Lilian Silburn, a Mystical Life: Letters, Documents, Testimonials: A Biography by

Jacqueline Chambron

THIS BOOK PRESENTS THE LIFE AND WORK OF LILIAN SILBURN (1908- 1993), one of the greatest French Indianists, and a specialist in Kashmir Shaivism, Tantrism and Buddhism.

A philosopher by training, and director of research at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), Lilian Silburn turned to Oriental philosophies very early on.

She was one of the first to make known in the West the writings of the Kashmiri mystical philosophers.

She was also a disciple of a great Indian Sufi master, Radha Mohan Lal Adhauliya-"Bhai Sahib"- with whom she will make many and long stays until his death in 1966.

Composed of a large number of personal writings never published to date, this book presents us with the testimony of an exceptional spiritual and philosophical experience.

It also evokes the atmosphere of the life she led near Paris in Le Vésinet after the death of her master ... a simple, active life, devoted to her Work.

Surrounded by friends attracted by her personality and her spiritual "efficiency," Lilian Silburn endeavored to help others discover, within the silence and the most varied forms of ordinary life, the "non-way" which had been revealed to her by her master.

Illustrated with photographs, Lilian Silburn: A Mystical Life contains various testimonies which give a fuller view of this extraordinary personality- both a great scholar and a great mystic.

Endorsements and Praise

for Lilian Silburn: A Mystical Life

The reader has in their hands an exceptional spiritual document describing the mystical experience of a contemporary woman, Lilian Silburn, who, having met and merged with a master in India, then returned to Europe to share the experience of "transmission" from heart to heart.

  - Exceptional because it is a direct testimony: extracts from Lilian Silburn's diary, and correspondence between her and her guru, which sheds light on their deep relationship, and many photographs.

  - Exceptional because this book tells us about the experience of deep silence, an ineffable experience, beyond words, but loaded with meaning.

         -- L.M.

In contrast to the ocean of "spiritual" literature that surrounds us, we finally have the biography of an exceptional contemporary mystic: Lilian Silburn. It is written by a close friend, Jacqueline Chambron, who relied on Lilian's personal archives and the testimonies of those close to her.

    Jacqueline Chambron tells us how this intrepid woman traveled alone to India after WWII to seek a Master capable of fulfilling her demanding spiritual quest. Through the Sanskrit texts that she had read as an Indianist philosopher, she knew that it was possible for some masters to transmit grace directly from heart to heart, without resorting to any technique.

     -- M.T.