Page 33 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
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GFA – A Different Drumbeat 33
Alexandra David-Néel was a fascinating character. She was a Belgian-French explorer,
spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist and writer, who wrote over 30 books about Eastern religion,
philosophy, and her travels. While travelling in the Himalayas some time after 1914, she
met a 14-year-old Tibetan boy named Aphur (Albert) Yongden. The stocky, bespectacled
young man was one of her retinue of servants; he was also studying to become a lama in
the red-hat sect of Mahayana (Tibetan) Buddhism. Over the next 40-plus years, Yongden
would serve as David-Néel’s faithful companion, researcher, collaborator, and fellow
explorer. She would eventually adopt him as her son and name him as her heir.
David-Néel and Yongden arrived in Peking in October 1917. David-Néel’s plan called for
them to travel 1,800 miles across western China to the monastery of Kum Bum. By chance,
in Peking, David-Néel met a rich Tibetan lama from Kum Bum, and gladly accepted his offer
to join his caravan for his long return trip home.
The two wanderers joined the lama and headed west on the caravan trail in January 1918.
Their journey through a land rife with banditry and civil war and riddled with disease proved
both difficult and dangerous. Civil strife in China had commenced with the collapse of the
Manchu dynasty in 1911-1912 and continued off and on until the final Communist victory in
1949. In “Magic and Mystery in Tibet”, David-Néel recounted some of her experiences while
en route to Kum Bum:
On July 12, 1918, after six months on the road, travelling through GFA’s territory,
contending with untold hardships and life-threatening situations, David-Néel and Yongden
arrived at their destination.
This was the person that Miles Lampson asked GFA to report on. Here is GFA’s report sent
on 19th June 1918:
Madame Alexandria David-Neel left here for Kweiteh (in the Sining district, on the
Tibetan border) Last Friday the 14th-inst. I believe she claims to have a passport
from the French Legation in Peking. She lived some years in India on the Tibetan
border and was refused permission to enter Tibet by the British authorities. On her
card she describes herself as a Professor of Brussels University Extension. To the
natives she states herself to be a Buddhist nun. She knows the German monks
(Buddhist) who formerly resided in Ceylon but have now been interned in Australia.
She reads and speaks Tibetan fluently. She once or twice led us to believe during
conversations that she might enter Tibet from this side. Her husband holds a civil
engineer’s position under the French Government in Algiers. There is certainly some
mystery about the lady and I would respectfully suggest that if she be allowed to
remain here that she be carefully watched. She has with her a young Tibetan lama
from the Indian side whom she looks upon as an adopted son.
Another traveler that Miles Simpson asked him to report on was Ameer Nuddin. Here is
Miles Simpson’s request and GFA’s report.
Alexandra David-Néel was a fascinating character. She was a Belgian-French explorer,
spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist and writer, who wrote over 30 books about Eastern religion,
philosophy, and her travels. While travelling in the Himalayas some time after 1914, she
met a 14-year-old Tibetan boy named Aphur (Albert) Yongden. The stocky, bespectacled
young man was one of her retinue of servants; he was also studying to become a lama in
the red-hat sect of Mahayana (Tibetan) Buddhism. Over the next 40-plus years, Yongden
would serve as David-Néel’s faithful companion, researcher, collaborator, and fellow
explorer. She would eventually adopt him as her son and name him as her heir.
David-Néel and Yongden arrived in Peking in October 1917. David-Néel’s plan called for
them to travel 1,800 miles across western China to the monastery of Kum Bum. By chance,
in Peking, David-Néel met a rich Tibetan lama from Kum Bum, and gladly accepted his offer
to join his caravan for his long return trip home.
The two wanderers joined the lama and headed west on the caravan trail in January 1918.
Their journey through a land rife with banditry and civil war and riddled with disease proved
both difficult and dangerous. Civil strife in China had commenced with the collapse of the
Manchu dynasty in 1911-1912 and continued off and on until the final Communist victory in
1949. In “Magic and Mystery in Tibet”, David-Néel recounted some of her experiences while
en route to Kum Bum:
On July 12, 1918, after six months on the road, travelling through GFA’s territory,
contending with untold hardships and life-threatening situations, David-Néel and Yongden
arrived at their destination.
This was the person that Miles Lampson asked GFA to report on. Here is GFA’s report sent
on 19th June 1918:
Madame Alexandria David-Neel left here for Kweiteh (in the Sining district, on the
Tibetan border) Last Friday the 14th-inst. I believe she claims to have a passport
from the French Legation in Peking. She lived some years in India on the Tibetan
border and was refused permission to enter Tibet by the British authorities. On her
card she describes herself as a Professor of Brussels University Extension. To the
natives she states herself to be a Buddhist nun. She knows the German monks
(Buddhist) who formerly resided in Ceylon but have now been interned in Australia.
She reads and speaks Tibetan fluently. She once or twice led us to believe during
conversations that she might enter Tibet from this side. Her husband holds a civil
engineer’s position under the French Government in Algiers. There is certainly some
mystery about the lady and I would respectfully suggest that if she be allowed to
remain here that she be carefully watched. She has with her a young Tibetan lama
from the Indian side whom she looks upon as an adopted son.
Another traveler that Miles Simpson asked him to report on was Ameer Nuddin. Here is
Miles Simpson’s request and GFA’s report.
