Biography of Arnaud Desjardins

Born on 18 June 1925, educated in a Protestant Christian environment, Arnaud Desjardins was one of the first Westerners to discover and show on television, thanks to his many travels and his passion for spirituality, great traditions unknown to Europeans: Hinduism, Buddhism and Sufism (mysticism of Islam) in particular. He also stayed in a Christian Trappist monastery.

 

His philosophy, very far from any sectarian spirit, is inspired by the thought of Swâmi Prâjnanpad while showing itself to be very close to Zen Buddhism and open to all the great religious traditions, be they Eastern or Western.

 

This philosophy is embodied in an authentic practical wisdom, which he teaches to his disciples. It is in the light of this daily practice that he reread the Gospels and that he can call himself a Christian. Indeed, if wisdom is universal, it is important in his eyes to be part of a religious tradition, preferably the one in which one was born, in order to learn from it while avoiding the trap of syncretism, to which our era readily succumbs. (...)

 

In reality, no one decides or does anything. Everything happens. To succeed in doing, one must first succeed in being. You have to start by distancing yourself from yourself and seeing yourself living. You have to look at yourself contemplating a landscape, listen to yourself talking, perhaps ranting, in a circle of friends, feel yourself reacting to a situation.

 

Understanding this idea of a necessary vigilance to oneself is not enough to tame it. It takes a long time to apply oneself with exercises, whether they are called prayer, meditation or yoga. Self-awareness, which becomes self-mastery, is acquired slowly. Most philosophers and religious scholars never leave their study. They reflect on texts, analysing and comparing them. It is not part of the Western conception of the intellectual to choose a master and follow him blindly.

 

On the contrary, he believes that man poses himself as an opponent. The notion of a master, natural and respected in the East, is not only unknown in the West, but despised. It runs counter to the democratic ideal: all free and equal. Arnaud Desjardins was not satisfied with studying. He went to Asia to observe other cultural and spiritual traditions. He looked, questioned, lived among those who welcomed him. His inner development was closely intertwined with the outer adventures of travelling to distant lands, unfamiliar and lacking in the comforts to which our society is accustomed.

 

This book traces the two aspects of a life - the adventure of the mind and the adventures of everyday life - dedicated to philosophical and spiritual research over several decades, the story of a man who committed not only his mind, but his person to it. For half a century, Arnaud Desjardins has been walking against the tide of his time. Today's world is dominated by the economy. His values stem from it or lead back to it. Political discourse itself has gradually been reduced to dissertations and arguments about the best way to manage the economy.

 

Money has become the benchmark. It measures the success of individuals and companies alike. This economy-based society exalts and multiplies desires, which drive consumption, which drives production. The wise man who, conversely, tends to reduce his needs is a living reproach for the dominant system, a threat to the values he embodies. Arnaud Desjardins' life is divided into three parts of roughly equal length.

 

First, the years of youth and training, from 1925 to 1949. Then the quest for wisdom for another twenty-five years, from 1949 to 1974, with an essential break in 1965, the year he met his master, Swâmi Prajnânpad, and followed in his footsteps. During these years, he sowed books that awakened vocations.

 

Without claiming that this quest is complete and that he is a "living liberationist", since 1974 - another quarter of a century - he has transmitted and continues to transmit, in three successive places, what he has received to those who have come and are coming towards him. Whether the term pleases or repels, he has become a guru in his ashram.

 

 

 

Extract from Jacques Mousseau's biography: Arnaud Desjardins, l'ami spirituel , Perrin, 2002 .

 

Some books by Arnaud DESJARDINS to consult or to download at the editions la table ronde

 

http://www.editionslatableronde.fr

 

Approaches to meditation

 

In search of the Self

 

In search of the Self 2

 

In search of the Self 3