape while hearing testimonies to suffering by Tibetans who sought him out to share their stories. The phurba, a "great weapon of compassion" in Tibetan ritual to destroy anger, provides a continuing motif. Spiritual aspirations and political realities collide tragically in present-day Tibet, and through this complex set of narratives Pistono explores his own search for freedom from anger when faced with massive injustice and the apparent ineffectiveness of activism on behalf of Tibet. These inner and outer journeys are no less astonishing for being told matter-of-factly, accompanied by keen analysis of modern realpolitik.

November 15, 2010

Pistono. Matteo Pistono. Buddhist superspy, teaching bad guys the disappointments that come from attachment.

Since 1999, Pistono has been journeying into Chinese-occupied Tibet, porting in messages from the Tibetan government in exile, stealing out with evidence of official misdeeds, such as the mistreatment of a cleric "who was scalded with boiling water and then jailed for five years for publicly praying to the Dalai Lama"—an act that the Chinese government considers to be a crime of sedition and "separatism." The author came to this work honestly, if circuitously, having been an environmental activist in Wyoming on one hand and a Buddhist devotee on the other hand, working in the best tradition of the warrior-monk. Pistono clearly regards this espionage as a kind of religious obligation, observing that as a sworn bodhisattva he is obligated to benefit others in all his future lives, which might involve "a couple hundred thousand years of working for others, depending on how many lifetimes the vow took to accomplish." By all accounts, not least this modest and suitably self-effacing one, he has been successful in this work, smuggling out documents, posters, court records and other materials that have wound up in the hands of human-rights organizations and legislators around the world, often placed there by Pistono's frequent employer, the actor and activist Richard Gere, who provides the book's foreword. "I would occasionally meet with Richard in India, Nepal, or New York," writes the author, "to show him recent photographs and tell him what Tibetans were telling me." This earnest memoir has its adventuresome moments, but it is less action-packed than readers might wish. Instead, it is peppered with asides concerning "positive karmic seeds," memories of tutelage under a kindly monk named One-eye Wangde, and puzzlement over whether the Buddha's enlightened state is truly possible and whether he violates any religious precepts by telling lies and stealing state secrets.

James Bond it's not, but this book isn't quite like any other, and it makes a useful primer for anyone contemplating making a right livelihood along dangerous paths.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011

Pistono (founder & executive director, Nekorpa), a practicing Buddhist and self-proclaimed activist, entwines three major themes in this memoir of his life from 1999 to around 2005. Presented in tones of high drama for general readers, his book reads as one part spiritual quest inspired by a 19th-century Tibetan mystic; one part contemporary travel memoir following that mystic's physical journey as guided by his reincarnation, Sogyal Rinpoche; and one very large part an account of Pistono's exploits smuggling photos, stories, and documents to the West to verify continuing Chinese atrocities against the Tibetan people. Unfortunately, the author's prose comes across as superficial and egotistical. In spite of the mission to expose Chinese malfeasance, none of the photos the author claims to have taken proving the atrocities and none of the related documents he and others risked so much to smuggle out are included in the book (the photos are of key religious figures and objects). VERDICT Not recommended. Instead, seek out Arjia Rinpoche's Surviving the Dragon: A Tibetan Lama's Account of 40 Years under Chinese Rule both for its insight into a religious quest and for its perspective on Chinese-Tibetan relations.--James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of North Carolina at Asheville Lib.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2010
From Wyoming to Himalayan meditation caves to Capitol Hill, Pistonos account of his quest for spiritual illumination and political justice is heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. Pistono, raised with the belief that social activism is a core responsibility, began traveling to Tibet in 1999, motivated, in part, by his fascination with Tertn Sogyal, a nineteenth-century mystic and Tibets great champion and protector. Pistono follows in Tertn Sogyals footsteps while telling the mystics astonishing story, from his fathers insistence that he join a band of highway robbers to serving as teacher to the XIII Dalai Lama and guiding Tibet through political turmoil and the intrusion of British forces. Traveling as both a journalist and a Buddhist pilgrim, Pistono also found himself at the crossroads of spirituality and politics when he was asked to serve as a human-rights courier, carrying to the West hard evidence of Chinas systematic brutality in occupied Tibet. Pistono tells chilling cloak-and-dagger tales and offers mesmerizing descriptions of haunting landscapes and miracle-performing lamas. But what shimmers most in this riveting and mysterious chronicle, which includes a foreword by Tibet activist Richard Gere, is the courage of those dedicated to the Dalai Lamas vision for real autonomy and religious freedom in Tibet through nonviolent means.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2010

Pistono. Matteo Pistono. Buddhist superspy, teaching bad guys the disappointments that come from attachment.

Since 1999, Pistono has been journeying into Chinese-occupied Tibet, porting in messages from the Tibetan government in exile, stealing out with evidence of official misdeeds, such as the mistreatment of a cleric "who was scalded with boiling water and then jailed for five years for publicly praying to the Dalai Lama"--an act that the Chinese government considers to be a crime of sedition and "separatism." The author came to this work honestly, if circuitously, having been an environmental activist in Wyoming on one hand and a Buddhist devotee on the other hand, working in the best tradition of the warrior-monk. Pistono clearly regards this espionage as a kind of religious obligation, observing that as a sworn bodhisattva he is obligated to benefit others in all his future lives, which might involve "a couple hundred thousand years of working for others, depending on how many lifetimes the vow took to accomplish." By all accounts, not least this modest and suitably self-effacing one, he has been successful in this work, smuggling out documents, posters, court records and other materials that have wound up in the hands of human-rights organizations and legislators around the world, often placed there by Pistono's frequent employer, the actor and activist Richard Gere, who provides the book's foreword. "I would occasionally meet with Richard in India, Nepal, or New York," writes the author, "to show him recent photographs and tell him what Tibetans were telling me." This earnest memoir has its adventuresome moments, but it is less action-packed than readers might wish. Instead, it is peppered with asides concerning "positive karmic seeds," memories of tutelage under a kindly monk named One-eye Wangde, and puzzlement over whether the Buddha's enlightened state is truly possible and whether he violates any religious precepts by telling lies and stealing state secrets.

James Bond it's not, but this book isn't quite like any other, and it makes a useful primer for anyone contemplating making a right livelihood along dangerous paths.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)