René Daumal
René Daumal (1908–1944) was a French novelist, poet, essayist, and short-story writer. In 1928, he co-founded the literary magazine Le grand jeu. He received the Jacques Doucet Prize in 1936 for Le Contre ciel. He passed away in 1944.
Rasa
by René Daumal
Rasa, or Knowledge of the Self is the first gathering in English translation of essays and review articles on Hindu aesthetics and translations from the Sanskrit by the French writer René Daumal (1908-44). A member of the Simplist group associated from 1928 to 1932 with the journal Le Grand Jeu (”The Great Game”), he began cultivating his East Indian studies as an extension of his active pursuit of the avant-garde. In 1932, he made the acquaintance of Uday Shankar, becoming secretary to the latter’s Hindu dance troupe and accompanying it that year on its premier American tour.…
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For Daumal, intellect and spirit did not obscure the heart, the reality of daily life upon which and from which liberation was conceived.—Louise Landes Levi
