Gordon Snider

Sigourney's Quest Gordon Snider

Tibet is an enigmatic place filled with the promise of quixotic adventures that can stir the heart and inspire the soul. Sigourney Phillips is about to begin such an adventure. You are invited to join her on a harrowing journey, a quest that will take her deep into Tibet, where she must return a 7th century Buddhist manuscript to the Samye Monastery from which it was taken one hundred years ago. Sigourney's journey is filled with physical, emotional and spiritual trials as she evades Chinese officials and spies who are trying to prevent the manuscript from being returned, faces the political intrigues of Tibetan monks, and undertakes extraordinary hardships in order to return the manuscript and fulfill her quest. She follows in the footsteps of Anne Hopkins, an Englishwoman who secretly entered Tibet and reached Lhasa in 1899 by posing as a pilgrim. It was Anne who took the 7th century manuscript out of Tibet, and her diary provides insight and inspiration to Sigourney during her quest. The two women's spirits become joined across the span of a hundred years as Sigourney's ordeals intertwine with those described by Anne. Sigourney's Quest is more than an adventure. It is a story about lost hope and personal rebirth. Sigourney has watched her own life unravel, and returning the ancient manuscript becomes her quest to find the self-confidence and inner peace needed to build a new one. She must strive to achieve her own Nirvana, just as the Tibetan Buddhists have done for centuries. Her future and the future of Tibetan Buddhism will depend on her success.