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Sadhus: Going Beyond the Dreadlocks
*The Book*
There are millions of them - these Indian wandering renunciants, begging monks, mystical walkers, roaming philosophers, miracle-workers, hashish smokers, holy men... but little is known about them. They are often photographed yet their words are seldom heard.
Some began this way of life from childhood, others were civil servants, shop keepers, real estate agents, thieves... they left their families and jobs to become renunciants, sadhus. They refuse to work; and vow not to accept any wages. They pursue the path of liberation.
A few accomplish rigorous austerities, but most of them dedicate themselves to non-action. In a world verging on its short term ecological doom and demographic tsunami, the sadhus are the messengers of a kind of freedom and moderation that our commercial civilization has forgotten, with its preaching of labour, consumption, economic growth and competition.
Patrick Levy recounts their everyday lives, the respect they are given and how they make use of it, their teachings, their philosophy and the way they transform it into a lifestyle.
'Sadhus' is a novel written in the form of a road movie. It is a spiritual journey into the world of the sadhus.
*The Author*
Patrick Levy is a French writer who lives six months a year in Uttar Pradesh, India, his second mother , as he likes to say.
He is a strange phenomenon amongst authors on the spirituality scene. He claims to be an atheist but is greatly interested in religions and spirituality. "Everything that belongs to humanity, belongs to me," he says to justify his broad curiosity.
He has travelled the world in search of spiritual masters and experiences; practiced Kabbalah, Sufism, Buddhism and Vedanta, and has published books about his explorations.
'Does God believe in God?'- his first book, established the direction of this spiritual globetrotter's atypical course. He recounted his ten year long spiritual quest in the study and practice of five different religions. His approach to religions and spiritual practices has been one of caution but also depth, going beyond dogmas and beliefs with humour and candour.
His previous book, 'The Kabbalist', (also translated in Hebrew) is a best-seller in France and was awarded a Special distinction by the panel of judges of "Spirituality Today" prize in 2002.
There are millions of them - these Indian wandering renunciants, begging monks, mystical walkers, roaming philosophers, miracle-workers, hashish smokers, holy men... but little is known about them. They are often photographed yet their words are seldom heard.
Some began this way of life from childhood, others were civil servants, shop keepers, real estate agents, thieves... they left their families and jobs to become renunciants, sadhus. They refuse to work; and vow not to accept any wages. They pursue the path of liberation.
A few accomplish rigorous austerities, but most of them dedicate themselves to non-action. In a world verging on its short term ecological doom and demographic tsunami, the sadhus are the messengers of a kind of freedom and moderation that our commercial civilization has forgotten, with its preaching of labour, consumption, economic growth and competition.
Patrick Levy recounts their everyday lives, the respect they are given and how they make use of it, their teachings, their philosophy and the way they transform it into a lifestyle.
'Sadhus' is a novel written in the form of a road movie. It is a spiritual journey into the world of the sadhus.
*The Author*
Patrick Levy is a French writer who lives six months a year in Uttar Pradesh, India, his second mother , as he likes to say.
He is a strange phenomenon amongst authors on the spirituality scene. He claims to be an atheist but is greatly interested in religions and spirituality. "Everything that belongs to humanity, belongs to me," he says to justify his broad curiosity.
He has travelled the world in search of spiritual masters and experiences; practiced Kabbalah, Sufism, Buddhism and Vedanta, and has published books about his explorations.
'Does God believe in God?'- his first book, established the direction of this spiritual globetrotter's atypical course. He recounted his ten year long spiritual quest in the study and practice of five different religions. His approach to religions and spiritual practices has been one of caution but also depth, going beyond dogmas and beliefs with humour and candour.
His previous book, 'The Kabbalist', (also translated in Hebrew) is a best-seller in France and was awarded a Special distinction by the panel of judges of "Spirituality Today" prize in 2002.
- GenresPhilosophy
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
18 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 8, 2020
Honestly I really liked this book !!!!!!
📚The book was originally written in French by Patrick Levy. The book has since been translated into English, Hindi, Marathi and other languages.
📚In this book, the reader will be able to know the interviews of various sadhus conducted by the author, the attitude of sadhus towards sadhutva, the traditions of sadhus, their purpose of becoming sadhus and information related to the lives of other sadhus. The names of the sadhus used in this book are fictional.
📚The association with the sadhus that the author himself took while reading the book is very interesting to read. The ascetic life of every sadhu begins at different ages. Each sadhu's different teachings, his own existence, ego, many kinds of knowledge can be taken from this book.
📚Some had chosen this way of life from childhood, while others had given up their families and work and had become apostates.
📚Patrick Levy describes in detail the daily life of the monks, the respect they receive, how they use it, their teachings, philosophies, lifestyles, and the transformation of their monastic conduct.
📚After reading this book I'm thinking about living as sadhu!!!😜
📚I would like to read more books by patrik levy just loved the writing !!!
📚The book was originally written in French by Patrick Levy. The book has since been translated into English, Hindi, Marathi and other languages.
📚In this book, the reader will be able to know the interviews of various sadhus conducted by the author, the attitude of sadhus towards sadhutva, the traditions of sadhus, their purpose of becoming sadhus and information related to the lives of other sadhus. The names of the sadhus used in this book are fictional.
📚The association with the sadhus that the author himself took while reading the book is very interesting to read. The ascetic life of every sadhu begins at different ages. Each sadhu's different teachings, his own existence, ego, many kinds of knowledge can be taken from this book.
📚Some had chosen this way of life from childhood, while others had given up their families and work and had become apostates.
📚Patrick Levy describes in detail the daily life of the monks, the respect they receive, how they use it, their teachings, philosophies, lifestyles, and the transformation of their monastic conduct.
📚After reading this book I'm thinking about living as sadhu!!!😜
📚I would like to read more books by patrik levy just loved the writing !!!
November 4, 2010
I found this coverless book in the trash at my home stay in India which they use to burn to heat water to take a hot bucket shower...I pulled it out from amongst the twigs and old children's school books soon to be Agni...and while I was not so into the title at first I found some interesting passages and decided to read it at a later date. I am very thankful that I came across this book, having just finished it today.... An inspiring first person point of view transitioning from western philosophical student to living and awaking within the renunciant's dream. A good reminder for those of us who have spent cherished times with babas, and amazing introduction for those who are curious about what it means to give up everything in the search for nothing.. bravo Prasadji...thank you....
February 25, 2015
This is an exceptional book which deserves a much better, subtler title than its been given. I was genuinely blown away by this insightful, moving and thought-provoking account of living as an Indian holy man. Hard to know whether it's fact or fiction, especially during the last section, but that doesn't really matter. Read it as one of the best books about India you're likely to encounter, as a treatise on Advaita Vedanta, as a superb travelogue, as anthropology, or a combination of all these. If someone can show me a better book about spiritual India I would like to read it!
September 19, 2014
A beautiful story-line, well explained theories and articulate explanation of different aspects of a way of life lesser known to us average humans. A good read for anyone who wants to know about the what, why, how and thoughts of those revered stalwarts whom some of us have come to despise because of our ignorance and assumptions.
October 25, 2010
Good Book. Good insight to Hindu religion
February 15, 2018
Not necessarily a page turner, but a rewarding experience none the less, with a wealth of useful knowledge to be attained from Patrick's interpretation of Sadhu philosophy.
August 15, 2013
The best book on the subject. Anyone interested in Hindu spirituality and philosophy should read it. Far from promoting any kind of religious behavior, Patrick Levy is giving a real insight into non-duality (adwaïta) and Indian sadhu’s life style. The book is a collection of anecdotes, each of which gives a fragrance of the divine. It’s real nectar, full of spiritual understanding, love and detachment and all together funny, joyous and serious.
I am really sad having finished it; I would have wanted more of this. Thank you Patrick.
Alain B
I am really sad having finished it; I would have wanted more of this. Thank you Patrick.
Alain B
April 25, 2022
I got to the last couple chapters before I realized that this was a novel, and not a work of immersion journalism. I don’t mean to suggest that it wasn’t as compelling as I’d wish a work of fiction to be. On the contrary, it’s a fascinating look into a group of people (Sadhus / renunciants) who are little understood because they exist on the edges of society and can appear strange - if not a little scary – in their countercultural existence. The book reads like an authentic account of the Sadhu experience of a Frenchman who gives up his money and all but a few meager possessions to become a wandering ascetic under the tutelage a philosophically compatible Baba. (Until the fever dream ending instills a bit of surrealism and fourth-wall breaking.) The fact that the lead is demographically and a philosophically like the author, heightens the tendency to believe it’s nonfiction. [It’s quite possibly fictionalized autobiography to some degree, but I couldn’t say to what extent.]
Besides telling a story centered on a wandering Western ascetic in Northern India, the book does double duty in reflecting upon Hindu-Yogic-Tantric philosophy, particularly with respect to metaphysics. The lead character is neither religious nor a believer in the supernatural. Rather, he is (like many of us) in search of an almost defunct variety of a philosophy, the kind practiced by Socrates and some historic and present-day Buddhists, a variety that’s open to questioning and challenging all beliefs and assumptions as the means to better understand one’s world, a variety that recognizes the ubiquity of ignorance with respect to key questions of metaphysics. The story includes a number of Socratic method style conversations, as well as quotes from texts such as the “Avadhuta Gita” and “Ashtavakra Gita.”
I found this story to be compelling and informative, shining a light on a rarely-seen side of India.
Besides telling a story centered on a wandering Western ascetic in Northern India, the book does double duty in reflecting upon Hindu-Yogic-Tantric philosophy, particularly with respect to metaphysics. The lead character is neither religious nor a believer in the supernatural. Rather, he is (like many of us) in search of an almost defunct variety of a philosophy, the kind practiced by Socrates and some historic and present-day Buddhists, a variety that’s open to questioning and challenging all beliefs and assumptions as the means to better understand one’s world, a variety that recognizes the ubiquity of ignorance with respect to key questions of metaphysics. The story includes a number of Socratic method style conversations, as well as quotes from texts such as the “Avadhuta Gita” and “Ashtavakra Gita.”
I found this story to be compelling and informative, shining a light on a rarely-seen side of India.
July 27, 2021
This reads a bit like the journal of a man well versed and somewhat jaded by western philosophy and culture who left his affluent life in France to live with wandering sadhus in India. It's more or less a series of conversations with those he meets along the way; meditating mystics, extreme ascetics, pilgrims, temple-keepers, nomads, madmen and monks. Truly fascinating and wholly authentic, just a few pages in and you will know what it feels like to tread hot roads, bathe in questionable waters and walk, one step at a time, into the unforeseeable beauty and vast wasteland that is Mother India.
July 29, 2010
I picked up this book because I thought it would give me some insights into the world of Sadhus. However, I felt disappointed after reading this book. It provided no insights. Inf act, I felt that the world of Sadhus is glorified by Patrick Levy. He has made them out to be such great souls! While there must be great Sadhus there, inmy experience, I have found many of them to be fake. Some capters on initiation, Begging, Connor, Sadhu at work, encounters, Varananasi 5 years earlier are readable. Overall, a book which has a captivating cover but very little substance. For westerners the bookmight be intriguing.
February 16, 2011
It was an interesting read. The author doesn't necessarily say this is right and this is wrong. But he manages to bring out conversations that shows the different kinds-thoughts of the sadhus. While some sounded wise, some were crooks and some were just sadhus. It was a good read!
December 22, 2016
Did not. enjoy.Even in the cool environs of kerala i had to force myself to conplete this book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews