Alexandra David-Néel (vegetarian): Courageous Explorer in Search of Truth, Part 3 of 3

During her journeys, Madame David-Néel (vegetarian) created a “tulpa,” a spiritual entity produced by months of intense concentration. Before long, Madame David-Néel’s tulpa was seen traveling with her. Our Most Beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) explained this phenomenon during a lecture in 1994. “Now, if you read a book called ‘[Magic and] Mystery in Tibet,’ Madame Alexandra Néel, I think, will tell you that in Tibet people can use their own power of practice, of concentration, to make another being, in whatever shape you want, whatever appearance you want. You can make a monk appear. You can make a common person. You can make a beautiful girl. These are the methods that Heaven used to create angels. And these are the methods we use sometimes, purposely or unintentionally, through our deeds and thoughts, to create demons. Yeah, and she herself, Madame Alexandra, has made one of the monks just to try, through that method. And she made one. But afterward, he got out of control. He already actually appeared, in a form of a monk. And she said, first she made it a very jolly one, happy and old and fat monk, easygoing type. But later, as he developed, developed, he got out of her power, got out of her hand, and he became thinner and more mischievous and more aggressive, so she had to destroy him, eventually, using all her might. Because once you create something, it’s difficult to destroy it if you don’t have that power.”

In 1923, Madame David-Néel and her faithful travel companion, Lama Yongden (vegetarian), made their way deep into Tibet, to Lhasa. This was an exhausting four-month and 2,000- kilometer journey on foot. At the beginning of 1924, their efforts were rewarded as they spotted the Potala Palace, the winter residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and finally entered the holy city of Lhasa.

Madame David-Néel’s journey through the Orient was not to develop any kind of magical power, but was first and foremost a spiritual quest for truth. Her purpose was achieved with her initiation by a spiritual Master into the “Short Path.” Of this mystic doctrine, Madame David-Néel wrote that it: “...frees a man from the consequences of his actions, whatever they may be, by the revelation of their true nature, and ensures the attainment of Buddhahood ‘in one single life.’”

At 100 years of age, the tireless adventurer had her passport renewed in the hopes of a taking a trip around the world by car. Instead, she made her last and most magnificent journey, passing on into the Heavens a few days later on September 8, 1969, just shy of her 101st birthday.