Alexandra David-Néel

Quotes

• “It is evident that the great majority of those who call themselves Buddhists have not been able to rise to the mental level of the Teaching of the Buddha. Most of them have built up for their own use various kinds of Buddhism which are anything but Buddhist and, in their ignorance, they uphold, often with bitterness, their belief and their absurd practices as the expression of the purest orthodoxy. p. 9”
• “The object of these teachings is not to amuse the simple-minded, those charitably called in the Tibetan Scriptures the "children", it is meant for the strong to make them stronger, for the intelligent to make them more intelligent, for the shrewd to develop their shrewdness and to lead them to the possession of transcendent insight (lhag thong) which constitutes the real enlightenment. p. 11”
• “The attainment of transcendent insight is the real object of the training advocated in the traditional Oral Teachings, which do not consist, as so many imagine, in teaching certain things to the pupil, in revealing to him certain secrets, but rather in showing him the means to learn them and discover them for himself. p. 13”
• “The Masters of the secret teachings say that the truth learned from another is of no value, and that the only truth which is living and effective, which is of value, is the truth which we ourselves discover. p. 13”
• “Literally, lhag thong, means to see more, to see beyond, to see extremely, supremely. Thus, not only to see more than that which is seen by the mass of mankind who are crassly ignorant, but to see beyond the bounds limiting the vision of cultivated minds, to bring into being the third eye of Knowledge which the adepts of tantric sects place in the center of the forehead of their symbolic Gods. p. 14”
• “The faith commended to their faithful by all religions, and considered by them as a virtue essential for him who hopes for eternal salvation, is nowise approved in the Secret Teachings. Based on the advice given by the Buddha to His disciples, the primary recommendation that the Masters give to neophytes is: Doubt! Doubt is an incitement to research, and research is the Way which leads to Knowledge. p. 15”

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Key facts

Born

Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David , ( 1868-10-24 ) 24 October 1868, Saint-Mandé , French Empire

Died

8 September 1969 (1969-09-08) (aged 100), Digne , French Republic

Known for

Writing on Tibet

Spouse

Philippe Néel de Saint-Sauveur ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1904-08-04</span>"}]]}'>1904 ; died 1941-02-08</span>"}]]}'>1941 ) ​

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Wikidata facts

Official website

www.alexandra-david-neel.fr

Image

Alexandra David-Néel, also know as Louise Eugenie Alexandrine Marie David 19th century (cropped).gif

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