Alexandra David-Néel

Alexandra David- Neel, born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David ( born October 24, 1868 in Saint- Mandé, a suburb of Paris, † September 8, 1969 in Digne- les- Bains ) was a French travel writer and ordained Buddhist nun in Tibet.

Life

Alexandra David was born as the daughter of a teacher who had been with the revolution of 1848 a militant Republicans, and a strict Catholic mother. Through her ​​father Elisée Reclus the friend she was familiar with anarchist ideas (including Max Stirner and Mikhail Bakunin ). She also was very interested in women's issues and published her first book to Pour la Vie. At first she was a freelancer from La fronde, a feminist newspaper.

At 17, Alexandra David had made their first trip: She was plucked from home, drove to Switzerland and traveled over the St. Gotthard Pass. With 20 it had done to her Asian fonts, and she decided to study languages ​​(including Sanskrit and Chinese). When she inherited money in 1891, she traveled half years Ceylon and India, where she joined in the local Theosophical Society Adyar in the same year. She then returned to Paris. After completing her training, she was engaged as a soprano in Indochina. Then she went as a theater director to Tunis, where she met Philippe Néel, whom she married in 1904.

From 1903, she was no longer on the stage, but gave lectures about their travels and studied further. 1911, it took its second trip to Asia, which lasted 14 years. She lived for a year in the Himalayas as a hermit and was ordained both as applicable in the state of a lama. She was convicted of initiation into the secret teachings of Tibetan Buddhism worthy, and described this in one of her books. Whether she's ever traveled to Tibet or to what extent parts of their travel reports are fake, however, is provided by the Belgian language and historian Philippe van Heurck in question.

To earn a living, she translated Buddhist texts and wrote a French - Tibetan dictionary. During her travels, she was also financially supported by her husband ( from whom she had never divorced ) from France.

In her 57th year she entered as a begging pilgrim, accompanied by her adopted son, the Lama Yongden, after an adventurous Himalayan crossing on foot from China Coming as probably the first European the forbidden city of Lhasa in Tibet. On this trip, she had to disguise themselves with soot and dirt, to not be recognized as a foreigner and expelled from the country to become.

Alexandra David- Néel was even appointed to a very high age at the Knight of the Legion of Honour. She died on 8 September 1969 at the age of 100 years, after she had her passport precaution renew. Some years later, her ashes were after her last will, together with the ashes of her adopted son Lama Yongden, scattered at Benares in the Ganges.

Works ( selection)

  • Pour la Vie, 1898
  • Le Philosophe Meh -ti (ou Mo -tse ) et l' Idée de Solidarité, 1907
  • Les Theories Individualistes dans la Philosophy, 1909
  • Le Modernisme Bouddhiste et le Bouddhisme Emerald, 1911
  • Souvenir d' une Parisienne au Thibet, 1925
  • Voyage d'une Parisienne à Lhasa, 1927 ( Arjopa. The first pilgrimage of a white woman after the Forbidden City of the Dalai Lama, 1928; My way through heaven and hell The adventure of my life, 1986. )
  • Mystique et du Thibet Magiciens, 1929 ( saint and sorcerer. Beliefs and superstitions in the land of Lamaism, 1931)
  • Initiation Lamaïques, 1930 ( Master and Student Secrets of the Lamaist ordinations From own experience, 1934, .. , The path to enlightenment secret teachings, ceremonies and rites in Tibet, 1960. )
  • La vie de Surhumaine Guésar de Ling le Heros Thibétain, 1931
  • Au Pays des Brigands Gentilshommes. Grand Tibet, 1933 ( monks and shrub knight. A Tibet trip on back roads, 1933)
  • Le Lama aux Cinq Sagesses, 1935 ( Mipam, the Lama with the five wisdoms. A Tibetan novel, 1935)
  • Magic d' Amour et Magie Noire, 1938 (Love Spell and Black Magic, 1952)
  • Sous of nuées d' Orage, 1940
  • A l' Ouest Barbare de la Chine Vaste, 1947 ( the Land of Is In China's Wild West, 1952)
  • Au Cœur of the Himalayas, Nepal le, 1949 ( In the shadow of the Himalayas. Spells and miracles in Nepal, 1953)
  • L' Inde, Here, Aujourd'hui, Demain, 1951 ( Between gods and politics in India -. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, 1952)
  • Astavakra Gita, 1951
  • Les Enseignements Secrets of bouddhistes Tibétains, 1951
  • Text Tibétains inédits, 1952 (Unknown Tibetan texts, 1955)
  • Le Vieux Tibet Face à la Chine Nouvelle, 1953 ( Ancient Tibet, New China, 1955)
  • La Puissance du Néant, 1954 ( The hidden Turquoise, 1997)
  • La Connaissance Transcend Ante, 1958
  • Avadhuta Gita, 1958
  • Immortalité et Reincarnation 1961 ( immortality and rebirth. Teachings and practices in China, Tibet and India, 1962)
  • Quarante Siècles d' expansion Chinoise, 1964

In German published:

  • My journey through heaven and hell ( Knaur ) (description of Tibet trek ) ISBN 3-426-03934-6
  • My India ( Knaur ) ( describing their experiences in Ceylon and India) ISBN 3-426-77002-4
  • Under the spell of the Mysteries, (La sortilege you mystère, 1972) ( Knaur ) ISBN 3-426-61095-7
  • The secret teachings of Tibetan Buddhism (Les Enseignements Secrets of bouddhistes Tibétains, 1951) ( Herder spectrum) ISBN 3-451-05171-0
  • The secret teachings of Tibetan Buddhism ( Aira publisher) edition 2012 ISBN 978-3-95474-008-6
  • Immortality and rebirth, teachings and practices in China, Tibet and India, Nymphenburg, 2000, ISBN 3-485-00838-9
  • The path to enlightenment, the hidden teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, Adyar Edition, ISBN 3-89427-187-6
  • Ralopa, The Master of secret rites and other unknown Tibetan texts, Knaur, ISBN 3-426-77571-9, ISBN 3-426-03935-4
  • Magicians and saints in Tibet ( Goldmann Arkana, 2005) ISBN 3-442-21748-2
  • Love spells and black magic ( magic d'amour et magie noire, 1938) Munich 2007, Sphinx Hugendubel, ISBN 978-3-7205-9004-4
Digne-les-Bains Integrated Authority File
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