|  "Bay
is the Buddhist pilgrim as Every tourist, with
videocam and portable compact disk player, meeting
the ancient verities of the East in the search
for enlightenment. 'Easier said than done,' she
observes…a touching account of the inner
journey and transformation of an 'overweight,
middle-aged tourist.'"
Mary Grace Butler
New York Times Book Review
"A story of personal redemption.
Bay shares intimate details of her fears, sicknesses,
and even her Western weakness for extravagant
shopping and it's this frankness that lends authenticity
and adds emphasis to her anguish over what the
Tibetan people have endured."
Beth Ashley
Marin Independent Journal
PRECIOUS JEWELS OF TIBET, Jane
Bay's memoir of transformation, is inextricably
linked with the heroic struggle of the Tibetan
people, and the Buddhist faith that is the source
of their strength—and her own. She takes
us on a pilgrimage to India where we meet Tibetans,
both exiles and those now suffering under Chinese
oppression, and experience with her the liberating
lessons of impermanence, compassion, commitment,
and love.
While in Dharamsala, the present home of the
Dalai Lama, she becomes the foster mother of a
teenage girl at the Tibetan Children's Village.
Unable to have children of her own, Jane becomes
deeply involved in the life of her foster daughter,
Namgyal, whose own mother had died in Tibet. A
strong bond is forged between mother and daughter
through many months of correspondence, and Jane
is devastated when she learns the Chinese government
has forced Namgyal and other children studying
in India to return to the "motherland."
To refuse would endanger Namgyal's remaining family
in Lhasa. Ironically, going back to her homeland
would endanger her own identity—the Chinese
regime ruthlessly suppress the study of Tibetan
language, culture, and religion.
In the hope of finding her foster daughter, Jane
embarks on a journey to Tibet, again traveling
with her spiritual friend, Losang Samten, who
returns at great personal risk after thirty-eight
years in exile. He hopes to find his older brothers
who were unable to escape when the Chinese army
swept across the high Tibetan plateau in 1959.
Their search takes them from the temples of Lhasa
to towns brutalized by Chinese occupation, to
destroyed monasteries, and remote nomadic outposts.
In PRECIOUS JEWELS OF TIBET, the author interweaves
her own story with the experiences of the Tibetans
she come to know and with Buddhist teachings that
have helped to illuminate her contemporary personal
odyssey. Her candid observations as well as her
informative descriptions of current conditions
in Tibet make this book a poignant and emotionally
gripping story.
Excerpt
from PRECIOUS JEWELS OF TIBET:
I had mentally prepared myself for several
possible scenarios to the conclusion of this
story. Her father might not know about my relationship
with Namgyal. Even if he did, he might not want
me to see her again, especially in Lhasa, out
of concern for her safety and the protection
of his family. And, the most painful conclusion
to contemplate, Namgyal might not want to see
me. The reasons wouldn’t matter. I would
respect whatever eventuality occurred.
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