Bibliograph

A death on Diamond Mountain, a true story of obsession, madness, and the path to enlightenment, Scott Carney

Type

Label

A death on Diamond Mountain, a true story of obsession, madness, and the path to enlightenment, Scott Carney

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographic references

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

A death on Diamond Mountain

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

881888184

Responsibility statement

Scott Carney

Sub title

a true story of obsession, madness, and the path to enlightenment

Summary

"An investigative reporter explores an infamous case where an obsessive and unorthodox search for enlightenment went terribly wrong. When thirty-eight-year-old Ian Thorson died from dehydration and dysentery on a remote Arizona mountaintop in 2012, The New York Times reported the story under the headline: "Mysterious Buddhist Retreat in the Desert Ends in a Grisly Death." Scott Carney, a journalist and anthropologist who lived in India for six years, was struck by how Thorson's death echoed other incidents that reflected the little-talked-about connection between intensive meditation and mental instability. Using these tragedies as a springboard, Carney explores how those who go to extremes to achieve divine revelations-and undertake it in illusory ways-can tangle with madness. He also delves into the unorthodox interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism that attracted Thorson and the bizarre teachings of its chief evangelists: Thorson's wife, Lama Christie McNally, and her previous husband, Geshe Michael Roach, the supreme spiritual leader of Diamond Mountain University, where Thorson died."--, Provided by publisher

resource.variantTitle

True story of obsession, madness, and the path to enlightenment

Classification

Creator