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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Patrick Levy
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 hisexplorations.‘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. Praise for ‘The Kabbalist’ – An exhilarating initiation! (Anne Durocq – Actualité des religions)
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