The Buddha's secret gardens: End times and hidden-lands in Tibetan imagination

In recent years, there have been a growing interest in the subject of Tibetan sacred geography, yet the relationship between sacred places and political crisis in Tibet imagination remains little understood. In popular imagination, Tibet still conjures up fantasies of a peaceful land sitting outside of time whose subjects were primarily engaged in spiritual pursuits and went on pilgrimage to distant shrines and mountains. In reality, Tibet was a more complex feudal society characterized by civil wars, religious persecutions and foreign invasions. In such times, a secret society of Tibetan yogins began to fantasize about hidden utopias situated in the mountains surrounding their country. This study focuses on a collection of medieval guidebooks to these sacred places and examines their impact on Tibetan imagination up to modern times. While this study is primarily historical, it emphasizes the psychological aspect of the primary literature, and attempts to shed light onto a small group of Tibetan yogins, for whom the Himalayan wilderness became a source of hope and utopian fantasy.