Mission to Tibet recounts the fascinating eighteenth-century journey of the Jesuit priest ippolito Desideri (1684 - 1733) to the Tibetan plateau. The italian missionary was most notably the first european to learn about Buddhism directly with Tibetan schol ars and monks - and from a profound study of its primary texts. while there, Desideri was an eyewitness to some of the most tumultuous events in Tibet's history, of which he left us a vivid and dramatic account.
Desideri explores key Buddhist concepts including emptiness and rebirth, together with their philosophical and ethical implications, with startling detail and sophistication. This book also includes an introduction situating the work in the context of Desideri's life and the intellectual and religious milieu of eighteenth-century Catholicism.
"Michael J. Sweet and Leonard Zwilling should be commended for their splendid presentation of the text, their edition and translation, their abundant notes, and their outstanding introduction to Desideri and his book."
"Written in a fluent, readable style. For English speakers, Mission to Tibet will be the benchmark."
"The combination of Sweet's assured translation and Zwilling's attentive editing make a solid contribution to Tibetan studies, Jesuit missionizing, and early European travel reports from Asia, and provide crucial evidence for the importance of this pioneering scholar-priest."
"Of all the Roman Catholic missionaries to Asia, the Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri (1684-1733) was perhaps the most remarkable. Despite his fervent hope of converting Tibet to the Christian faith, he was in important ways the first Western scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, translating Buddhist texts into Italian and writing scholarly tomes in Tibetan, complete with quotations from Nagarjuna. Mission to Tibet offers the first complete English translation of Desideri's captivating account of his sojourn in Tibet."
