The Asian Wild Man by Jean-Paul Debenat

Author:Jean-Paul Debenat
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780888397126
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-11-13T05:00:00+00:00

18. Diogenes in the Himalayas

On the roof of Asia, life is constantly in close contact with spirits. The natives’ existence is replete with symbols, rituals, prayers, meditations and dialogues with the world of the living. While religious activity is most intense in the monasteries, one should not forget the numerous sedentary or wandering hermits, Himalayan versions of Diogenes, living in caves, in the forest or in abandoned houses.

Alexandra David-Néel, the veteran traveler who long lived in Tibet, spent a whole winter as an ascetic, living in a hut of rough-hewn timbers backing onto a cave. She ate but a single meal a day.

Both the spirit and the senses are sharpened through this life style, constantly lled with contemplation, observation and re ections. Does one then become a visionary; or rather has not one remained till then completely blind?1

Given the mystical context of the country, one should not be surprised to hear that she wore, as part of her hermit’s garb, a rosary made up of 108 discs cut out of 108 human skulls, a magic dagger at her belt and a trumpet carved out of a human femur. That a lama called her the “Reverend Lady” is a sign of the respect given to a woman who held a high rank in the Lamaist orders. The lama lady had been fully initiated; she even occasionally resorted to witchcraft. She was respected and also somewhat feared.

The prehistoric appearance of the hermits’ refuges is not surprising. They are mere caves, closed by a wall made of stones, dirt and turf, and entered through a curtain of yak hair. Some hermits even survive naked in snow-covered hills. How can that be possible? It is well known that Tibetans can endure very long hikes: walking steadily for 24 hours is by no means a record. The loung-gom-pa lamas are initiated through a series of breathing exercises before learning a mystical formula; they focus their thoughts on a rhythmical mantra that guides their breathing during a trek.

Under the trance state, although much of normal consciousness is abolished, there remains enough to lead the walker towards his goal and to avoid obstacles he might meet along the way. However, this is done entirely mechanically, without the need of conscious thought on the part of the walker in a trance.2

What is even more surprising is survival in the mountains at 4500–5000 meters (13,000–17,000 feet) without succumbing to the cold. Such a feat also requires teaching by a master: the key is to learn to stimulate the internal warmth called toumo (see also, chapter 7). Alexandra David-Néel went through this training and, at the request of a lama, successfully bathed in the icy waters of a river and, without getting dressed, meditated for a whole night: “It was at the beginning of the winter, at an altitude of about 3000 meters (10,000 feet). I felt enormously proud of not having caught a cold.”3

Learning about toumo is a practice related to the Hindu hatha yoga. The apprenticeship is lengthy and complicated, requiring patience, concentration and application.

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