Alexandra David-Neel, Magic & Mystery in 31 Tibet, 23

Winter 2014

Alexandra David-Néel: The Life and Work of an Early Romancer of Tibet Iván Kovács

I belong to a new breed. We are few in number but we will accomplish our mission. I am doing what I must.1 Alexandra David-Néel I have seen the world, and more than the world: I have studied the heart of man, And now I consort with Immortals. The fruit of my tree of knowledge is plucked, And it is this, ‘ADVENTURES ARE TO THE ADVENTUROUS.’2 Benjamin Disraeli: Ixion in Heaven, II. ii.

Abstract write a few words about earlier attempts by Europeans to enter and explore Tibet. his Article deals with the explorer and Ti- T betologist, Alexandra David-Néel. The The first documented claim by a European to introduction gives a brief overview of earlier have visited Tibet came from a Franciscan called Odoric of Pordenone, who supposedly attempts by Europeans to enter and explore 3 Tibet and includes a section on the Hungarian traveled through Tibet in about 1325. It would Orientalist, Sándor Csoma de Kőrös, who is take another three hundred years for two considered to be the founder of Tibetology. Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, António de Next Alexandra David-Néel is treated, first Andrade and Manuel Marques, to arrive in from a biographical point of view, then in her ______capacity as a writer. Two of her books are dis- About the Author cussed in some detail, firstly, Magic & Mystery in Tibet, then The Secret Oral Teachings in Iván Kovács is qualified as a fine artist. As a writer, he has published art criticism, short stories and po- Tibetan Buddhist Sects. ems, and more recently, articles of an esoteric nature. He is a reader of the classics and modern clas- Introduction sics, a lover of world cinema, as well as classical efore proceeding with the main subject of and contemporary music. His lifelong interest in B this article, namely the life and work of Esotericism was rounded off with several years of Alexandra David-Néel, it is appropriate to intensive study with the Arcane School.

Tibet. The result of their efforts was the estab- hough his travels in Tibet took him no further lishment of two missions, one in Tsaparang in than Zanskar in the west, he had the privilege 1625, the other in Shigatse in 1628. Due, how- of studying under a lama for an initial sixteen- ever, to the fact that the two missions became month period. This made him the first Europe- embroiled in the rivalry between the Red Hat an to master the Tibetan language. Once his or Niyingma Sect and the Yellow Hat or Ge- dictionary and grammar were complete, Cso- lugpa Sect (two different branches of Tibetan ma went to Calcutta in India to oversee its pub- Buddhism); both missions were evacuated in lication. To do justice to his character and 1635.4 achievements it needs to be mentioned that Csoma not only gained the respect of the Ti- Twenty-five years later, in 1661, two Jesuits, betans, but also that of the British, who unani- Johannes Grueber and Albert Dorville set out mously elected him as an honorary member of from Peking, and traveled through Tibet by the Asiatic Society in 1833. Furthermore, on way of Lhasa to Agra, India. The success of February 22, 1933, Csoma was declared as a this achievement was largely due to the fact Bodhisattva (canonized as a Buddhist saint) by that they were traveling on an Imperial Pass- the Japanese.7 port.5 In the 19th century, Tibet was caught up in the In the 18th century, there were several Jesuits power struggle between the British and the and Capuchins from Europe that entered Tibet, Russian Empires. On the one hand, the British and the most important of these was Ippolito were encroaching from northern India into the Desideri, an Italian Jesuit. He left Rome with Himalayas and Afghanistan, on the other, tsar- the sanction of Pope Clement XI and arrived in ist Russia was expanding south into Central Lhasa in 1716. Desideri undertook various Asia. Both powers became suspicious of the journeys between 1716 and 1721 that encom- other’s intent in Tibet, a country which neither passed a circuit of the Tibetan borders with knew anything about. Tibet, which was equally Nepal, and what is now known as modern-day ignorant about Britain and Russia, however, Kashmir and Pakistan. During the next twenty- had a longstanding relationship with China. five years, the Capuchins became the sole mis- China claimed Tibet as a protectorate, and Ti- sionaries in Tibet, but they met increased op- bet in its turn was easily persuaded by this position from the Tibetan lamas, and were fi- neighbor to believe that foreigners who entered nally expelled from Tibet in 1745.6 Tibet threatened its gold fields as well as its Another enterprising traveler to Tibet was established religious faith of Buddhism. Con- Sándor Csoma de Kőrös (27 March 1784 – 11 sequently, by 1850, all foreigners were banned April 1842), a Hungarian philologist and Ori- from the country, and borders were shut to all entalist. He was born in Kőrös, Transylvania, except nationals of neighboring countries.8 Kingdom of Hungary, into the Hungarian eth- In 1904, the Anglo-Russian conflict over Tibet nic group of Széklers, who traced their origins came to a head when a military expedition led to Attila’s Huns who had settled in Transylva- by Colonel Francis Younghusband forcefully nia in the 5th century. It is this claim of the entered Tibet and advanced to Lhasa, killing Széklers that motivated Csoma to investigate hundreds of Tibetan soldiers in the process. and attempt to trace the place of origin of his The British imposed a treaty on the Tibetans ancestors. In 1820, he set off to Asia, where he which stipulated that Tibet remain closed to all achieved his life’s task by studying the Tibetan foreigners except themselves. They left a polit- language and Buddhist philosophy. Being the ical representative, Sir Charles Bell, behind author of three important books about the Ti- who developed an interest in Tibetology and betan language entitled Essays Towards a Dic- also became an advisor and intimate friend of tionary, Tibetan and English; Grammar of the the Thirteenth Dalai Lama.9 Tibetan Language, and Sanskrit-Tibetan- English Vocabulary: Being an Edition and Despite the above prohibitions, Tibet kept on Translation of the Mahavyutpatti, Csoma is attracting other explorers and adventurers, both considered the founder of Tibetology. Alt- male and female. One of the most daring and

18 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2014. Winter 2014 enterprising women to illegally enter Tibet, This was partly due to an English journal pro- and then to achieve the exclusive feat of be- duced by the Society of the Supreme Gnosis, coming the first European woman ever to enter which was situated in London, and the person Lhasa, was Alexandra David-Néel.10 It is to responsible for forwarding her this type of her that this article pays tribute. reading matter was the English occultist, Elis- abeth Morgan. The journal treated a variety of Alexandra David-Néel: Her Life cryptic subjects, such as zymology (the chem- A Turbulent Childhood and a Horizon istry of fermentation and enzymes), and an- of Dreams cient languages, including fragments of San- skrit, which both perplexed and fascinated Da- ven before taking up the narrative of Al- 15 E exandra David-Néel, the somewhat unreal- vid-Néel. istic expectations of her parents before she was While the David’s were vacationing at the sea- born need to be mentioned. Louis David, who side city of Ostend in Belgium, David-Néel was to become her father, didn’t want children decided to seek answers to her questions in at all, while her mother, Alexandrine, longed person. She hiked into Holland and then to bear a son who would one day miraculously crossed the English Channel. Arriving in Lon- rise through the ranks of her beloved Catholic don, she sought out Elisabeth Morgan, but the Church and attain the office of at least a bish- older woman insisted that David-Néel return to op. Thus, the birth of a daughter in the Bel- her parents in Belgium. She was to repeat such gian-French David family in Saint-Mandé, daring and solitary undertakings. On her next France on 24 October 186811 did not bring adventure, she traveled by train to Switzerland about the happy result that the birth of a son and then hiked alone through the Alps via the would have done. Yet the fact had to be ac- St. Gotthard Pass into Italy and the North Ital- cepted and three days later she was baptized ian lake country. Soon running out of money, Louise Eugenie Alexandrine Marie David. Her she swallowed her pride and wired home for father was a publisher, and a friend of the nov- help, giving her mother no choice but to go elist Victor Hugo. The well-known Neo- and fetch her.16 classical artist Jacques-Louis David was a dis- 12 Soon after the above incident David-Néel ran tant relation of hers. off once more, this time to Spain on a bicycle. Already as a young child she was strong-willed After she had satisfied her unique craving, she and longed for a life of freedom and adventure. managed to return to Brussels without any in- A first indication of this was when she ran jury to herself. Around this time, in April away from home at the age of five. After a 1886, she entered the Royal Conservatory and lengthy search, she was found by a gendarme, took up music, more specifically, the cultiva- who marched her off to a police station, and tion of her soprano voice. In 1888, she re- whom she had scratched for his trouble.13 ceived a letter from Elisabeth Morgan who Unlike other young girls of her age, who at offered her a chance to take up the study of most might have been reading innocent ro- mysticism with the Society of the Supreme mances and suitable selections of poetry, Da- Gnosis. The society also offered cheap board- ing, and David-Néel jumped at the opportuni- vid-Néel preferred the excitement and high 17 adventure of Jules Verne’s science-fiction ty, setting off for London. novels. It was the heroes of these books whom At last, David-Néel found herself among peo- she admired and who became her role models, ple with similar interests. She improved her and it was her ambition that one day she would English and studied arcane subjects of her own not only imitate them, but actually outdo choosing. In a well-equipped library, she could them.14 pick and choose among subjects such as By the age of fifteen, her taste in books had metaphysics, philosophy, astrology, and al- taken a new turn and also included the occult. chemy. During David-Néel’s stay in London,

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Elisabeth Morgan introduced her to some ble,” David-Néel responded, “and I salute the prominent members of the burgeoning occult doctrine it represents.”20 society. This is how she came to meet Madame After this initial exchange, the two women Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, cofounder of the struck up a conversation which led to an in- Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. stant friendship. And so it happened that just as While frequenting the Theosophical Society in Elisabeth Morgan had introduced David-Néel London, David-Néel became friends with An- to the occult scene in London, her newfound nie Besant, who would later, after the death of friend now introduced her to the Parisian oc- Madame Blavatsky in 1891, become President cult scene. This was how David-Néel came to of the Theosophical Society. By that time, Da- know the Pythagorean Society, a cultural vid-Néel herself would become someone to be foundation where she met numerous leading reckoned with, gaining the status of an explor- occultists and Orientalists who were living in er of Tibet who would make known its mysti- Paris.21 cal and magical practices.18 To avoid a lopsided development in her stud- In 1889, David-Néel felt that her stay in Lon- ies, David-Néel also investigated the ideas of don had taught her enough, and decided that it Plato and the teachings of the Koran. Before was time to move on. She told her friend, An- she embraced Buddhism as her preferred phi- nie, that she intended to resume her studies of losophy, she also acquainted herself with a comparative religions in Paris, and Annie ar- variety of religious alternatives, including ranged for her to get accommodations at the Hinduism. During this last phase of her forma- Paris branch of the Theosophical Society. tive years, David-Néel was particularly fond of Thus, David-Néel returned to the continent and listening to the Comtesse de Bréant, who enrolled at the Collége de France, studying would vividly describe her travels in Asia. All Sanskrit, and attending classes in Oriental lan- the while, she was filled with longing to visit guages at the Sorbonne. While in London, she places like India, so that she could gain first- had often frequented the British Museum, now hand experience of the wonders of the East, in Paris, she became a regular visitor of the like a true explorer and adventurer.22 Musée Guimet, a museum that featured Far Eastern art and religious artifacts.19 A Dream Becomes Reality One evening a curious incident took place at In 1891, when she was twenty-three, David- the Musée Guimet when David-Néel was en- Néel had an unexpected, but most timely wind- grossed in translations of sacred texts in the fall. Her English friend, Elisabeth Morgan, library. In a niche overlooking her place of suddenly died. David-Néel had long ago hon- study there was a huge Japanese statue of the ored Morgan by unofficially referring to her as Buddha that she had grown very fond of. In- her godmother, although fairy-godmother duced by its presence, and believing herself to would have been even more appropriate, be- be alone, she joined her hands in supplication cause she had left David-Néel a small inher- and bowed to the image. The next moment a itance. This inheritance was the magic key that woman’s voice responded from the shadows: would open the door to her yet unrealized am- bitions. The amount proved to be enough to “May the blessings of the Buddha be with you, allow David-Néel to travel for more than a mademoiselle.” year through Ceylon and India.23 This friendly but amused voice was that of the On this first of her major trips to Asia, David- Comtesse de Bréant, a well-known student of Néel was reunited with Annie Besant, who was Oriental philosophy who also spent long hours now the President of the Theosophical Society, at the museum. with its headquarters in Adyar, near Madras, in “This very beautiful Japanese statue made me India. During her stay there she studied San- think of the great sage it is intended to resem- skrit with them, and then moved on to the holy

20 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2014. Winter 2014 city of Benares on the Ganges. Here she stud- Temple and secretly watched highly erotic ied yoga with the famous guru, Swami Tantric rites.26 Bhaskarananda of Varanasi, who lived in a By 1912, David-Néel had moved on to Calcut- rose garden. It was also in India where she first ta and Benares, and her Sanskrit studies had heard Tibetan music, which fascinated her. She advanced to such a stage that the College of was however, compelled to return to Brussels Sanskrit in Benares when her money ran awarded her an honor- out.24 David-Néel had moved on to ary doctorate of phi- Now followed a pe- Calcutta and Benares, and her losophy, a first for a riod when David- Sanskrit studies had advanced European woman. It Néel tried her hand at to such a stage that the College was in the same year a career. From 1894 that she arrived in the to 1900, she attempt- of Sanskrit in Benares awarded small Himalayan state ed to work as an ac- her an honorary doctorate of of Sikkim.27 There she tress and singer, but enriched her by 1900, her career philosophy, a first for a Europe- knowledge of Bud- was going nowhere, an woman. It was in the same dhism by visiting all and she was forced to year that she arrived in the the important monas- accept a job with the teries. She also met municipal opera in small Himalayan state of Sik- Prince Sidkeong of Tunis. It was here kim. There she enriched her Sikkim, and became that she met Philip knowledge of Buddhism by visit- the first European Néel, a thirty-nine- woman to meet the year-old bachelor ing all the important monaster- Dalai Lama, who was who had a successful ies. She also met Prince there in exile at the 28 career as a railway Sidkeong of Sikkim, and became time. David-Néel engineer. David-Néel formed a romantic became one of his the first European woman to relationship with mistresses, and four meet the Dalai Lama, who was Prince Sidkeong, who years later, on 4th introduced her to la- August 1904, they there in exile at the time. mas of both the Red were married, and went to live in a villa at La Hat and Yellow Hat branches of Tibetan Bud- Goulette next to the Mediterranean Sea. David- dhism. She took quickly to the Tibetan culture Néel’s restless nature was, however, not suited and its customs.29 to the life of a housewife, and she managed to David-Néel’s audience with the Thirteenth persuade her husband to allow her to travel Dalai Lama took place on 15 April, 1912, and again.25 he advised her to learn Tibetan.30 She also met 1911 was the year when David-Néel visited another important personage at this time, India for the second time, and it was also the namely the Gomchen (great hermit) of the momentous year that would initiate a 14-year monastery of Lachen, and became his disciple. journey. In this year, she also re-visited Cey- He was an impressive figure who wore a five- lon, and paid her respects at the Buddhist pil- sided crown, a rosary necklace made of 108 grimage site where the “Bo Tree” in Anura- pieces of human skull, an apron carved of hu- dhapura is believed to have been grown from man bone, and a magic dagger. During the the original fig tree under which the Buddha next two years, she learned the art of telepathy received his enlightenment in the 5th century from him, as well as “tumo breathing," a Ti- BCE. Other major stops of this journey includ- betan technique of generating body heat to en- ed Mandurai, Pondicherry and Madras. In able one to keep warm in freezing conditions.31 Mandurai, she visited the fabled Menakshi

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Another person that came into David-Néel’s of writing down her experiences both in arti- life at this time was a boy of fifteen named cles and books. Aphur Yongden, who was regarded as a minor tulku.32 In Tibetan Buddhism, “tulku” is an The Power of Persistence in a Centenar- honorary title given to a recognized reincarnate ian’s Life 33 lama. She and Aphur Yongden developed a In 1928, David-Néel bought a small villa on friendship that was to last a lifetime, and even- the outskirts of Digne in southern France and 34 tually David-Néel adopted him as her son. named it “Samten Dzong,” which means the In 1916 David-Néel entered Tibet illegally at “Fortress of Meditation.” There, she and Yongden were kept busy with their manu- the invitation of the Panchen Lama, who is the 39 highest-ranking lama after the Dalai Lama, and scripts. However, in less than a decade, Da- visited him at his monastery in Shigatse. The vid-Néel became restless, and in 1937, at the British would not tolerate this and expelled her age of 70, she and Yongden set off for China from Sikkim. She and Yongden then left to- via the Trans-Siberian railway, and arrived gether for Japan.35 From Japan, they travelled there to find that China and Japan were at war to Korea, and then undertook a very difficult with each other. Despite these difficulties, they journey across the entire width of China, and managed to penetrate Tibet again and eventu- also journeyed through the Gobi desert and ally ended up in Tachienlu, where David-Néel resumed her investigations of Tibetan sacred Mongolia. At one stage, before they reached 40 the monastery of Kumbum in Tibet, they were texts. 36 attacked by bandits. At Kumbum, David- The two of them returned to France in 1946. Néel spent two-and-a-half years, and translated By now, David-Néel was 78 years old. Nine rare manuscripts into French and English. She years later Yongden died at the age of 56. Da- also observed the magical and psychic exploits vid-Néel continued writing and studying until 37 of Tibetan adepts. her death in 1969, when she was almost 101 In February 1921, David-Néel and Yongden years old. As requested in her last will and tes- made preparations to penetrate deeper into Ti- tament, her ashes and those of Yongden were bet and preferably reach the holy city of Lhasa. mixed together and dispersed in the Ganges in 1973 at Varanasi, by her friend and secretary, This ambitious objective, however, took them 41 a full three years to accomplish. As the crow Marie-Madeleine Peyronnet. Of all the praise flies, this route was approximately 3,900 miles, and acknowledgement that she has received but due to unexpected difficulties, which in- from countless quarters, perhaps the most apt cluded avoiding interception by officials, much is that which came from the novelist and poet of the journey had to be re-routed. This caused Lawrence Durrell, who, after interviewing her detours that took them as far back as the Gobi in 1965, when David-Néel was 96 years old, stated that she was: “The most astonishing desert, from where they returned via Kanchow 42 and Lanchow, south through China, and west- French woman of our time.” wards into southern Tibet. In total the distance Alexandra David-Néel: they covered was around 8000 miles.38 Her Books David-Néel and Yongden finally arrived in Magic & Mystery in Tibet Lhasa in February 1924, but David-Néel was somewhat disappointed. Her beggar’s disguise lexandra David-Néel’s most popular and didn’t allow her to access the intellectual and A widely read book is undoubtedly Magic educational opportunities available; therefore, & Mystery in Tibet which, in its original by April, she and Yongden left Lhasa as unob- French version, was first published in 1929, trusively as they had arrived. By 1925, the two and was soon followed by the first English of them returned to Paris, where they enjoyed translation, which was published in England in huge popularity and success. She started lec- 1931. About this English publication, Aaron turing and also began the systematic procedure Sussman, editor, and author of the introduction

22 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2014. Winter 2014 to the Souvenir Press edition, writes the fol- is interested in adventure, anthropology, for- lowing: “It was treated politely, but after a eign religions or esoteric truths, her books yawning interval, it was packed off to limbo. I have the ability to satisfy on all these aspects say this because it did not sell well in England, equally. The reader who is set on style will and I have never seen any references to it, un- also be happy to know that David-Néel’s skills der its British title, (With Magicians and Mys- in this respect are equally versatile: she writes tics in Tibet), in other books or articles on Ti- with a directness which is easily accessible, yet bet." colorful and vividly descriptive, and at times surprisingly beautiful, poetic and lyrical, espe- In America, the book’s popularity was an en- cially when describing landscapes that form tirely different matter, and Sussman goes on to the backdrop of her narrative. To illustrate: say: “(It) . . . sold very well indeed, and it has been quoted, or referred to, repeatedly since its Shrouded in the moving fogs, a fantastic publication in 1932.”43 A well-earned, and army of trees, draped in livid green moss, from a publicity point of view, useful windfall seems to keep watch along the narrow came from Margaret Mead, the well-known tracks, warning or threatening the traveler American anthropologist. Margaret Mead rec- with enigmatic gestures. From the low val- ognized the book’s significance as it impacted leys buried under the exuberant jungle to her own field, and in 1953 reprinted three sec- the mountain summits covered with eternal tions from the book, namely “Running La- snow, the whole country is bathed in occult mas,” “Displacing the Soul” and “Bringing a influences. Corpse to Life,” in the anthropological anthol- In such scenery it is fitting that sorcery ogy entitled Primitive Heritage, which she co- should hold sway. The so-called Buddhist edited with Nicolas Calas.44 population is practically shamanist and a Before taking a closer look at the actual text of large number of mediums: Bönpos, Pawos, Magic & Mystery in Tibet, it is worthwhile Bunting and Yabas of both sexes, even in quoting the concluding paragraph of Suss- the smallest hamlets, transmit the messages man’s introduction regarding the extraordinary of gods, demons and the dead.46 and revolutionary nature of this truly magical In the very first chapter entitled Tibet and the book: Lamas, David-Néel treats a variety of topics. Keep in mind that this book was first pub- Prominent among these are the people from the lished in 1932, five years before J. B. Rhine local community who act as her servants or and the Duke University experiments in ex- interpreters, and also higher dignitaries with tra-sensory perception, 10 years before Ed- whom she interacts on a socially more elevated gar Cayce’s startling story was told in basis. Among the latter are learned lamas and There is a River, and 24 years before the princes such as His Highness, Sidkeong uproar began over The Search for Bridey Namgyal, hereditary prince of Sikkim;47 the Murphy. It seems to me that our modern doctor of philosophy from the famous Univer- world has a long way still to go before it sity of Trashilhumpo, Kushog Chösdzed;48 and catches up with Lama David-Neel and her the highest authority of them all, the Dalai friends, mystics and magicians of Tibet.45 Lama himself.49 These people are described in all their pomp, dignity, intellectual capacities, Just as to some classical music lovers, the and eccentricities, which not only make for composer Anton Bruckner’s symphonies can interesting portrayals but also touches of hu- evoke the majesty and purity of the Austrian mor and irony. Alps, likewise, the prose of David-Néel will always be associated with the mysterious, se- The second part of the first chapter deals with cretive and magical aspects of a bygone and, at death and the beyond, a topic about which Ti- the time, as yet only partially explored Tibet. betan religion seems to know a lot, and which Whether the prospective reader of David-Néel even among the ordinary people has generated

The Esoteric Quarterly a peculiar array of superstitions and myths. character, the Lamaists declare that he who This topic is also the subject matter of the fa- knows the proper “method” is capable of mous Tibetan Book of the Dead, which was modifying for the better his post-mortem first translated at the instruction of Walter Ev- fate. They say “as agreeable as possible” ans-Wentz into English by Dawasandup, and is because in spite of cleverness, the weight of the first translated sacred text from the Tibetan past actions has considerable force.52 language ever to appear in English. Dawasandup was a high school headmaster in In Lamaism the role of “method” is, in fact, Gangtok who not only acted as translator for all-important. Lamaists think that after having Walter Evans-Wentz, but was also in the em- learned the art of living well, one must also ploy of David-Néel, who describes him in hu- learn the art of dying well, and of “doing well” morous, and somewhat less venerated terms in other worlds. Initiates who are acquainted than Evans-Wentz. with the mystic lore of dying are supposed to know what to expect when they die, and con- Concerning the issues of life, death and rein- templative lamas “have foreseen and experi- carnation, David-Néel writes that there are enced, in this life, the sensations that accom- numerous subtle theories upon the subject, and pany death,” thus they have neither fear nor that the Tibetan mystics appear to have gained unexpected surprises when they actually die a deeper insight into the question than most and their personality disintegrates. That which other Buddhists. She insists, however, that in survives by entering conscious into the next Tibet, as elsewhere, the views of the philoso- world will already know how to orientate itself phers are understood only by the élite. Accord- with that world’s roads and bypaths and the ing to her, the ideas of the Lamaists concerning places to which they lead.53 the condition of a human being immediately after death differs from those held by Bud- “That which survives after death,” and what dhists of southern countries such as Sri Lanka, most other esoteric traditions generally accept Burma and Thailand. to be the reincarnating “Ego” or “soul,” David- Néel identifies as “consciousness” or “the will The Lamaists affirm that a certain time elapses to live.” According to Tibetans, a mystic initi- between a person’s death and his or her rebirth ate is able to enter the after-death state with among one or other of the six recognized sen- lucidity and full consciousness. This, however, tient beings.50 The most obvious view held by does not hold true for ordinary mortals, which the majority is that “the class of beings in includes anyone who has not mastered the which one is reborn and the more or less happy “science of death,” and thus needs the expert conditions in which one is placed among them help of someone who knows.54 depends upon the good and evil actions one has accomplished during one’s previous exist- The after-death state in Tibetan is known as ence.”51 However, David-Néel mentions an the Bardo, and the Bardo Thodol is the Tibetan interesting view held by the lamas, which is at name for The Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is a variance with this popular view and about funerary text that is intended to be read to a which she writes as follows: dead or dying person so that he or she will hear how to find liberation in the intermediate state “He who knows how to go about it could between death and rebirth, or if that is not pos- live comfortably even in hell” is a very sible, to find an auspicious place to reincarnate popular saying in Tibet. This explains more in, preferably in a land that is characterized by clearly than any definition or description all purity.55 Although David-Néel does not refer that the lamas mean by thabs, i.e. “meth- to The Tibetan Book of the Dead directly, it is od.” obvious from her writing that lamas assisting Thus, while most of their co-religionists be- the dying are using the same methods that are lieve that the fate of the dead is mathemati- described in this book. cally fixed in accordance with their moral

It is interesting to compare what Magic and veals reality, but in this case, not as the Mystery in Tibet and The Tibetan Book of the clear light, but in the multicoloured forms Dead have to say about the first bardo, or of a mandala of forty-two peaceful deities the stage in the intermediate state which is en- and a mandala of fifty-eight wrathful deities tered immediately after the dead person be- . . . If reality is not recognized in this sec- comes disincarnate. The former says the fol- ond bardo, then the third bardo, the bardo lowing: of mundane existence Certain Lamaists as- . . . while most of their co- (srid pa’I bar do), sert that, immediate- religionists believe that the dawns, during which ly after the spirit has fate of the dead is mathemati- one must again take been disincarnated, it rebirth in one of the six has an intuition, fugi- cally fixed in accordance with realms of gods, demi- tive as a streak of their moral character, the gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, or in lightning, of the Su- Lamaists declare that he who preme Reality. If it hell; consciousness is can seize this light, it knows the proper “method” is blown to the appropri- is definitely set free capable of modifying for the ate place of rebirth by from the ‘round’ of the winds of past kar- better his post-mortem fate. 58 successive births and ma. deaths. It has reached They say “as agreeable as Although David-Néel the state of nirvana.56 possible” because in spite of makes no direct refer- Donald S. Lopez, Jr., in cleverness, the weight of past ences to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, she his foreword to The Ti- actions has considerable force. betan Book of the Dead, provides interesting puts the same point in the following way: information about Ti- betan funerals and their characteristic culture The text describes the process of death and of death. She even mentions cases where living rebirth in terms of three intermediate states persons, albeit during states of lethargy or or “bardos” (bar do, a Tibetan term that lit- trance, allegedly traveled not only in countries erally means “between two”). The first, and inhabited by men, but paradises, purgatories or briefest, is the bardo of the moment of in the Bardo, and once returned, were able to death (’chi kha’i bar do) when, at the end describe such places. Such people are called of a process of sensory dissolution that delogs, a name designating someone who has presages physical death, a profound state of returned from the beyond.59 (Such incidents consciousness, called the clear light, dawns. could be compared to what people have report- If one is able to recognize the clear light as ed after experiencing a near-death experience, reality, one immediately achieves liberation as reported by people who were pronounced from samsāra, the cycle of rebirth. If the clinically dead, but then managed to be resus- clear light is not recognized at that time, the citated.) There are also strange incidents consciousness of the deceased person among the general populace where the spirit of 57 moves into the second bardo . . . a dead person allegedly gets abducted by a The Bardo Thodol goes on to describe what demon, and when people will then employ a happens to the dead person if he or she is una- Bön sorcerer (Bön is the ancient shamanistic ble to gain nirvana, or liberation: religion which pre-dated Buddhism in Tibet) to negotiate with the demon, so that the captive (T)he consciousness . . . moves into the can regain his or her liberty. The ransom in second bardo (which appears to be a Tibet- such cases is usually the sacrifice of a pig or an innovation), called the bardo of reality cow.60 (chos nyid bar do). The disintegration of the personality brought on by death again re-

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Once David-Néel asked the lama of Enche Néel actually was. Her involvement with the what would be the post-mortem subjective vi- depth of philosophical concepts in Tibetan sions of a materialist who had looked upon Buddhism is not only that of a curious intellec- death as total annihilation. The lama replied tual, but that of a trained thinker and meditator that perhaps such a man would see apparitions who has made her own a whole system of corresponding to the religious beliefs he held thinking that had originally been foreign to as a child, or to those familiar to him that was her. held by the people among whom he had lived. The book starts off with a passage where Da- Then, according to his degree of understanding vid-Néel relates how she told a learned Tibetan and his after-death consciousness, he would, about her intention to write this book, and his perhaps, pay attention to these visions and re- less than encouraging response: member the reasons which, during his lifetime, made him reject the reality of that which now “Waste of time. The great majority of read- appears to him. A less intelligent man might, ers and hearers are the same all over the perhaps, see no visions at all, but this will not world. I have no doubt that the people of prevent the workings of the law of karma, or your country are like those I have met in cause and effect, from following its course and China and India, and these latter were just resulting in new phenomena. In other words, it like Tibetans. If you speak to them of pro- will not stop the process of rebirth for the ma- found Truths they yawn, and, if they dare, terialist.61 they leave you, but if you tell them absurd fables they are all eyes and ears. They wish Before leaving the discussion of Magic & Mys- the doctrines preached to them, whether re- tery in Tibet, which is highly recommended, it ligious, philosophic, or social, to be agreea- would be worthwhile to quote once more from ble, to be consistent with their conceptions, Aaron Sussman’s introduction: to satisfy their inclinations, in fact that they There are many ways to read a book. One find themselves in them, and that they feel can read it as a story, pure and simple, not themselves approved by them.”63 bothering to figure out its meaning, its pur- Sadly, the above words are true and universal- pose, or its warning. One can read it as a ly applicable. Fortunately, David-Néel did not record of facts, noting without emotion or follow this friend’s advice, because those peo- involvement the things that were seen, ple who do want to confront philosophical done, felt or thought. But one can also read truths and realities would have been all the a book in awe and wonder; wonder at the poorer for it. marvels or insights it reveals, and awe at the way in which it is told. There are not The essence of the introductory chapter touch- many books which can be read this way. es on the method of teaching which takes place between a master and his disciple and is When I first read the galleys of Magic and summed up by David-Néel as follows: Mystery in Tibet, I began to feel that same sense of wonder. Here, in our cynical mod- The attainment of transcendent insight is ern age, was a book about the miracles of the real object of the training advocated in ancient wisdom.62 the traditional Oral Teachings, which do not consist, as so many imagine, in teaching The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan certain things to the pupil, in revealing to Buddhist Sects him certain secrets, but rather in showing David-Néel’s The Secret Oral Teachings in him the means to learn them and discover 64 Tibetan Buddhist Sects was co-authored by, them for himself. and dedicated to, her adoptive son Lama The above method is backed up by the primary Yongden, and, unlike Magic & Mystery in Ti- recommendation that a Master gives to neo- bet, is a purely religious and philosophical phytes, which is doubt.65 This “doubt” needs to work. This work only goes to prove how multi- be understood in the same way in which the talented and exceptionally intelligent David-

Master Djwhal Khul encourages a healthy atti- ble world is movement . . . not a collection of tude of skepticism in disciples when they are moving objects, but movement itself. There are confronted with occult matters. no objects ‘in movement,’ it is the movement which constitutes the objects which appear to The issue of doubt or skepticism is emphasized us: they are nothing but movement.”68 because our very senses, which are the prime sources of arriving at information when con- Expanding on the nature of this movement Da- fronting reality, are not to be trusted, and vid-Néel writes that there are two theories, and should be considered as minimal and elemen- both consider the world as movement. One tary tools whereby we gather information states that the course of this movement which about our surrounding environment. To creates phenomena is continuous, and can be demonstrate this point, David-Néel uses the compared to the flow of a quiet river. The oth- example of what might happen when one is in er declares that the movement is intermittent a vast, bare plain, and in the distance, becomes and advances by separate flashes of energy aware of a fleck of green standing out on the which follow each other at such small intervals yellow sand. Although the fleck of green is that these intervals are almost non-existent.69 ever so tiny, the conclusion one is apt to draw A practical illustration of the latter theory is that one has seen a tree. She says that draw- would be a movie show which by means of ing such a conclusion consists of many ele- light, celluloid, and the rotating movement of ments such as habit, memory, the fact that in the movie projector manages to create the illu- similar conditions other green spots have led to sion of smooth and continued movement, alt- the finding of a tree at the end of the plain. hough we all know that, in reality, we are deal- Such instances were remembered, and in a ing with numerous separate images which are general sense one also knows that distance shown in rapid succession, and by these means gives a diminutive image of objects seen, and successfully manage to create the deception. this too has been remembered. Yet all these are ratiocinations and not the fact of having seen a Just as our eyes can be subject to deception, all tree. That one might well find a tree at the end our other organs of perception can be equally of the plain is quite probable, but it is not cer- deceived. From this one can conclude that any tain.66 knowledge that has been gained by means of the senses can only be partial and relative, and The whole point of philosophical enquiry is to thus totally inadequate to allow us to form any arrive at some certainties, and thereby come idea of an Absolute Reality.70Very aptly, at nearer to what is called reality. On the other this point, David-Néel asks: hand, the above example, when summarized by David-Néel, yields nothing more than the But is there a Reality, a unique Reality in following: the absolute sense? – What can we know of it and what meaning would it have for us In short, what kind of information has been who do not belong to the world of the Ab- given us by the fact of having seen a green solute but to that of the relative?71 spot? – It has simply made us conscious of having felt a sensation. A sensation, noth- After this momentous question, she cautions ing more, all the rest is interpretation. In the that each type of being, whether it be a mos- same way, all our perceptions, those to quito, a plant, a human being, a god or a de- which we give names and assign form, col- mon, perceives the world in its own way, and our, or no matter what attributes, are noth- thus the extent, the gradation, the strength, and ing but interpretations of a fugitive contact the nature of the sensations and the perceptions by one of our senses with a stimulus.67 differ according to the constitution of the organ of contact of different beings. We need to un- The conditions of our perceived reality become derstand that our ideas and judgments are even more involved and complex when we based on our human mentality, on our human learn that according to the Masters “the tangi- senses and of relating and gauging according

The Esoteric Quarterly to our measure that which exists in the infinity princes, to the Dalai Lama himself. Typical of of space.72 her adventurous spirit, one can but smile at the fact that when she was a hundred years old, Once again, the above sampling of this philo- she took definite steps to acquire a new and sophical work only treats a fraction of the valid passport. Such spirits can only be hailed whole, as the intention of this discussion is to with a hearty “Bon voyage.” encourage the reader to do all further investi- gation for him or herself. In conclusion to this introductory discussion of The Secret Oral 1 http://books.google.co.za/books/about/Alex- Teachings in Tibetan Buddhists Sects it is best adra_David_Neel.html?id=FHo1fFHartsC&re dir_esc=y (accessed July 18, 2013.) to quote David-Néel’s own words as she elabo- 2 rates on the method of presentation of the Oral http://www.ibiblio.org/disraeli/ixion.pdf (ac- Teachings: cessed July 3, 2013.) 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Euro- One can very well apply to the Oral Teach- pean_exploration_in_Tibet (accessed July 4, ings what has been said above concerning 2013.) 4 Ibid. (accessed July 4, 2013.) the discontinuity of the movement which is 5 the world. This teaching is not expressed in Ibid. (accessed July 4, 2013.) 6 Ibid. (accessed July 4, 2013.) a consequent and methodically arranged 7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1nd-- manner, as we might be tempted to wish. or_K%C5%91r%C3%B6si_Csoma (accessed The subjects explained are interlaced, re- July 13, 2013.) peated, and seen from various points of 8 Ibid. (accessed July 13, 2013.) view. It is rare that a graduated “course” is 9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Euro- given to a particular student. The teaching pean_exploration_in_Tibet (accessed July 13, is composed rather of separate interviews 2013.) 10 often taking place at very long intervals. Ibid. (accessed July 13, 2013.) 11 My observations consist in assembling the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Dav- summaries of conversations I have heard. id-N%C3%A9el (accessed October 19, 2013.) 12 http://books.google.co.za/books/about/Alex- Each of my readers must connect together adra_David_Neel.html?id=FHo1fFHartsC&re those of these summaries which are most 73 dir_esc=y (accessed July 18, 2013) interesting to him. 13 Ibid. (accessed July 18, 2013.) 14 Ibid. (accessed July 18, 2013.) Conclusion 15 Ibid. (accessed July 18, 2013.) 16 hether one looks at Alexandra David- Ibid. (accessed July 18, 2013.) 17 Ibid. (accessed July 18, 2013.) W Néel the adventurer and explorer, the 18 anthropologist, the scholar or the writer, her Ibid. (accessed July 18, 2013.) 19 Ibid. (accessed July 19, 2013.) life is a testimony of an exceptional and highly 20 bid. (accessed July 19, 2013.) gifted individual who stopped at nothing to 21 Ibid. (accessed July 19, 2013.) achieve her aims, and in the process left behind 22 Ibid. (accessed July 19, 2013.) a legacy of books, both entertaining and schol- 23 http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Alex_Da- arly, that many successive generations will be vid-Neel.htm (accessed July 19, 2013.) able to study and enjoy. Although she was not 24 http://www.blackdrop.blogspot.com/2005_10- known to have been officially affiliated with _16_archive.html (accessed July 20, 2013.) 25 Ibid. (accessed July 20, 2013.) any specific occult group in the West, any eso- 26 teric school that cares to investigate or research http://66south.com/DavidNeel/ (accessed July her books as regards the world of the occult 20, 2013.) 27 http://www.blackdrop.blogspot.com/2005- could only benefit thereby. Working as a free _10_16_archive.html (accessed July 21, and independent agent David-Néel’s personali- 2013). ty was of such a dynamic and charismatic na- 28 Ibid. (accessed July 21, 2013.) ture that she befriended people of all types and 29 Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Harper’s Encyclope- standing, from the lowliest who acted as her dia of Mystical& Paranormal Experience, helpers and servants, to high-ranking lamas, (Edison, NJ: CASTLE BOOKS, 1991), 139.

30 Ibid., 139. 59 Alexandra David-Neel, Magic & Mystery in 31 http://www.blackdrop.blogspot.com/2005- Tibet, 23. _10_16_archive.html (accessed July 21, 60 Ibid., 30. 2013.) 61 Ibid., 32. 62 Ibid., xii. 32 Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Harper’s Encyclope- 63 Alexandra David-Neel and Lama Yongden, dia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience, The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Bud- 139 – 140. dhist Sects (1967; San Francisco: City Light 33 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulku (accessed Books) 1. July 21, 2013.) 64 Ibid., 13. 34 http://www.blackdrop.blogspot.com/2005- 65 Ibid., 15. See also Alice A. Bailey, Initiation, _10_16_archive.html (accessed July 21, Human and Solar (1951; reprint; New York: 2013.) Lucis Publishing Company, 1977), x, final 35 Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Harper’s Encyclope- paragraph, where the Tibetan advises disciples dia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience, to verify presented truths by the use of the in- 140. tuition. 36 http://www.blackdrop.blogspot.com/2005- 66 Alexandra David-Neel and Lama Yongden, _10_16_archive.html (accessed July 21, The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Bud- 2013.) dhist Sects, 16 –18. 37 Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Harper’s Encyclope- 67 Ibid., 18. dia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience, 68 Ibid., 19. 140. 69 Ibid., 21. 38 http://www.blackdrop.blogspot.com/2005- 70 Ibid., 24-25. _10_16_archive.html (accessed July 21, 71 Ibid., 25. 2013.) 72 Ibid., 26. 39 Ibid., 140. 73 Ibid., 26-27. 40 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Dav- id-N%C3%A9el. (accessed July 21, 2013.) 41 Ibid. (accessed July 21, 2013.) Bibliography 42 http://www.enewsbuilder.net/tusker/e_article- 001846305.cfm?x=b11,0,w (accessed July The following list of Alexandra David-Néel’s 24, 2013.) books is restricted to available English titles. 43 Ibid., ix. The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Bud- 44 Ibid., ix. 45 dhist Sects. City Lights Books, 1986. Ibid., xiv. 46 Ibid., 7. Magic & Mystery in Tibet. Souvenir Press, 47 Ibid., 1, 4. 2011. 48 Ibid., 16 – 18. 49 Ibid., 2 – 4. My Journey to Lhasa. Harper Perennial, 2008. 50 Ibid., 19. Tibetan Journey. Books Faith, 1995. 51 Ibid., 19. 52 Ibid., 20. Imortality & Reincarnation. Inner Traditions 53 Idid., 20. Bear and Company, 1997. 54 Ibid., 20, 21. 55 The Supreme Life of Gesar of Ling. Shambhala W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the Publications, 1981. Dead (1960; reprint; New York: Oxford Uni- versity Press, 2000), J. Initiations and Initiates in Tibet. Kessinger 56 Alexandra David-Neel, Magic & Mystery in Publishing, 2007. Tibet, 22. 57 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the Buddhism, Its Doctrines and Its Methods. Al- Dead, J. len & Unwin, 1978. 58 Ibid., J.