The Guru and the Dictator : Religion and Politics in the Darjeeling Hills

In this riveting true story, Thomas K. Shor, an American writer with an ear for unusual stories, wanders into a Sikkimese mountain village and into the life of an enigmatic spiritual master known as Gurudev. It turns out Gurudev has close ties with the local dictator and his henchmen, and Shor finds himself being hosted at their houses as he accompanies the master. Gurudev's 'engaged Buddhism' not only stretches common notions of morality, but also spins Shor's moral compass. How is he to reconcile the religion of love with the violence of politics? Ultimately, the author flees Darjeeling under physical threat and abandons the writing of this book-until now. While the warnings are many against mixing religion and politics, they combine in this entertaining tale set in the politically tumultuous foothills of India's eastern Himalayas to reveal profound insights into the nature of both the human and the divine.