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Mouni Sadhu (17 August 189724 December 1971) was the ''nom de plume'' of Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski, an author of spiritual, mystical and esoteric subjects. Although born in Poland and living there until the outbreak World War II, he eventually settled in Australia and became a naturalised Australian citizen in the early 1950s. As a writer his subject matter concerned Western and Eastern spirituality firstly, and also occultism both Western and Eastern, including Hermeticism, and the Yoga tradition of India. His greatest personal influence was Ramana Maharshi. The name "Mouni Sadhu"〔मो उनिसधु〕 means "Silent (''Mouni'')〔def. of mouna ref.mouna (mauna) (): Silence; the Truth of Brahman, expressed by the Brahman-knower by his mere abidence in stillness〕 Holy man (''Sadhu'') or monk in Sanskrit. His literary estate was left to the Australian Society of Authors, of which he was a member.〔http://www.asauthors.org/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=ASP0016/ccms.r?PageId=10133〕 The royalties that have accrued from the estate now provide for services to Australian authors. ==Biographical details== Hard and fast information about Mouni Sadhu's early life is hampered by the fact that the author was often reluctant to speak about his background. Dr. M. Hafiz Syed expressed it clearly and concisely in his ''Foreword'' to 'In Days of Great Peace' saying of Mouni Sadhu, "As an earnest seeker he pursued several methods of God realization as taught by various schools of Yoga, occultism and mysticism and finally came to his supreme Master and Guru, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi who finding him well equipped with the necessary qualifications..., granted him His Grace, eradicated his ego-sense (as reported by the author himself) and finally helped and guided him to discover his own eternal and ever-abiding Self."〔Mouni Sadhu,'In Days of Great Peace' 2nd edition revised and enlarged, published 1957 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd, pg 6〕 The pseudonym 'Mouni Sadhu' (Silent Monk),〔Monk〕 indicates the fact that Mouni Sadhu's books are about the practical teachings embodied therein and the purpose and message entrusted him, and on a number of occasions he indicates that he felt that it was his spiritual Master who was directing the authors pen, certainly as far as the spiritual message contained in his works.〔'Initiations' by Paul Sedir, Translated from the French by Mouni Sadhu, Regency Press London 1967, pg 9〕 Also, different commentators have furnished conflicting accounts of his early life often based on alleged hearsay, both unsupported and unreferenced,〔Rafal T Prinke: Mouni Sadhu Revealed, "The Lamp of Thoth", (UK ) Vol. II, 1983, No 5.〕〔'Mouni Sadhu as I Knew him.' by Nicholas Tereschenko, "The Lamp of Thoth, (UK ) Vol:III No1."〕 whilst furnishing very little in the way of evidence. Be that as it may, there is a certain amount of biographical information contained within his books that can be relied upon as being authentic and factual. We know, for example, that Mouni Sadhu studied Hermetism exclusively between 1926-1933, based to a large degree on the lectures of G.O. Mebes, which were obtained 'from a Russian refugee who brought the book with him in 1919, when fleeing his country which had just fallen into Communist hands.'〔Mouni Sadhu, 'The Tarot: a Contemporary Course of the Quintessence of Hermetic Occultism' 1st edition pub. 1962 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd., pages 12 and 13.〕 Prior to that, "At 25 years of age, Theosophy attracted my attention. Its smooth and logical theories pleased my reason, as did the impeccable style of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeatter. For some time I corresponded with both. Then the honesty and idealism of the firsts President of the T.S. -Col.Olcott- and the mysterious and powerful personality of Madame Blavatsky, could not be disregarded." .〔'In Days of Great Peace' 2nd edition, revised and enlarged 1957, page 49, pub. George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕〔Annie Besant, Charles Webster Leadbeater, Henry Steele Olcott, Helena Blavatsky, Theosophical Society〕 In the chapter ' A Wish Fulfilled ' of 'In Days of Great Peace', Mouni Sadhu looks back on his life as a young man; "Many years ago, under the sky of far-off country of Europe, in the third year of the terrible conflagration of the first World War, a young man in military uniform was sitting on the platform of a small railway station waiting for his train. It was to take him to the front line, where the fire of battle was then raging, a fire from which so many never returned.. Compelled by the storm of war to leave his family and his studies, he sat there brooding over the fate that awaited him in a few days. It was the beginning of Autumn, a season when the dark night skies are often cut by the fiery lines of 'falling stars', of meteors."〔'In Days of Great Peace' 2nd edition revised and enlarged 1957, pub. George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕 In 1935 Mouni Sadhu visited France.〔' In Days of Great Peace ' 2nd. edition revised and enlarged, page 51〕 In Paris he visited the headquarters of the Association of Spiritual Friendships (Amities Spirituelles),〔http://www.amities-spirituelles.fr/〕 founded by Paul Sédir. Mouni Sadhu's last book published in 1967 was in fact an English translation from the French of Paul Sédir's book ''Initiations''. In the forward to that translation Mouni Sadhu mentions; "In the previously mentioned Chapter XXXIX, the mysterious places in North-Eastern France still testify to the events described in it. So obviously, the author knew of them from his own personal experience, which I could see for myself when I visited those places a few years before 1939. Sedir was by no means an imaginative fiction writer, who fed his readers on his own literary inventions. If we are prepared to accept this fact then his books take on a tremendous personal meaning for us,...."〔'Initiations' by Paul Sedir, translated from the French by Mouni Sadhu, pub. 1967 by Regency Press, 'Foreword' page 7.〕 In Mouni Sadhu's application for Australian citizenship, he states that he was born in Warsaw, Poland. He married, in 1933, Catherine Gunt, who died six years later in September 1939, in Vilno, Poland,〔Battle of Wilno (1939)〕 in a bomb-attack coinciding with the outbreak of World War Two. One can deduce with certainty that Mouni Sadhu was taken as a prisoner of War on 19 September in the Battle of Wilno (1939)〔Wilno Voivodeship (1926-1939)〕 and remained a prisoner of war in the USSR until November. From there he was transferred as a prisoner of war in Germany until 1945. He was released in 1945 and served with the US Army in France until November 1946. In the chapter IX, ' My Path to Maharshi ', of ' In Days of Great Peace ' it is revealed that during this time in Paris, he was given the book ''A Search on Secret India'' by Paul Brunton; " Soon after my visit to France, family life, and later the Second World War, brought me a period of darkness. I forgot all my previous endeavours. Not earlier than spring of 1945 an elderly lady, with whom I sometimes spoke of Theosophy, lent me Paul Brunton's ''A Search in Secret India''. She literally forced me to take the book, for I was by no means eager to read it; but the last two chapters, where the author describes his visit to Maharshi, were decisive. At last I had found my true Master."〔'In Days of Great Peace, 2nd ed. revised and enlarged, pub 1957 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd., page 53.〕 From there began the process of putting the Teaching of the Maharshi into practice, specifically in the form of Vichara,〔'In Days of Great Peace' 2nd ed. revised and enlarged, chpt. IX pages 50 and 51, chpt XIII 'The Direct Path' page 69, all of chpt XIV 'The Technique of Vichara'〕〔Mouni Sadhu, 'Samadhi' Chapter XIII, 'The Law of Transformation', pg.93, pub. by George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1962.〕〔Mouni Sadhu, 'Samadhi' Chapter XVI, 'Defeats and Downfalls', pg.124, pub. by George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1962.〕〔Mouni Sadhu, 'Samadhi' Chapter XVII, 'The Motive Power of Hope' pg.126, pub. 1962 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕 the Self-enquiry, ( also called The Direct Path )〔Mouni Sadhu, ' Ways to Self Realization: a modern evaluation of occultism and spiritual paths ', pg.x of Foreword, pub. in the USA 1962 by the Julian Press Inc.〕〔Mouni Sadhu, 'In Days of Great Peace' pg.10, 2nd.ed., revised and enlarged, pub.1957 George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕〔Mouni Sadhu, 'Concentration, chpt.X 'Obstacles and Aids', pg.58 pub.1959 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕 or Quest of the Self, (Overself in the Vedantic sense), and of beginning the process of preparation that enabled Mouni Sadhu to reach the ashram of the great Rishi in 1949. To help facilitate the practice of Vichara and meditation in general, Mouni Sadhu during this time in Paris, and being 'Catholic born and bred'〔Mouni Sadhu , letter to Thomas Merton February 1965, Copyright, Merton Legacy Trust. ref. Thomas Merton Center (Louisville)〕 visited the Saint Vincent de Paul Monastery (Headquarters at Rue Sèvres), the Prior there knowing of his interest in Maharshi. Similarly, in the chapter, ' My Path to Maharshi ' he explains, "A friend in Paris, a Roman Catholic priest, a well-educated and elderly man with whom I sometimes corresponded, knew of my endeavours without in any way attempting to dissuade me from them. I wrote saying to him that I wanted to find a place in which to live for some months, where quiet meditation would be possible. He kindly recommended his own monastery. Anyone, he said, who is a Roman Catholic and feels a need for spiritual concentration can go there for a time, take part in the simple life of its inmates according to his own inner capacity. Intuitively I felt that this is what I was seeking.".〔'In Days of Great Peace' 2nd edition revised and enlarged 1957, Chapter IX 'My Path To Maharshi' page 54〕 He goes on to say, "Another priest visited me and asked what books I would like to read. Very gently he suggested a study of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. He was immensely pleased when I told him that was the very book for which I would have asked."〔'In Days of Great Peace' 2nd edition revised and enlarged 1957, Chapter IX 'My Path To Maharshi' page 54〕 We see that Mouni Sadhu highly appreciated the ' The Imitation of Christ ' and also the ' Vivekachudamani ' ( 'Crest Jewel of Wisdom ' )〔Sankaracharya, Viveka-Chudamani ( 'The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom' ) (Translation by Mohini M. Chatterji ) India, 1888〕 of Sri Sanakaracharya (Adi Sankara) the classic treatise of Advaita Vedanta, both of which he quoted extensively in his first published booklet ' Quem Sou Eu ' ( ' Who am I? ' ) published in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1948. Both of these works he subsequently quotes in all of his books and particularly as themes for meditation. About this time Mouni Sadhu came in contact with the head of the Ramakrishna Mission in Paris,〔'In Days of Great Peace' chpt.IX 'My Path to Maharshi' pg. 56 2nd ed. revised and enlarged pub. 1957 by George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕 the eminent Swami Siddheshwarananda,〔'Samadhi; the Superconsciousness of the Future' chpt.II 'Development of the Subtle Senses and the Superconsciousness in Man' pg. 20, First published in 1962, Second impression 1971, pub by George Allen and Unwin Ltd.〕 whom the Ashram of Sri Maharshi recommended him to visit. So between 1946 and 1948 he lived for two years in Brazil, before emigrating to Australia. We learn that during this time he forms or is part of an, 'Arunachala Group' there and that his booklet '' Quem Sou Eu '' is a Portuguese translation of notes typed by him.〔Mouni Sadhu, 'In Days of Great Peace; at the Feet of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Diary Leaves from India' 1st edition October 1952, printed by Ramnarayan Press, Gandhinagar, Bangalore, India, page 175〕 He arrived in Sydney, Australia on 17 September 1948 aboard the SS Bernhard and then proceeded to Melbourne, arriving on 1 September 1948. Mouni Sadhu settled in Melbourne the remainder of his life. On the 7/5/1949 he left Australia to visit India, having received an invitation to stay some months at the Ashram of Sri Ramanasramam , founded around the contemporary spiritual Master, Sri Ramana Maharshi (1889-1950). His experiences there are beautifully described in the first book of his Mystic Trilogy entitled 'In Days of Great Peace'. He returned to Australia arriving 23 September 1949. In 1953 Mouni Sadhu in his 'Application for Naturalization as an Australian Citizen' declares,"Since his return he has resided continuously in Melbourne and is employed as an Electrical mechanic by the Melbourne City Council". In the same document he states that his further occupation is that of "part-time writer."〔Sadhu, M, (), (Declaration for Australian Citizenship ), accessed 2009-05-01〕〔Sadhu, M, (), (Declaration for Australian Citizenship ), accessed 2009-05-01〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mouni Sadhu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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