Alexandra David-Néel, born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David (1868 – 1969), was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist and writer.
She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lhasa, Tibet when it was forbidden to foreigners. David-Néel wrote over 30 books about Eastern religion, philosophy, and her travels, including Magic and Mystery in Tibet which was published in 1929.
Her teachings influenced the beat writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, the populariser of Eastern philosophy Alan Watts, and the esotericist Benjamin Creme.
Like Blavatsky, Frenchwoman Alexandra David-Néel had a colorful life—and might have had a promising career as an opera singer had she not injured her voice. Fortunately for us, she invested that same energy into her forays into mysticism, often going against the the will of the British government, consequently pushing further than any other Westerner before her.
She became fluent in Sanskrit and Tibetan, traveled extensively in the Himalayas and gained unprecedented access to the Dalai Lama himself.
Though she was already a Freemason and practitioner of various yoga techniques, she spent two years training in a remote cave in Sikkim, where she developed high-level psychic techniques such as the body-warming art of tummo. After her spartan training, she became the first white woman to enter the Forbidden City of Lhasa.
David-Néel’s life is a prime example of the importance of going beyond a particular school or system of methodology. To truly become a master, you’ve got to push yourself to the limits of what is mentally and physically possible.
"Suffering raises up those souls that are truly great; it is only small souls that are made mean-spirited by it". -Alexandra David-Neel
"Suffering raises up those souls that are truly great; it is only small souls that are made mean-spirited by it". -Alexandra David-Neel
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