A British Globe Trotter of the Past
Kees Boukema
The English writer W. Somerset Maugham was born on January 25, 1874 in Paris, where his father worked as a lawyer at the British Embassy. His mother died when he was eight and his father, two years later. His upbringing was taken over by an uncle; a vicar in the English coastal town of Whitstable, not far from Canterbury. In 1891, much to his uncle’s dismay, he did not go to Oxford to train as a minister, but to Heidelberg University to study European languages. He completed his studies in London, training as a doctor.
Initially, he made his living by writing plays. With success. At one point, four of his plays ran simultaneously in London theaters. The income enabled him to do what he loved most: travel. Maugham spoke French, English, German, Italian and Spanish without an accent and was able to adapt to changing circumstances without any problem. These qualities not only served him well on his many travels, but also made him extremely suitable for a job with the English Secret Service. This was a problem for his biographers, because Maugham was used to covering his tracks as much as possible.
In any case, it is certain that he traveled through Spain in 1904 and then lived for some time in Paris. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, he worked as an ambulance doctor in field hospitals in Belgium and France. In 1915 he was transferred to the security service with the assignment: Spying on spies. First in Switzerland, then in Russia. In the revolution year 1917 he had to flee to Sweden to avoid arrest. During the Interwar period, Maugham traveled through South-East Asia and stayed in Malaysia, Borneo, Burma and the South Sea islands. There he came into contact with a completely different way of life and a different type of people; strange and familiar at the same time: “I found a new Self.”, as he succinctly put it [Ivor Brown, W. Somerset Maugham, p.10].
In 1936 he was in India. Not to shoot tigers or sell products, but – to the pleasant surprise of its host in Madras – to meet writers, artists and religious teachers. Maugham had read biographies of Theresa of Avila and Francis of Assisi, but had never imagined that he would ever meet a saint in person. His host puts him in touch with Ramana Maharshi, a legendary Hindu saint at the time, who lived at the foot of Mount Arunachala, a few hours’ drive from Madras.
Once there, Maugham suddenly became unwell and lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he felt too sick to get up. Moments later, the Maharshi came to visit him to the hut where he is housed. Maugham writes about this:
“He uttered a few words of cordial greeting and sat down on the ground not far from the pallet on which I lay. After the first minutes, during which his eyes with a gentle benignity rested on my face, he ceased to look at me, but, with a sidelong stare of peculiar fixity, gazed, as it were, over my shoulder. His body was absolutely still, but now and then one of his feet tapped lightly on the earthen floor. He remained thus, motionless, for perhaps a quarter of an hour; and they told me later that he was concentrating in meditation upon me. Then he came to, if I may so put it, and again looked at me. Ha asked me whether I wished to say anything to him, or ask him any question. I was feeling weak and ill, and said so; where upon he smiled and said: ‘Silence also is conversation’.
He turned his head away slightly and resumed his concentrated meditation, again looking as it were, over my shoulder. No one said a word, the other persons in the hut, standing by the door, kept their eyes riveted upon him. After another quarter of an hour, he got up, bowed, smiled a farewell, and slowly, leaning on his stick, followed by his disciples, he limped out of the hut.
I do not know whether it was the consequence of the rest or of the Swami’s meditation, but I certainly felt very much better, and in a little while I was well enough to go into the hall where he sat by day and slept by night. ” [Points of View, p. 53].
In Chapter VI of his novel The Razor’s Edge, Maugham has incorporated this encounter and his introduction to Vedanta. He warns the reader, who wishes to continue following the thread of the story, that he can skip this chapter but, immediately adds, that without the events described in it, he himself may not have even started this book.
It is plausible that it is precisely this chapter of the book that American author J.D. Salinger [see Mr Kees Boukema’s article about Salinger in our June 2022 issue. Please go to Archives] on the trail to delve into Vedanta and drastically change his way of life. Apparently he was not deterred by the Sutra Maugham had given the book: “Like the sharp edge of a razor, the sages say, is the path. Narrow it is and difficult to tread.” [Katha Upanishad. I, 3, 14.].
Een Britse wereldreiziger
Kees Boukema
De Engelse schrijver W. Somerset Maugham werd op 25 januari 1874 geboren in Parijs, waar zijn vader als jurist op de Britse Ambassade werkte. Zijn moeder stierf toen hij acht was en zijn vader twee jaar later. Zijn opvoeding werd overgenomen door een oom; dominee in het Engelse kustplaatsje Whitstable, niet ver van Canterbury . In 1891 ging hij, tot ontsteltenis van zijn oom, niet naar Oxford om een opleiding tot predikant te volgen, maar naar de universiteit van Heidelberg om er Europese talen te studeren. Hij sloot zijn studie af in Londen, met een opleiding tot arts.
Aanvankelijk voorzag hij in zijn onderhoud met het schrijven van toneelstukken. Met succes: Op een gegeven moment liepen vier van zijn stukken tegelijk in Londense theaters. De inkomsten stelden hem in staat om te doen wat hij het liefste deed: reizen. Maugham sprak accentloos Frans, Engels, Duits, Italiaans en Spaans en kon zich probleemloos aanpassen aan veranderende omstandigheden. Deze eigenschappen kwamen hem niet alleen goed van pas op zijn vele reizen, maar maakten hem ook uitermate geschikt voor een baan bij de Engelse ‘Secret Service’. Voor zijn biografen vormde dit wel een probleem, want Maugham was gewend om zijn sporen zoveel mogelijk uit te wissen.
Vast staat in ieder geval, dat hij in 1904 door Spanje reisde en daarna enige tijd in Parijs heeft gewoond. Na het uitbreken van de eerste wereldoorlog in 1914, werkte hij als ambulance-arts in veldhospitalen in België en Frankrijk. In 1915 werd hij overgeplaatst naar de veiligheidsdienst met als opdracht: Het bespioneren van spionnen. Eerst in Zwitserland, daarna in Rusland. In het revolutiejaar 1917 moest hij uitwijken naar Zweden om aan arrestatie te ontkomen. Tijdens het Interbellum reisde Maugham door Zuid-Oost Azië en verbleef onder meer in Maleisië, Borneo, Burma en op de Zuidzee eilanden. Daar kwam hij in contact met een totaal andere manier van leven en een ander type mensen; vreemd en vertrouwd tegelijk: “I found a new Self.”, zoals hij het bondig uitdrukte [Ivor Brown, W. Somerset Maugham, p.10].
In 1936 is hij in India. Niet om er tijgers te schieten of producten te verkopen, maar – tot aangename verrassing van zijn gastheer in Madras – om er schrijvers, kunstenaars en religieuze leraren te ontmoeten. Maugham had biografieën gelezen van Theresa van Avila en Franciscus van Assisi, maar niet gedacht dat hij ooit een heilige in levende lijve zou ontmoeten. Zijn gastheer brengt hem in contact met Ramana Maharshi, een in die tijd al legendarische hindoe heilige, die leefde aan de voet van de berg Arunachala, een paar uur rijden van Madras.
Daar aangekomen wordt Maugham plotseling onwel en verliest het bewustzijn. Als hij weer bij kennis komt, voelt hij zich te ziek om op te staan. Even later komt de Maharshi hem opzoeken in de hut waar hij is ondergebracht. Maugham schrijft daarover:
“He uttered a few words of cordial greeting and sat down on the ground not far from the pallet on which I lay. After the first minutes, during which his eyes with a gentle benignity rested on my face, he ceased to look at me, but, with a sidelong stare of peculiar fixity, gazed, as it were, over my shoulder. His body was absolutely still, but now and then one of his feet tapped lightly on the earthen floor. He remained thus, motionless, for perhaps a quarter of an hour; and they told me later that he was concentrating in meditation upon me. Then he came to, if I may so put it, and again looked at me. Ha asked me whether I wished to say anything to him, or ask him any question. I was feeling weak and ill, and said so; where upon he smiled and said: ‘Silence also is conversation’.
He turned his head away slightly and resumed his concentrated meditation, again looking as it were, over my shoulder. No one said a word, the other persons in the hut, standing by the door, kept their eyes riveted upon him. After another quarter of an hour, he got up, bowed, smiled a farewell, and slowly, leaning on his stick, followed by his disciples, he limped out of the hut.
I do not know whether it was the consequence of the rest or of the Swami’s meditation, but I certainly felt very much better, and in a little while I was well enough to go into the hall where he sat by day and slept by night.” [Points of View, p. 53].
In hoofdstuk VI van zijn roman ‘The Razor’s Edge’ heeft Maugham deze ontmoeting en zijn kennismaking met Vedanta verwerkt. Hij waarschuwt de lezer die de draad van het verhaal wil blijven volgen, dat hij dit hoofdstuk ook kan overslaan maar, voegt er direct aan toe, dat hijzelf zonder de gebeurtenissen die erin beschreven worden, aan dit boek misschien niet eens zou zijn begonnen.
Het is aannemelijk dat juist dit hoofdstuk van het boek de Amerikaanse schrijver J.D. Salinger op het spoor heeft gezet om zich in Vedanta te gaan verdiepen en zijn manier van leven drastisch heeft veranderd. Hij heeft zich kennelijk niet laten afschrikken door de zinspreuk die Maugham het boek had meegegeven:“Like the sharp edge of a razor, the sages say, is the path. Narrow it is and difficult to tread.” [Katha Upanishad. I, 3, 14.].
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kees Boukema has been a student of Vedanta and other philosophical systems for decades. He has contributed variously to the field of higher thinking. He has written numerous articles on philosophical subjects, reviewed books, and has translated important articles and books. Mr Kees Boukema’s most recent work is the translation into Dutch of the book The Practice of Meditation.
Kees Boukema is sinds decennia student van Vedanta en andere filosofische systemen. Hij heeft divers bijgedragen aan het veld van hoger denken. Hij heeft belangrijke artikelen en boeken geschreven en vertaald. Het nieuwste boek van Dhr Kees Boukema is, De Beoefening van Meditatie.