Spiritual Landscapes and Modernization in 21st Century Nepal

This thesis is an adventure through the spiritual places of Nepal. Through the retelling of my personal experiences during my stay in Nepal, and academic understanding of spirituality, I try to piece together an idea of spiritual space in the country I was visiting. Interviews with monks, and elderly mothers gave me a colorful image of how the spiritual world outside my own culture worked and functioned. During this time I asked locals questions about the role of religion, spiritual landscapes, and spaces in the homes of Nepali people. I got many answers that created circles, around sacred spaces, around the idea of belief feeding spirituality, and about how landscapes play an important role in creating these circles. This thesis talks about the very landscapes that I came face to face with, that put me and many others who have traveled this path before into shock. This thesis, is a thesis, and I hope that anyone who ever reads it in the future can get the same understanding and deep connections to Nepali spiritual beliefs as I have