BBC - Sue Johnston's Shangri La

BBC - Sue Johnston's Shangri La

Sue Johnston goes in search of her life long dream - to find the lost world of Shangri La.

We follow Sue as she sets out to find her childhood dream - Shangri La. Sue first came across the story of Shangri La as a 16 year old in 1959 when she watched the old black and white movie, Lost Horizon, with her mother on their first black and white TV. The film was based on a book written by James Hilton in 1933. She read the book voraciously and has been re-reading it over the years since. As a child she was always fascinated by the orient and the mysteries of the far east. But in those post war austerity days in Merseyside the chances of ever following her dream seemed unattainable goal. Then life took over. She got married, had a child, started a very successful acting career, got divorced and the dream slipped further and further away - into the dark forgotten corners of her mind.

Recently as her life started to change. Her son left home and settled into his own life and her parents died.. Her sense of mortality hit home so she decided that it was time to try and follow that childhood dream. She decided to go in search of Shangri La - to find the inspiration for Hilton's book, the story of Lost Horizon.

We follow Sue on her quest through SW China's Yunnan Province and into Tibet, traveling over high mountain passes, into deep hidden valleys and gorges, through bustling towns and ultimately on horse back to her final destination, the scared mountain of Kawarkapo and the beautiful tiny isolated village of Yipung on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau - fulfilling a childhood dream to find the mysterious world of Shangri La.

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"The Story of India."

Starting tonight the American Public Broadcast Service channel will begin airing a six part series on the 10,000 year old history of India titled, "The Story of India." The series originally aired on the BBC in 2007. The first episode covers the ancient origins of the Indian civilization while the second one is about the revolutionary years after 500 B.C., which includes the "Age of the Buddha."

I have long been fascinated with India and not just because of the Buddhist connection. I have always seen India as one of the cradles of civilization. So my interest is also motivated from having a university degree in history and a minor degree in world geography. It is a country that seems so rich in culture and that appeals to me coming from a country (America), which is quite culturally barren.

Visiting India is the number 1 thing that I want to do before I die--mostly the Buddhist holy sites as I will most likely have limited time and money. That said if I had the means I would love to visit as much of the country as possible. Speaking of visiting India, I'd love to meet some of my Indian readers some day should I make it to your wonderful country. Maybe you could show me around Bodh Gaya and others places.

I'll be watching the whole, "The Story of India" series and probably do some posts regarding them--especially the "Age of Buddha" segments. Anyway, I wanted to do a little post about the series in case anyone else would be interested in catching the series.

~Peace to all beings~

Tibet: The Story of a Feud

Tibet: The Story of a Feud
Rob Gifford explores the history of Tibet. According to the Chinese, the land has been part of China since the 13th Century. Tibetans, however, claim that the country was independent until the Chinese occupation of the 1950s.

Unfortunately, neither side appears to be entirely correct. What are the chances of a peaceful resolution to this long-running political feud?

TPB