A documentary titled Tibet – History of Tragedy outlines the history of Tibet during the 20th Century. This film will give you an overview of the social and political conflict behind the story told in Windhorse Warrior.
The documentary comes in four parts on YouTube:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Posted by Rishi on October 26, 2018
https://friederishi.wordpress.com/2018/10/26/tibet-history-of-tragedy/
Copies of Windhorse Warrior are available via AbeBooks.com and Amazon.
Please note that these may be shipped from India. Few outlets will have copies in the US and Europe until next spring. Niyogi Books India, the publisher, ships to US outlets each April. The next shipping is April 2019.
Right now the best deal is through AbeBooks and a direct connection with the publisher. They offer copies for US$14.45 plus $6.04 shipping for a total of $20.49. But delivery time at this price will be very slow – but for $18.12 shipping it can be delivered in 5-8 business days!
Locally, in Port Townsend and the greater Seattle area, you can order directly from me. I am selling signed copies for $25.00. Mailing it to you, book post, will be about $4.40. You may email me at rfriedericks@mac.com
In the near future I will be having public readings with signed copies available for purchase. I will make the venues and dates known as they develop. I anticipate an interview for Booklover’s Cafe, on the Port Townsend community radio station KPTZ.org soon.
Bookmarks, like the one shown on the left, will be included with each copy purchased from me. There are five designs.
Posted by Rishi on October 25, 2018
https://friederishi.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/where-to-buy-windhorse-warrior/
A Shambhala warrior, like a windhorse warrior, is a metaphor for the Buddhist ideal of the bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is any person who has aroused the compassionate wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. She or he strives to fearlessly alleviate the suffering of others by acting out of compassion while filled with insight into the radical inter-existence of all phenomenon. This kind of warrior engages in a battle that is not between the good guys and the bad guys – because ‘the line between good and evil runs through the landscape of every heart’ – but is dedicated to dismantling the weapons of separation and destruction that are mind-made.
Below is a short talk by Joanna Macy describing what her teacher, Dugu Choegyal Rinpoche, told her about the Kingdom of Shambhala and Shambhala warriors.
Janna Macy (born May 2, 1929), is an environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is the author of eight books. (Wikipedia)
Posted by Rishi on October 24, 2018
https://friederishi.wordpress.com/2018/10/24/shambhala-warriors/
My novel has been published by Niyogi Books India!
Windhorse Warrior offers an inside look at the struggles and aspirations of the Tibetan people during the 1950s. It is a tale that weaves together the politics of occupation and resistance, an other-worldly romance between a Chinese communist and an educated Tibetan woman, and the soaring vision of the Tibetan spiritual heart.
Chuang Wei Ming, a young zealot from Shanghai, arrives in Lithang—on the eastern Tibetan plateau—with a mission to prepare the people for Maoism but soon outgrows its limiting worldview. Chuang falls in love with the beautiful and intelligent Dechen, who introduces him to the richness of Tibetan Buddhism. Palden Rinpoche, Dechen’s spiritual teacher, includes Chuang in their plan for a general spiritual awakening based on the Legend of King Gesar of Ling. Together, they pursue a pure communism infused with Buddhist teachings to create an ‘enlightened society’.
This is a story that extends beyond the decade in which it is set. Its message is true today in the global context of oppression and disparity, fake news, and injustice. Those who believe in a just and beautiful world will find themselves longing for an ‘enlightened society’ filled with spiritually awakened women and men, free to pursue their true potential and eager to enrich the lives of others.
I have 100 books for sale locally now. Books will not be readily available in the US until next spring. By then you should be able to buy one from Amazon or order through your local bookstore at $25.00 for hardcover. It will eventually be available in paperback and as an ebook (Kindle). A photo of the cover is below. Go to the Book page for details on purchasing a copy.
Read it and write a review on Goodreads.com.
Or ask questions and make comments below.
Posted by Rishi on October 23, 2018
https://friederishi.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/windhorse-warrior-2/
Here is song from a young Tibetan lamenting what is happening to the once freely roaming nomads of the high Tibetan Plateau. More and more Tibetans are forced to live in crowded cities where they feel cut off from their way of life and their spiritual roots. Lobsang Nyima sings in the traditional Tibetan style.
The lyrics were written by Menlha Kyab and an English translation is below:
The sky was bluer than turquoise
From the mountain peaks I came
The buildings are taller than steep mountains
In this city where I am left
The buildings are taller than steep mountains
In this city where I am left
The true path is covered in dust
People’s minds are driven by the rush
Although the city is bustle and noise
There is no one to be trusted
Although the city is bustle and noise
There is no one to be trusted
Accompanying the white-tailed vulture
This mind has slipped out of its den
The vast expanse of my love
Is lost in this city
Accompanying the white-tailed vulture
This mind has slipped out of its den
The vast expanse of my love
Is lost in this city
The true path is covered in dust
People’s minds are driven by the rush
Although the city is bustle and noise
There is no one to be trusted
The city of electricity
The path is a painting of a rainbow
Yet there is no bridge for the mind
In this great ocean of samsara
Yet there is no bridge for the mind
In this great ocean of samsara
Accompanying the white-tailed vulture
This mind has slipped out of its den
The cloud that is whiter than yogurt
Is lost in this city
Accompanying the white-tailed vulture
This mind has slipped out of its den
The cloud that is whiter than yogurt
Is lost in this city
Accompanying the white-tailed vulture
This mind has slipped out of its den
The cloud that is whiter than yogurt
Is lost in this city
The cloud that is whiter than yogurt
Is lost in this city
Translation by High Peaks Pure Earth
Posted by Rishi on August 22, 2018
https://friederishi.wordpress.com/2018/08/22/tibetan-nomads-in-the-city/
The synopsis for a manuscript I have completed is below:
Windhorse Warrior
by Richard Friedericks
One sweltering summer morning in Shanghai, China in 1947, a young student named Chuang Wei Ming discovers his girlfriend taking part in a communist protest march against the Nationalists. He watches horrified as she is murdered by a squad of Nationalist soldiers. Her martyrdom nudges him to find out about her passion for communism.
Three years later Chuang volunteers to take communism to Tibet. Coincidentally assigned to Lithang on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, he finds the Tibetan relatives of his Shanghai girlfriend. He persuades the family to turn over their ancestral land to the farmers working on their land. Together they form a successful cooperative that captures the imagination of several surrounding communities. The Chinese Communist Party is not appreciative of Chuang’s methods which honors the will of the local people and upholds their traditional culture and religion. Management of the cooperative is, instead, given to Tenzin, a young Tibetan eager to do the will of the Party.
Chuang turns his attention to another community and meets a lama with a dream of reviving the ‘enlightened society’ of the legendary King Gesar. Chuang jumps at the chance to use the lama’s clout with the people to further his own mission. But Chuang’s ideals are challenged by the lama’s apprentice Dechen, the twin sister of his Shanghai girlfriend. As their relationship develops, Dechen’s ideas, rooted in Tibetan Buddhism, enrich Chuang’s understanding of a truly enlightened society and help him to recognize the spiritual purpose of life.
Tenzin, who wants to marry Dechen, is jealous of Chuang and has him arrested for kidnapping Dechen. Chuang’s rescue leads to injuries that nearly kill him. During his convalescence he enters the world of King Gesar through a shamanic trance. When he recovers, Chuang is able to recite the story of Gesar which marks him as a fully integrated member of Tibetan culture. Chuang, Dechen and the lama now implement a plan to promote an enlightened society through spiritual renewal, social reforms and non-violent resistance to the Party’s dictatorial control of the people.
Deng, the local Commander of the People’s Liberation Army and Communist Party representative, issues an ultimatum: the people must voluntarily choose the ‘Red Road’ of Communism or the ‘Black Road’ will result. Chuang suggests another road; the Golden Way of an enlightened society. In keeping with the legend of King Gesar, a horse race is proposed to which Commander Deng agrees. The winner will choose which road the people will follow and marry Dechen. Deng believes he can rig the race in Tenzin’s favor and impose the Red Road. But Chuang enters the race in disguise and wins. His mission and dreams fulfilled, Chuang takes Dechen’s hand and together they invite the people to unite and walk the Golden Way to an enlightened society that honors spiritual as well as material abundance.
Tenzin, recovering from defeat and pressured to please Commander Deng, takes aim at Chuang with a pistol. Dechen is shot instead and dies in Chuang’s arms just as her sister died in Shanghai.
___________________
I am currently seeking a publisher. The manuscript is 120,000 words with maps, character list and translations of Tibetan words.
Posted by Rishi on September 13, 2017
https://friederishi.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/windhorse-warrior/
Threshold 