Mouni Sadhu (17 August 1897 – 24 December 1971) was the pen name of Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski, a Polish-born author of spiritual, mystical, and esoteric subjects.
Dr. M. Hafiz Syed expressed it 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 and finally helped and guided him to discover his own eternal and ever-abiding self.
[5] Different commentators have presented conflicting accounts of his early life often based on alleged hearsay, both unsupported and unreferenced,[6][7] whilst providing very little in the way of evidence.
[9][10] In the chapter 'A Wish Fulfilled' of 'In Days of Great Peace', Mouni Sadhu reflected 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.
In the forward to that translation, Mouni Sadhu states; "In the previously mentioned Chapter XXXIX, the mysterious places in North-Eastern France still testify to the events described in it.
If we are prepared to accept this fact then his books take on a tremendous personal meaning for us,...."[14] In Mouni Sadhu's application for Australian citizenship, he states that he was born in Warsaw, Poland.
In the chapter IX, 'My Path to Maharshi', of 'In Days of Great Peace' he claims during this time in Paris, he was given the book A Search in Secret India by Paul Brunton.
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.
To help facilitate the practice of Vichara and meditation in general, Mouni Sadhu during this time in Paris, and being 'Catholic born and bred'[24] 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.
"[25] We see that Mouni Sadhu highly appreciated 'The Imitation of Christ' and also the 'Vivekachudamani' ('Crest Jewel of Wisdom')[26] 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?')
About this time, Mouni Sadhu came into contact with the head of the Ramakrishna Mission in Paris,[27] the eminent Swami Siddheshwarananda,[28] whom the Ashram of Sri Maharshi recommended him to visit.
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.
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, Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950).
"[30][31] As a young man in Europe, from 1926 to 1933,[32] Mouni Sadhu belonged to an order of Rosicrucian Hermetists and published a number of articles on Tarot Hermetic philosophy as well as spirituality.
The term is sometimes taken to mean knowledge that "is meant only for certain people" or that "must be kept hidden", but for most practicing occultists it is simply the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences.
'[45] In his preface to Concentration Mouni Sadhu introduces the reader to the works of Yogi Ramacharaka and Yoga,[46] stating: 'More than half a century ago [Mouni Sadhu was writing in the mid to late 1950s] a gifted and experienced American- William Walker Atkinson, writing under the pen-name of Yogi Ramacharaka, published a series of very useful books on Eastern philosophy and Yoga, which were wisely and purposefully based on his 'Eclectic Method'.
He saw and foresaw the dangers, misunderstandings and problems associated with this, and one can see too a rationale and a desire for clarity, wisdom, service and advice to pupils of his works in his writing about esoteric matters.
In chapter IX of 'Concentration', Mouni Sadhu states, "Perhaps in no other subdivision of human knowledge does their reign such disorder or lack of a system, as in occult problems.
Indian Yogi, Muslim haji, Christian devotee, religionless occultist, nameless seeker of God or Truth, farmer, minister, engineer, sailor, merchant, for one and all of these men a unifying message had to be created: one that did not deny their former creeds but gave them a common luminous ideal whose peak could not be transcended by any previous theories and conceptions.
"[51] In 1949, Mouni Sadhu spent several months at the ashram of Ramana Maharshi, (Sri Ramanasramam) in Tiruvannamalai situated at the foot of the sacred mountain Arunachala in South India, worshiped since ancient days as the physical manifestation of Siva.
That coupled with the earlier years of his inner striving in pursuit of Truth and Realisation qualified him as one well prepared to sit at the feet of the Great Rishi whose life and teaching were those of a genuine spiritual Master decreed to humanity in this our modern world.
My purpose is to record that which the latter do not yet contain, namely, the real experiences of an average man, who wanted to know for himself what the presence of a great Sage means and what its influence is.
"[56][57][58][59][60] All quotations and sources of Sri Maharshi's teaching given by Mouni Sadhu can be relied upon and proven to be completely accurate and authentic, despite false claims to the contrary.
A number of reviewers and sources who have not understood or appreciated the practical nature of Mouni Sadhu's works, have unjustly described him as self-promoting.
The fact is that he was completely anonymous and some of the books are connected, like any practical manual on a specifically technical subject, and are linked to, and sometimes prerequisites for,[64] particular areas of study or levels of development.
For example, he says in Samadhi: the Superconsciousness of the Future; "I mentioned a 'new' type of consciousness, a wider and brighter one, in two former books, which form the first and second parts of my mystic trilogy, being respectively: In Days of Great Peace and Concentration.
In Days of Great Peace deals with the experiences leading to the enlargement of consciousness, while Concentration gives the necessary explanations and techniques for the first step, that is, domination of one's mind.
This book speaks about the ultimate aim, the achievement of Superconsciousness-Samadhi, and the way to it"[65] So we begin to see that in the second book Concentration.an Outline for Practical Study, specific aspects of the spiritual Christian Tradition start to emerge, especially in the chapter IX The Western Tradition (Heart before Mind) were for example Mouni Sadhu explains, "As the Eastern occult schools treat concentration as a means for achievement for the highest goal, so the mind takes precedence over the heart.
I am not including here the numerous and usually short-lived occult societies and groups, most of which were and still are occupied with aims which have practically nothing in common with the great task of transformation and purification of the human mind.