Arnaud Desjardins

Born Date|18|June|1925, Arnaud Desjardins, director of the ORTF from 1952 to 1974, was one of the first practitioners of Eastern religion to be discovered in France, working on televised documentaries with many great spiritual traditions unknown to Europeans: Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, zen, and soufism (Islamic mysticism) from Afghanistan.

The man: Life and work

Arnaud Desjardins was part of Gurdjieff groups, his first contact with mysticism. Educated in a protestant Christian environment, he was equally taught of the spiritualist life on a trip to a trappist Catholic monastery. He then became interested in yoga, and when asked to direct a film for French television, he chouse to make a series of films on India, for which he gained notoriety for his first film, "Ashrams". It was because of his numerous voyages and his passion for spirituality that he made many more films and wrote a number of books.

His thoughts were written in a spiritual traditional book by his master, Swami Prajnanpad, whom he got to know after filming a number of mystics from varied backgrounds. He became a follower of Adhyatma yoga, a branch of Advaita Vedanta. This strand of Hinduism is based on the Vedas, more particularly, the Upanishads. This open dialogue about the grand spiritual traditions, both Eastern and Western, became his major field of study under the encouragement of his master.

Arnaud Desjardins spoke of his spiritual approach like this: "It's a way of eroding egocentricity which is compatible with different creeds and religious convictions".

Works

Filmography

Hinduism:

* "Ashrams", 1959

Tibetan Buddhism:
* "Le Message des Tibétains: Le Bouddhisme (première partie)", 1966 [http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CPF86625778]
* "Le Message des Tibétains: Le Tantrisme (deuxième partie)", 1966 [http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CPF86625779] In this two-part documentary, Arnaud Desjardins discovers the practices and traditional rites of Tibetans, and meets the Dalai Lama and great spiritual masters of Buddhism and tantra.
* "Himalaya, Terre de Sérénité: Le Lac des Yogis (première partie)", 1968
* "Himalaya, Terre de Sérénité: Les Enfants de la Sagesse (deuxième partie)", 1968

Zen Buddhism:

* "Zen: Ici et Maintenant (première partie)", 1971
* "Zen: Partout et Toujours (deuxième partie)", 1971

Soufism:

* "Soufis D'Afghanistan: Maître et Disciple (première partie)", 1974
* "Soufis D'Afghanistan: Au Cœur des Confréries (deuxième partie)", 1974

Bibliography

* "Ashrams, Grands Maîtres de l'Inde", Paris, La Palatine, 1962
* "Yoga et Spiritualité, L'Hindouisme et Nous", Paris, La Palatine, 1964
* "Le Message des Tibétains", Paris, La Table ronde, 1966
* "Les Chemins de la Sagesse (Tomes I,II,III)", Paris, La Table ronde, 1968, 1970 and 1972
* "Monde Moderne et Sagesse Ancienne", Paris, La Table ronde, 1973
* "Adhyatma Yoga, À la Recherche du Soi I", Paris, La Table ronde, 1977
* "Le Védanta et l'Inconscient, À la Recherche du Soi II", Paris, La Table ronde, 1979
* "Au-Delà du moi, À la Recherche du Soi III", Paris, La Table ronde, 1979
* "Tu Es Cela, À la Recherche du Soi IV", Paris, La Table ronde, 1979
* "Un Grain de Sagesse", Paris, La Table ronde, 1983
* "Pour une Mort sans Peur", Paris, La Table ronde, 1983
* "Rencontre avec Arnaud & Denise Desjardins", Actes du colloque Institut Karma-Ling 16, 17, 18 July 1984, Prajna
* "Pour une Vie Réussie, un Amour Réussi", Paris, La Table ronde, 1985
* "Filigrane Vol. 1 - Entretiens avec Arnaud Desjardins et Christian Charrière, Argel, 1986
* "La Voie du Cœur", Paris, La Table ronde, 1987
* "L'Audace de Vivre", Paris, La Table ronde, 1989
* "Approches de la Méditation", Paris, La Table ronde, 1989
* "La Voie et ses Pièges", Paris, La Table ronde, 1992
* "Confidences Impersonnelles (Entretiens avec Gilles Farcet)", Paris, Critérion, 1991
* "Zen et Védanta", Paris, La Table Ronde, 1995
* "Dialogue à Deux Voies (avec Lama Denis Teundroup)", Paris, La Table ronde, 1995
* "L'Ami Spirituel (avec Véronique Loiseleur)", Paris, La Table ronde, 1996
* "Regards Sages sur un Monde Fou (Entretiens avec Gilles Farcet)", Paris, La Table ronde, 1997
* "Arnaud Desjardins - Textes recueillis par Marc de Smedt, Question de N°111, Albin Michel, 1998
* "En Relisant les Évangiles (avec Véronique Loiseleur)", Paris, La Table ronde, 1999
* "La conversion intime, Alice, 2000
* "Arnaud Desjardins au Québec", Montréal, Stanke, 2002
* "Retour à l'Essentiel", Paris, La Table ronde, 2002
* "La transmission spirituelle – Textes recueillis par Yvan Amar, Du Relié, 2003
* "Bienvenue sur la Voie", Paris, La Table ronde, 2004
* "Premiers pas vers la Sagesse, Collection Librio-Spiritualité N°661, Librio, 2004
* "Lettre à une jeune disciple", Paris, La Table ronde, 2006

Biographies

* "Arnaud Desjardins, ou l'Aventure de la Sagesse", Gilles Farcet, Paris, La Table Ronde, 1990
* "Arnaud Desjardins, l'Ami Spirituel", Jacques Mousseau, Paris, Perrin, 2002

See also

* Adhyatma yoga

External links

* [http://www.amis-hauteville.fr Official site]
* [http://www.films-arnaud-desjardins.com/ Films of Arnaud Desjardins]
* [http://supervielle.univers.free.fr/Arnaud_Desjardins/desjardins.htm To find out more about him and his spiritual masters]
* [http://www.francis-sigrist.org/desjardins.htm Resources, texts, and quotes about Arnaud Desjardins]
* [http://spinescent.blogspot.com/search?q=arnaud+desjardins Video extracts and texts of Arnaud Desjardins]