Eastern philosophy and those over-sized cowbells of Switzerland do not necessarily meld. A wizened sadhu , an ascetic holy man of India, wound up in a skimpy loin cloth, skipping through an Alpine meadow is not a common sight.

But much of the teaching of Indian philosophy, you could argue, fits pretty tidily into the Swiss context. So much of what is at the heart of the philosophy is right there in the Swiss mountains: it is quiet, peaceful, clean and very, very well run – a good place to go to study and withdraw. I went to Kiental, a very small village high up in the Alps, to do just that. Read the full article…

Withdrawing room
By Justin Hardy, Financial Times
Published: Feb 09, 2008