Mysticism

David-Neel is a practical person who regularly dismisses what she believes are merely superstitious beliefs among native Tibetans. Despite her dismissals, however, she occasionally presents episodes in her journey with the implication that they have mystical origins.

As David-Neel and Yongden are first crossing into Tibetan territory, they come across a grand monastery with golden roofs. Wanting to avoid attention, they choose a place to camp some distance from the monastery. The following day, however, the palatial building is gone. Later, David Neel sees the Potala, the grand palace of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa and realizes the vision she shared with Yongden was of Lhasa itself.

Elsewhere, she again suggests her journey takes place under a kind of divine protection. She describes the Tibetan superstition of never picking up a hat that falls on the path while on a journey. When she herself finds a fur bonnet...