The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Néel

366 Pages·2013·12.66 MB·English

THE SECRET LIVES OF
ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL
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B i o g r a p h y o f t h e E x p l o r e r o f T i b e t
AMD I t s F o r b i d d e h P r a c t i c e s
B arbara Foster and M ic hael F oster
“A fascinating account of the life and exploits of the brilliant
20th century Frenchwoman who became the first European
female to enter the. holy city of Lhasa.” —Harper’s Bazaar
The Secret Lives
of
Alexandra
David-Neel
f\
Biography o f th e E xp lo rer o f T ib et
AMD Its Forbiddeh Practices
BARBARA FOSTER AND MICHAEL FOSTER
THE OVERLOOK PRESS
W OODSTOCK & NEW YORK
First published in the United States in 1998 by
The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
Lewis Hollow Road
Woodstock, New York 12498
Copyright © 1998 Barbara Foster and Michael Foster
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented without permission in writing from the
publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in
connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper,
or broadcast.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publications Data
Foster, Barbara M.
The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel /
Barbara Sc Michael Foster—Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. David-Neel, Alexandra, 1868—1969. I. Foster, Michael. II. Title.
BQ950.A937F67 1998 294.3*092—dc21 [B] 96-50127
Book design and formatting by Bernard Schleifer
Original Maps by Letha Hadady
Manufactured in the United States of America
ISBN 087951-774-3
First Edition
135798642
d V lt'C V lf'S
Voyages and Chronology
vii
Preface to the Revised Edition
ix
Introduction : Our Journey to Alexandra
xii
vtc: c f^eeher
1. The Eye of Empire
3
2. Prisoner of a Dream
9
3. The Ego and Its Own
18
4. The Saddest Story
34
5. India Absurd and Marvelous
46
6. City of Joy
57
7. The Genie and the Demon
65
8. The Living Buddha
79
9. An Invisible Barrier
92
10. In the Realm of Shiva
102
CONTENTS
VlWj
11. Cavern in the Sky
117
12. Asia Marvelous and Diverse
131
13. A Paradise
143
14. The French Nun
157
15. An Officer and a Gentleman
172
16. A Long Walk
185
17. A Long Walk, Continued
196
18. “The Potala Is the Paradise of Buddha.'
210
tyree:
19. The Dream of Repose
225
20. Success at Paris
235
21. The Short Path
246
22. Storm Clouds
259
23. The Wife of the Chinese
273
24. The Sage of Digne
288
Coda: The Legacy
298
Sources and Acknowledgments
307
Selected Bibliography
311
Index
321
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1891-1893 India
1911-1912 Ceylon, India
1912-1916 Sikkim, Nepal, southern Tibet (expelled)
1916-1918 India, Burma, French Indochina, Japan, Korea, China
1918-1921 Eastern Tibet (Kum Bum)
1921-1924 Journey to Lhasa through eastern Tibet, Mongolia,
western China, and southern Tibet
1925 Return to France
1937-1945 Soviet Union, China, Sino-Tibetan border, India
1946 Final return to France
v o v i ol&Qyy
October 24, 1868 Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David is born in
Paris.
1871 The Commune lives and dies.
1873 The Davids move to Belgium.
1888-1890 Alexandra investigates the Society of the Supreme
Gnosis, London. She discovers the Theosophical
Society in Paris and Buddhism and other oriental
philosophies.
1891 Departs for India.
1895 Sings with l’Opéra-Comique in Indochina
1898 Publishes Pour la vie, a libertarian essay
1904 Marries Philip Neel; her father dies
1911 Undertakes second Asian sojourn
1912 Meets Prince Sidkeong of Sikkim, glimpses Tibet
and has two interviews with the Dalai Lama.
viii CHRONOLOGY
1914-1916 Lives as a hermit in the Himalayas
1917 Tours Japan and Korea
1918-1920 Lives among the monks at Kum Bum monastery
October 1923 Sets out on a four-month journey afoot to Lhasa
February 1924 Reaches Lhasa, remains for two months
1925 Returns to France
1927 My Journey to Lhasa is published in New York,
London, and Paris.
1928-1936 Alexandra buys and inhabits Samten Dzong in
Digne, France. Completes Magic and Mystery;
Buddhism; Initiations
1937-1945 She lives in China during the Sino-Japanese war.
1941 Philip Neel dies.
1946 Alexandra returns to France to settle estate.
1955 Yongden, her adopted son, dies.
1959 Marie-Madeleine Peyronnet comes to Samten Dzong.
1968 Alexandra’s 100th birthday is celebrated at Digne.
September 8, Alexandra, much honored, dies at Digne. Several
1969 projects are left incomplete.

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At the start of the winter we were in North Beach. It was a nostalgia
run that brought back memories of hippie San Francisco rather than
today’s techno-town at the head of Silicon Valley. While we didn’t
wear flowers in our hair, we did head for the City Lights Bookstore.
In front of the shop there was a photo shoot of Lawrence Ferlinghetti
in the grey-bearded flesh, wearing a dark sweater and a dented
bowler hat. We had mutual acquaintances—Allen Ginsberg for one—
but with photographers shouting instructions and flashes popping,
this was no time to bother the man. But we did want to talk to him
about Buddhism and his publication, in 1967, of The Secret Oral
Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects, by Alexandra David-Neel and her
Tibetan son Lama Yongden.
Alan Watts called this the “I-told-you-so-book,” because it vali­
dated his crystal-clear approach to meditation and enlightenment.
When the crowd had cleared and Ferlinghetti had gone back inside,
we approached the show window. There, where it has stood for the
last thirty years, was The Secret Oral Teachings with the same picture of
bespectacled Lama Yongden seated, prayer beads in hand and what
appears to be a wizard’s cap on his head. The format was larger than
our original copy, but we were pleased to discover not a word had
been changed. When we finally spoke to Ferlinghetti he told us this
late work by David-Neel was selling better than ever.
Alexandra David-Neel, French by birth, English by education
and American in temperament, lived—really lived—for nearly one
hundred and one years, a span that stretched from the mid­
nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. In that time she led a