Sadhus : Going Beyond the Dreadlocks

Contents: Foreword. Prologue. Part I: 1. First day. 2. A world of words. 3. Encounters. 4. What did you see. 5. Nothingness. 6. I met him in Varanasi. Part II: 7. Varanasi, 5 years earlier. 8. An inclusive logic. 9. Naresh, Laurie, Jane and others. 10. Give up the benefits of illusion. 11. I live where you live. 12. Peace. Part III: 13. Initiation. 14. Begging. 15. Bang Handi Mandir. 16. Mr. Pivel. 17. Connor. 18. Pushkar, on the Ghats. 19. A sadhu at work. 20. Miracle babas, sorcerers and other mysteries. 21. Babaji Baba and Balayogi. 22. Shanti Guha. Acknowledgements. Glossary.

"There are millions of them--these wandering Indian renunciants, begging monks, mystical walkers, roaming philosophers, miracle-workers, hashish smokers, holy men.... but little is known about them. They are often photographed yet their worlds are seldom heard. 

Some began this way of life from childhood, others were civil servants, shopkeepers, real estate agents, thieves..... they left their families and jobs to become renunciants, sadhus. They refuse to work; and vow not to accept any wages. They pursue the path of liberation. 

A few accomplish rigorous austerities, but most of them dedicate themselves to non-action. In a world verging on its short term ecological doom and demographic tsunami, the sadhus are the messengers of a kind of freedom and moderation that our commercial civilization has forgotten, with its preaching of labour, consumption, economic growth and competition.

Patrick Levy recounts their everyday lives, the respect they are given and how they make use of it, their teachings, their philosophy and the way they transform it into a lifestyle.

\'Sadhus-Going Beyond the Dreadlocks\' is a novel written in the form of a road movie. It is a spiritual journey into the world of Sadhus."