Personalia / Satprem

Satprem

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Bernard Enginger (30.10.1923 – 09.04.2007), Frenchman, disciple of the Mother. He was born in Paris. Breton was his calf-country.

During II World War was Gaullist. In late 1943 was arrested by Gestapo. One and a half year was at death camps.

After the War worked at colonial administration of Pondicherry. Visited one of the Darshans at Ashram. Then travelled at Guiana, Brasilia, Africa. All over he carried “The Life Divine” by Sri Aurobindo.

In 1953 returned to Pondicherry and settle in the Ashram. There he taught at the school, and was in charge of the French issues of “Bulletin of Physical Education”. On 3 March 1957, The Mother gave him the name Satprem (“the one who loves truly”).

Then tripped once more — Congo, Brasilia, Afghanistan, Himalayas, New Zealand, sailed round the world. In 1959 he was a disciple of Tantric, priest of temple in Ramesvaram. Then he was a disciple of another Yogi and wandered at India six months as a mendicant sanyasi practicing Tantra, which formed the basis of his second novel, Par le Corps de la Terre, ou le Sanyassin (By the Body of the Earth or, The Sanyasi).

In 1960 he returned again (as he put it, “the bird flew back once more”), to the Pondicherry Ashram and the Mother, who started inviting him from time to time to her room, originally for work in connection with the Bulletin. As their relationship developed, he asked more questions, and eventually decided to record their conversations, taking a tape-recorder to her room. The result of this collaboration was The Agenda, the first volume of which (which covers 1951 to 1960) also contains Satprem’s letters to The Mother during his wandering days

Also, under The Mother’s guidance he wrote Sri Aurobindo, ou l’Aventure de la Conscience (Sri Aurobindo, or the Adventure of Consciousness), which became the most popular introductory book to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother (published 1964). In 1972 and 1973 he also wrote under the Mother’s guidance the essay La Genese du Surhomme (On the Way to Supermanhood), which she regarded very highly. This was published in 1974.

In 1978 — Mother’s centenary year — the Ashram trustees ‘expelled’ Satprem because of his wish to publish, unexpurgated, the entire transcript of his talks with the Mother. Satprem described this period at his Notebooks of an Apocalypse. All of Satprem’s correspondence from 1962 to 1973 with the Mother was confiscated, and he went (secretly carrying away the tapes of the Agenda) to Harwood, Nilgiri, where he edited the 13 volumes of the Agenda, while at the same time wrote the trilogy Mère (Mother) — Le Matérialisme Divin (The Divine Materialism), L’Espèce Nouvelle (The New Species), La Mutation de la Mort (The Mutation of Death) — both a biography of the Mother and his own analyses and commentary on the Agenda material.

In 1982 all 13 volumes of the Agenda were published in French by the Institut de Recherches Evolutives (Institute for Evolutionary Research) in Paris. And Satprem felt he had completed all his external work. The following year, he and Sujata decided to withdraw completely from public life for sadhana.

The 1985 book La Vie sans Mort (Life without Death) is a follow-up to Mind of the Cells, co-written with Luc Venet, and provides a glimpse of Satprem in his post-Ashram life in this period.

In 1989, he wrote a brief autobiographical account, The Revolt of the Earth, in which he took stock of Man’s present situation. Evolution II followed three years later, a pithy record of Satprem’s journey through our human and terrestrial grave: “After Man, who? But the question is: After Man, how?”

In 1994, Satprem published Lettres d’un Insoumis (Letters of a Rebel), two volumes of autobiographical correspondence.

In 1995, he wrote La Tragédie de la Terre - de Sophocle à Sri Aurobindo (The Tragedy of the Earth - from Sophocles to Sri Aurobindo), which traces a curve from the Vedic and pre-Socratic era to our Iron Age and to Sri Aurobindo.

In 1998, he pulished La Clef des Contes (The Key of Tales).

In 1999, he wrote Néanderthal Regarde (Neanderthal Looks On), an essay on the betrayal of Man in India as in the West, and started publishing his multi-volume Notebooks of an Apocalypse, the record of his work in the depths of the body consciousness, in which he was brutally plunged after Mother’s departure in 1973. In French, seven volumes of Notebooks were published to the date, in English — only vol.1, 1973-1978.

In 2000 followed La Légende de l’Avenir (The Legend of the Future).

In 2002 followed Mémoires d’un Patagonien - Conte Préhistorique et Posthistorique (Memoires of a Patagonian - Prehistoric and Posthistoric Tale) and La Philosophie de l’Amour (The Philosophy of Love).

In 2008, the IRE published his last book L’Oiseau Doël (The Doël Bird).

On 9 April 2007 Satprem leaved his body at the age of 84. About last days of Satprem and Sujata see Nirmal Singh Nahar (elder brother of Sujata Nahar). On Satprem and Sujata: An Interview By Anurag Banerjee.

video

An Interview with Satprem:
The film by Davide Montemurri. India. 1982

Photos

Bibliography

In French

Satprem

In French

Gringo (1980)

• Paris: éditions Robert Laffont, 1980.- 230 p.- ISBN 2-221-07958-2

Satprem, d'une manière très vivante et dans un langage simple, fait le récit de sa vie, son enfance, les camps de concentration où il fut enfermé comme membre de la Résistance, puis ses périples à travers le monde jusqu'à sa rencontre avec Sri Aurobindo et Mère, et offre une excellente introduction à leur œuvre. Nouvelle édition augmentée d'une lettre inédite de Satprem datée de 1998, Lettre d'un autre âge.Un “Livre de la Jungle” à l’envers. Mâ, l’Ancienne de l’évolution, entraîne Gringo dans des aventures du passé et de l’avenir de la Terre, de la forêt pré-humaine à la forêt mystérieuse de demain.

Satprem

Carnets d’un Apocalypse = Notebooks of an Apocalypse (1999-)

Satprem

L’Espèce Nouvelle = SEE Mère

Satprem

L’Oiseau Doël = The Doël Bird (2008)

Satprem

In French

L’Orpailleur = The Gold washer (1960)

• roman.– Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1960.– 238 p.– ISBN 2-02-000946-3

Satprem

La Clef des Contes = The Key of the Tales (1998)

Satprem

In French

La Genèse du Surhomme = On the Way to Supermanhood (1974)

• : Essai d’évolution expérimentale.– Paris: Editions Buchet / Chastel, 1974.– 255 p.– ISBN 2-7020-1383-X

Satprem

La Légende de l’Avenir = The Legend of the Future (2000)

Satprem

La Mutation de la Mort = SEE Mère

Satprem

La Philosophie de l’Amour = The Philosophy of Love (2002)

Satprem

La Révolte de la Terre = The Revolt of the Earth (1989)

Satprem

In French

La Saison de la Vérité

• : Audiorecord.- In French / Written and read by Satprem

La Saison de la Vérité est le dernier chapitre de La Genèse du Surhomme (Ed. Buchet-Chastel). En 1970, au cours de ces entretiens qui ont formé l’Agenda de Mère, Satprem lisait à Mère cet Essai d’évolution expérimentale au fur et à mesure qu’il l’écrivait, et dont la première phrase annonce: Les Secrets sont simples. Parce que la Vérité est simple, c’est la plus simple chose au monde. Si La Genèse du Surhomme est d’une immense beauté poétique, elle n’en est pas moins une expérience concrète. Satprem s’adresse à l’homme de la rue qui, sur “son boulevard de tous les jours”, peut percevoir la raison d’être profonde, ce “Grand Sens”, derrière les apparences si désespérantes du monde actuel, et réaliser en lui-même ce changement de conscience qui est la clé de notre futur à tous.

Satprem

In French

La tragédie de la Terre: de Sophocle à Sri Aurobindo

Satprem

La Vie sans Mort = Life without Death (1985)

Satprem

In French

Le Grand Sens = The Great Sense

• : Audiorecord.- In French / Written and read by Satprem

Ce “message à la jeunesse” fut à l’origine écrit pour la télévision italienne. Satprem s’adresse aux étudiants, à ceux qui veulent faire la révolution de l’avenir par les moyens de l’avenir. Car en vérité, si nous voulons construire un monde nouveau, ce n’est pas par les moyens du passé que nous y parviendrons - ni par la violence ni par la non-violence. Mais par autre chose. Le Grand Sens figure dans l’Agenda de Mère - 1969.

Satprem

Le Matérialisme Divin = SEE Mère

Satprem

In French

Le Mental des Cellules = The Mind of the Cells (1980)

• Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont, 1981.– 198 p.– ISBN 2-221-00678-X

Satprem

In French

Lettres d’un Insoumis = Letters of a Rebel (1994). tome 1

• Institut de Recherches Йvolutives.- Paris: Robert Laffont, 1994.- tome 1. 1943-1953.- 375 p.- ISBN 2-221-07893-4

Satprem

In French

Lettres d’un Insoumis = Letters of a Rebel (1994). tome 2

• Institut de Recherches Йvolutives.- Paris: Robert Laffont, 1994.- tome 2. 1954-1982.- 566 p.- ISBN 2-221-07894-2

Satprem

Mémoires d’un Patagonien - Conte Préhistorique et Posthistorique = Memoires of a Patagonian - Prehistoric and Posthistoric Tale (2002)

Satprem

In French

Mère. L’Agenda

Satprem

In French

Mère: Essai.- Tome 1. Le Matérialisme Divin

• Paris: Robert Laffont, 1991.- 483 p.- ISBN 2-221-00173-7

Satprem

In French

Mère: Essai.- Tome 2. L’Espèce Nouvelle

• Paris: Robert Laffont, 1989.- 568 p.- ISBN 2-221-00174-5

Satprem

In French

Mère: Essai.- Tome 3. La Mutation de la Mort

• Paris: Robert Laffont, 1989.- 343 p.- ISBN 2-221-01021-3

Satprem

Néanderthal Regarde = Neanderthal Looks On (1999, 22 April)

Satprem

In French

Par le Corps de la Terre, ou le Sanyassin: histoire perpétuelle

• Paris: Robert Laffont, 1974.- 444 p.- ISBN 2-221-00280-6

Satprem

In French

Sept jours en Inde avec Satprem

• Proros recueillis par Frédéric de Towarnicki pour une série d'émissions diffusées par France-Culture.- Paris: Robert Laffont, 1981.- 206 p.- ISBN 2-221-00599-6

Satprem

In French

Sri Aurobindo et l’avenir de la terre = Sri Aurobindo and the Earth’s Future (9.12.1971)

Parfois, une grande pensée errante voit encore les âges inaccomplis, saisit la Force dans sa coulée éternelle et précipite sur la terre la vision puissante qui est comme un pouvoir de rendre réelle ce qu’elle voit. Ainsi débute ce texte qui fut écrit pour la Radio Indienne pour présenter Sri Aurobindo à l’occasion de son Centenaire, en 1972. Il figure dans l’Agenda de Mère - 1971.

Satprem

In French

Sri Aurobindo et l’Avenir de la Terre = Sri Aurobindo and the Earth’s Future

• : Audiorecord.- In French / Written and read by Satprem

Satprem

In French

Sri Aurobindo, ou l’Aventure de la Conscience = Sri Aurobindo, or The Adventure of Consciousness (1964)

In English

Satprem

By the body of the earth, or The sannyasi = Par le Corps de la Terre, ou le Sanyassin. (1974)

A novel of spiritual awakening, the soul’s journey from life to life culminating in an “impossible central point of destiny when a man must choose between catastrophe once again or breaking through to a new consciousness.”

Satprem

Divine Materialism SEE The Mother, or Divine Materialism

Satprem

The Doël Bird = L’Oiseau Doël (2008)

Satprem

Evolution II (1992)

One may ask the evolutionary question: After man, who? But the question the author poses is: After man, how? This book grapples with the processes of evolution beyond the present mortal state

Satprem

The Gold washer = L’Orpailleur (1960)

Satprem

In English

The Great Sense (1969)

Satprem

Gringo (1980)

Satprem

The Key of the Tales = La Clef des Contes (1998)

Satprem

The Legend of the Future = La Légende de l’Avenir (2000)

Satprem

Letters of a Rebel = Lettres d’un Insoumis (1994)

• In 2х volumes. 1947-1973

Correspondence in 2 volumes covering the period 1947-1973

Satprem

Lettres of an Unsubmissive person SEE Letters of a Rebel

Satprem

In English

Life without Death = La Vie sans Mort (1985)

Satprem describes the beginning of his own experience of physical transformation and explains that what is at stake is a change in the consciousness of the human cells that will give rise to a next being after man, as different from us as we are from our ancestor, the ape

Satprem

Memoires of a Patagonian - Prehistoric and Posthistoric Tale = Mémoires d’un Patagonien - Conte Préhistorique et Posthistorique (2002)

Satprem

In English

The Mind of the Cells = Le Mental des Cellules (1985)

A comprehensive view of Mother's 23-year experience in the cellular consciousness of the body, outlining the different stages of the exploration and the constant parallel between what she saw and experienced microscopically in the body and the destiny of the human race as a whole

Satprem

In English

Mother’s Agenda = Mère. L’Agenda

• In 13 volumes. (1951-1973)

Recorded by Satprem in the course of countless personal conversations with Mother, Sri Aurobindo’s companion and co-worker, the log of her fabulous exploration in the cellular consciousness of the body. Twenty-three years of experiences which parallel some of the most recent theories of modern physics. The key to man’s passage towards the next species.

Satprem

Mother’s Log (2007)

• noted by Satprem

Satprem

The Mother: Trilogy

Vol.1. Divine Materialism = Le Matérialisme Divin

This first volume in Satprem's trilogy is a biographical work based on Mother's own revealing comments about her early life and times excerpted from extensive conversations with the author as well as other sources. Recounts Mother's childhood experiences, her training in occultism with Max Théon, her meeting with Sri Aurobindo in 1914 and her work with him until 1950.

Satprem

The Mother: Trilogy

Vol.2. The New species = L’Espèce Nouvelle

Follows from 1950 to 1968 Mother's descent into the depths of the human body, leading her to the next mode of life on earth.

Satprem

In English

The Mother: Trilogy

Vol.3. Mutation of Death = La Mutation de la Mort

Records Mother’s struggle with the cellular transformation as her body becomes the field of tremendous battle between the Supramental force seeking to manifest itself and all the opposing forces of the ignorance and falsehood deeply entrenched in the human collective subconscient. Evokes Mother’s last years, from 1968 to 1973, the most critical and poignant period, and attempts to unveil the Secret.

Satprem

Mutation of Death SEE The Mother, or Mutation of Death

Satprem

In English

My Burning Heart (1981)

In a series of conversations, Satprem relates his own life of adventure and search, his meeting with Sri Aurobindo and Mother and their profound, spiritual impact on his life's purpose. Includes Mother's transformational quest and the deeply relevant meaning of her discoveries for humanity

Satprem

Neanderthal Looks On = Néanderthal Regarde (1999, 22 April)

In it, Satprem looks on the betrayal of Man which we are witnessing in the West as in India, and on the meaning of our « human transition » at the end of « this long detour of ages.» A powerful and moving text for those who feel baffled by the apparent negativity – and horror – all around us.

Satprem

The New species SEE The Mother, or The New species

Satprem

In English