tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post5569156237765659344..comments2024-03-29T03:56:08.315-04:00Comments on johnshaplin: The Bloody White Baron by James Palmerjohnshaplinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6130830332820181818.post-65493755254002179362009-07-28T17:00:03.300-04:002009-07-28T17:00:03.300-04:00The Bloody White Baron; The Extraordinary Story of...The Bloody White Baron; The Extraordinary Story of A Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia" by James Palmer, Basic Books, 2009.<br /><br />There are some interesting discussions about Buddhism in this book, specifically the distinctions between Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhism, the later two being more heavily influenced by more primitive forms of shamanistic beliefs. The author also discusses the influence of Theosophism in many parts of Europe during the 19th an early 20th centuries.<br /><br />"Theosophy was a kind of stripped-down and generalized version of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. Its most critical beliefs were re-incarnation, the fundamental unity of world religions, the existence of karma and the cyclical nature of the universe. Today Theosophy survives largely through the diligent work and wills of sweet little old ladies, but its wider influence is obvious to anybody familiar with alternative religious beliefs, particularly during the so-called "New Age" of the 1980s. <br /><br />Crankish though its beliefs were, Blavatasky's society drew to it many talented and likeable individuals, and was a major influence on many artists and poets. It was especially popular in Russia, where it had tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of followers, mostly from the upper classes. Among the Russian and German aristocracy, belief in clairvoyance, poltergeists, telapathy, spritualism, astrology and the like were as common as belief in homeopathy among the English middle classes today."<br /><br /><br />"Today, an interest in both Eastern religion and the occult tends to be associated with a broad range of 'alternative' thought, and in general with radical, or at least mildly left-wing, politics. This was certainly not the case in Ungern's time. Although plenty of radicals and socialists could be found in occult circles, at least as many occultists were reactionaries or fervent nationalists. One reason was the innate elitism of occultism. <br /><br /> George Orwell, considering the advertisements for astrologers in a French fascist magazine, brilliantly noted how 'the very concept of occultism carries with it the idea that knowledge must be a secret thing, limitd to a small circle of initiates...Those who dread the prospect of universal sufferage, popular education, freedom of thought, emancipation of women, will start off with a predilection towards secret cults." ["Y.B. Yeats", Horizon,, London, 1943] The high intensity of Russian patriotism and Orthodox mysticism, especially in the near-deification of the tsar, easily bleed over into the stranger fringes of belief."<br /><br />James Palmer has traveled extensively in East and Central Asia, and in 20003 he won the 'Spectator's" Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize for travel writing. He has worked with Taoist and Buddhist groups in China and Mongolia on environmental issues. He lives in Beijing.johnshaplinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17618981988062495637noreply@blogger.com