Isolated within the towering sanctuary of the Himalayas, Tibet developed a culture unique in the history of world civilization. Steeped in the mystical ideals of Buddhism, the Tibetans centered their lives on selfless altruism and the perception of the world as an endlessly repeating cycle of life, death and rebirth. Now, journey to the roof of the world as this real-life Shangri-la collides head-on with the ruthless realities of the modern age. And encounter a civilization that today is not yet lost, but balanced on the verge of collapse, facing what may literally be "The End of Time." Traversing the highest mountain passes on Earth, enter a kingdom so remote it was virtually unknown to outsiders until recent times. Experience an enigmatic way of life that challenges the very concept of western civilization. Discover how, as the world's last surviving theocracy, Tibetans voluntarily abandoned their warlike past to worship their ruler, the Dalai Lama, as the living manifestation of god on Earth. And witness the outside world's impact on a people totally devoted to the quest for peaceful coexistence, inner knowledge and the ultimate spiritual bliss of nirvana. Above all, see how the great arc of civilization's rise and fall is more than an artifact of history's distant past, but a living process that continues today in this ethereal, otherworldly mountain domain.
View Tibet - The end of time. Video hosted on Youtube. The world's image of Tibet a land of breathtaking beauty, intriguing spirituality and intractable political travails-is really based on two Tibets. One is a vast landmass under the control, and a very tight one, of the People's Republic of China. The other is a widely scattered diaspora of Tibetans who rejected Chinese rule with their feet. The center of that displaced tribe is the Indian mountain town of Dharamsala, where a virtual Tibet has arisen. Maroon-robed monks with shaven heads climb steep lanes for audiences with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled God-King, who has lived there since his escape from China in 1959. Prayer flags fly high atop houses and monasteries: Tibetan tradition says blessings float down from the flags on the mountain breezes.Few blessings have been showered on the people of either Tibet for the past 50 years. Within China, Tibetans are jailed for nationalist utterings, forbidden to display photos of the Dalai Lama and faced with the very extinction of their culture. The exiles don't have it easy either: they have waited for four decades for the miracle that would send them home with some guaranteed freedoms. Hope is running outâand time, too. The Dalai Lama is generally viewed as the only person capable of striking a decent deal for his people with China. Last week he turned 65. Should he die, many Tibetans feel their cause will perish with him.
But late last year, an intriguing bridge between the two Tibets was spanned. A 14-year-old monk climbed out of his bedroom window in Tsurphu Monastery, 80 km north of Lhasa, and, by foot and by car, made his way surreptitiously to Nepal and then to Dharamsala. His name is Ugyen Trinley Dorge, but his title is Karmapa, the highest lama in the Kagyupa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Like the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa is an incarnate: he is the 17th incarnation of a wise soul. Now 15, he is barely out of childhood, although strikingly tall and authoritative in voice. China seems stumped: it officially recognized his authority in the past and has yet to denounce him for his escape. Within Tibet, it remains legal to display the Karmapa's pictures. Since January, they have sold like hotcakes. Spiritually the Karmapa is not the Dalai Lama's successor. (His is a different sect entirely.) But for Tibetans despondent over the impasse, the boy represents new hope that the struggle can continue, and possibly be resolved. Though the Karmapa was once considered a helpless captive of China, his daring escape made him a hero overnight. For now, at least, the Dalai Lama insists he's not a successor. "Not in that way," he told Time. But he concedes that the Karmapa will be an important leader. "I have told himâand I have said this publiclyâthat my generation is growing old, and the time has come to prepare the next generation of spiritual leaders."
Never before could you get this close to 7,000 years of history. Digital effects technology and dramatizations re-create rituals and events, from the bloodletting of Maya kings and a pharaoh's last journey to the secret pleasures of a Roman empress. Original location cinematography in 25 countries takes you from Cuzco in Peru to Petra in Jordan, from ancient Mesopotamia to modern Tibet. Computer graphics restore Egypt's pyramids and the Great Wall of China. Part 1: Mesopotamia: return to Eden. Part 2: Ancient Egypt: quest for immortality. Part 3: Aegean: legacy of Atlantis. Part 4: Greece: a moment of excellence. Part 5: China: dynasties of power. Part 6: Rome: the ultimate empire. Part 7: The Maya: the blood of kings. Part 8: The Inca: secrets of the ancestors. Part 9: Africa: a history denied. Part 10: Tibet: the end of time.
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