Mission to Tibet recounts the fascinating eighteenth-century journey of the Jesuit priest Ippolito Desideri (1684?1733) to the Tibetan plateau. The Italian missionary was most notably the first European to learn about Buddhism directly with Tibetan scholars and monks?and from a profound study of its primary texts. While there, Desideri was an eyewitness to some of the most tumultuous events in Tibet's history, of which he left us a vivid and dramatic account.
Desideri explores key Buddhist concepts including emptiness and rebirth, together with their philosophical and ethical implications, with startling detail and sophistication. This book also includes an introduction situating the work in the context of Desideri's life and the intellectual and religious milieu of eighteenth century Catholicism.