Francis, a long time friend and student of Jean Klein, is a spiritual teacher of the Advaita Vedanta tradition. His teaching is not "Neo Advaita" but traditional Advaita, which means that the experience of our true nature has been transmitted from generation to generation by a lineage of sages. Francis' master, Jean Klein, met his guru in India in the early Fifties and stayed and studied with him for several years. He later studied the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism with Dibianandapuri and of Hatha Yoga with the famous teacher Krishnamacharya.
Jean Klein was an Acharya, meaning a guru who, having realized the common ground of all spiritual teachings, can teach according to many traditions with equal ease. He loved the humor of the Zen patriarchs, the poetry of Rumi and of the Sufi tradition, and the sweetness of Meister Eckhart's Christian expression of the Absolute. His teachings reflected his love for art and music, addressing the needs of a demanding intellect while focusing to a large extent on the perceptual and sensorial aspect of our experience. Francis' teachings reflect those of his guru: appreciation for humor, art, music, and poetry, intellectual rigor with a "personal" twist due to his training in Mathematics and Physics, emphasis on the body and its feelings. There are meditation and yoga sessions inspired by the Tantric and Hatha Yoga traditions in addition to the traditional Advaitic dialogues. Music concerts, often featuring Francis as a performer, are also included in the program of the retreats.
