THE MAGICAL ADVENTURES OF THE SIXTH DALAI LAMA

Bien and Thurman’s historical novel offers a sprawling, mystical retelling of the Sixth Dalai Lama’s brief life, loves, and political entanglements.

This nearly thousand-page book follows the life of Tsangyang Gyatso, the Sixth Dalai Lama, from his reincarnation to his arrest and disappearance in the early 18th century. Beginning with an extended account of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s death and rebirth, the novel establishes itself as a sang wa’i namtar, or secret liberation story, in which spiritual lives are as important as outward actions. Born in the Himalayan town of Tawang, Tibet (today in India), and identified through dreams, omens, and ritual tests, Tsangyang is eventually taken to Lhasa and installed in the Potala Palace. (“Golden roofs glistened. White-sloped walls merged with mountains tapering to sky. Home!”) That Tibetan seat of power is still under construction and surrounded by political instability. The tale introduces readers to a large cast of regents, abbots, Mongol leaders, and Manchu emperors whose shifting alliances place Tibet (referred to as Böd) at the center of regional conflict. As Tsangyang matures, the story traces his uneasy relationship with monastic discipline, rejection of full clerical vows, and movement into secular life. His lyric love poems (and sex scenes) appear throughout the text, offering moments of emotional focus and release amid doctrinal and political discussions. Much of the action unfolds in monasteries, taverns, and pilgrimage sites as the Dalai Lama navigates pressures from Mongol patrons and Qing authorities. The final sections describe his removal from Lhasa under armed escort and present multiple, unresolved versions of his fate. As a historical novel, Bien and Thurman’s book is heavily researched and reverential. But extended meditative passages and explanatory digressions slow the plot, and certain anachronistic references to atoms and electricity poke holes in an otherwise skillfully woven historical tapestry. While readers familiar with Tibetan Buddhist history and biography may especially value the careful reconstruction of religious worldviews and poetic traditions, generalists may find the book’s density intimidating. Still, the novel’s ambition and scholarship are the foundations of its rich worldbuilding.

Best suited for devoted specialists, this earnest spiritual epic both overwhelms and illuminates.