A New book by Karen Mutton
Pioneers of the Aura (French)
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In January 1981 two prominent promoters of the Tibetan cause died in exile. The lady known as 'Amala', or 'mother of the nation', died after a long illness in Dharamsala, India. She had given birth to sixteen children, including her most famous son His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Two other sons had been recognised as 'tulkus' or reincarnations of high lamas. She was beloved by the whole Tibetan nation in exile who mourned her passing.
In an emergency ward of the Foothills hospital in Calgary the famous author and mystic known as Tuesday Lobsang Rampa also breathed his last after decades of ill health. His nineteen books about Tibet and the occult arts had sold in the millions and his admirers could be found on six continents. Despite his fame, however, there were no accolades or eulogies from the Tibetan community. He died unrecognised and unclaimed by the people of Tibet whom he had tried to help.
Lobsang Rampa, who resembled an Englishman with a Devonshire accent, claimed that he was a Tibetan lama. His critics claimed that he was Cyril Hoskin, a Cornish plumber who had written 'The Third Eye', a book about Tibet which was one of the greatest literary hoaxes of all time. Rampa insisted that he was a high Tibetan lama who had transmigrated into the willing body of Cyril Hoskin to perform his mission in life. His detailed recollections of Tibet and China, wealth of knowledge about the occult arts and disarming sincerity led many readers to believe in his authenticity.
Rampa's critics were vociferous in their condemnation of the author. They included Tibetan and oriental scholars, the Press and the Tibetan community in exile, including many famous personalities. The author clung on tenaciously, writing nineteen books and continually proclaiming his innocence and authenticity. After his death his books were relegated to the New Age fringe while other authors shamelessly plagiarised his material. By the 1990s Lobsang Rampa occupied a full page of 'The Guinness Book of Hoaxes and Fraud' and most of his books were out of print.
The internet brought together many of Rampa's loyal readers who had benefited from his teachings on the mystical arts and affirmations of the afterlife. The new millennium has revealed Rampa's silent influence in such esoteric fields as Ufology, astral projection, aura photography, alternative history and the immortality of the human spirit. His positive image of Tibet has been instrumental in garnering support for this beleaguered land and introducing Buddhism to westerners. Ironically, 'The Third Eye', written off by some as a hoax, remains the most popular book about Tibet ever written.
Lobsang Rampa's personal motto was "I lit a candle". In commemoration of 'The Third Eye's fiftieth anniversary it is time to rekindle the flame of knowledge that Rampa first lit in 1955. Overall, Rampa's true identity is irrelevant as it is his knowledge that lives on. It is time to recognise Lobsang Rampa for what he was, a true mystic and trailblazer of the New Age.
HIS CHARACTER
Lobsang Rampa was a truly unique individual with extraordinary attributes. In many ways he was a man of contradictions. He was a celibate monk who had a devoted wife, an intensely private man who wrote extensively about his life, a loyal Tibetan who had no contact with the Tibetan community and a Buddhist who practised many western occult arts. He often complained about people who sent him letters without return stamps, but he always answered them at great personal expense.Rampa's life was cursed by ill health. He suffered from coronary thrombosis, diabetes, arthritis and paraplegia. He was almost totally deaf and became proficient in lip reading. His spine and hands were damaged beyond repair as a result of years of torture in POW camps. Although he often came across as grumpy in his later years, he never lost his wicked sense of humour and keen wit. Rampa was a generous man who had little interest in material possessions. Over the years he gave a colour television away to a stranger, a wheelchair to an injured policeman and a house full of furniture to newlyweds. Friends and acquaintances often received expensive gifts which they were unable to return without insulting him. During his lifetime he personally answered many thousands of letters from his admirers, usually bearing the cost of postage himself. He had a sincere desire to help people.
On the other hand Rampa had a quick temper and often showed impatience towards selfish and shallow people. He was not one to suffer fools gladly. Over the years he managed to criticise feminists, teenagers, Catholics, western doctors, communists and the Tibetan government in exile. However, his greatest venom was reserved for journalists and literary critics whom he despised.
Undoubtedly Lobsang Rampa was a gifted psychic and clairvoyant. He was able to see auras with ease, predict the future and judge people's characters with great accuracy. He could use a crystal , cast horoscopes, read palms and project his consciousness beyond his body. His knowledge of western and eastern occultism was astonishing. Rampa also has the uncanny ability to communicate with his cats telepathically, as his publisher testified. The negative side of his hypersensitivity caused him to suffer greatly at the injustices of others and to take offence when it was unintended. More than one friend and confidant felt the coldness of rejection after unintentionally slighting him.
Rampa also possessed many other talents, apart from his writing and psychic ability. He was a keen photographer who produced many splendid photos. Machines of all descriptions purred in his presence, and he was able to fix almost any mechanical problem. Despite his failing eyesight and arthritic hands, he was a master craftsman who created miniature ships, trains and cars. He was also very interested in amateur radio, including short wave.
Louis Morneau, a famous Canadian cartologist, analysed Rampa's handwriting in 1972, commenting upon his intellect, imagination, libido, control and repressions. Overall, this ten page analysis in A. Stanké's French book 'Lobsang Rampa, Imposteur Ou Initié?' revealed a very complex man of great integrity, creativity and intelligence. Morneau wrote such descriptions as "His logical mind forces him to stick to reality and saves him from wandering in pure fantasy or in utopian thoughts... His movements, gestures and words are unique to him... He doesn't have a mask, to be himself is enough... He doesn't try to cling to the past, is a man of the future. The writer has a desire for living, thinking and acting with complete freedom, spontaneity and dynamism. He balances his intellect with the physical and emotional, even if it requires great effort... The writer lives in his own world, has an intense inner life and often appears stiff and lacking in warmth to society... The writer has been given a very precise direction in his life. If he comes up against difficulties, he's flexible enough to submit to new situations and overcome obstacles which are in his way."
After ten pages, the cartologist concluded, "We can assert that he strongly aims at balancing the various drives which impel him and that he knows how to direct his energies with good sense and reason, but also with high moral aspirations. For him, the positive side increases tenfold and the negative side transforms itself." (translated from Stanké, pp88-98)
Lobsang Rampa was a friendly but reserved man who had been forced into seclusion by ill-health, public curiosity and media harassment. Wheelchair bound in his later years, Rampa rarely ventured out in public, as the curiosity and enthusiasm of the crowds became unbearable for him. He never attended groups or gave lectures, believing that people progressed spiritually when they studied and meditated in solitude. He also shied away from the media, accusing them of misquoting and harassing him. During his writing career he allowed only three journalists to interview him or his wife. The first occurred in 1958 while he was bedridden with thrombosis, and the resulting article was so libellous that he was forced to issue a taped rebuttal from his sick bed. After being savaged by a Canadian journalist in 1965, he vowed to never speak again to the Press. However, he did allow his friend and publisher Alan Stanké to interview and film him in Montreal, although he safeguarded himself by recording the whole interview in his book 'Candlelight'. Unfortunately his refusal to cooperate with the media merely fanned the flames of press and public curiosity. They often followed him relentlessly, spied on him, manufactured interviews and called him a liar and a fake.
Rampa was a patient and loyal husband to his wife Sarah, who unquestionably believed him to be a true Master. It was not always easy for him, as he was a celibate who had become a married man by circumstance, rather than choice. He was a kind, thoughtful and affectionate to his constant companion Sheelagh, as well as his beloved Siamese cats. He paid tribute to his friends Hy Mendelsohn, John Bigras, John Henderson, Valeria Sorock, Mrs O'Grady, Pat Loftus and others in several of his books. Rampa devoted many books to the questions from his loyal readers and tirelessly answered their letters. He continued to promote the Tibetan cause even though he received no acknowledgement from the Tibetan community.
The people who knew him the best, wife Sarah and companion Sheelagh, had no doubts whatsoever that he was an advanced adept who has assumed human form in order to further the evolution of humanity. This he did through his books, experiments and association with discarnate entities from other dimentions and astral realms. He was also a genius of the highest order with an eidetic memory and a thorough ground in current affairs. Although he often wrote in the past, Rampa was a man of the future who embraced current technology and analysed future trends, believing that technology could be developed to enhance occult powers.
Lobsang Rampa always wrote from his own experiences and knowledge, and rarely had the need to use reference books. He was self assured, with a geniune sense of 'knowing' that could not be faked or forced. Many critics, unable to believe in his innate knowledge, called him a plagiarist or worse, a fake. Such criticisms wounded him deeply and led him to distrust many people and, later, become embittered by them.
Fortunately Rampa never lost his focus, despite ill health and media harassment. He believed that he had been sent to the west in order to develop an aura camera and diagnostic device to eradicate disease. His secondary mission was to reveal Tibet's esoteric heritage to the west so that the western nations would want to rescue his country from the Communists. Even though he did not accomplish his mission, Rampa did enlighten the world with his teachings, teachings which deserve to be re-examined in the new millennium. This book is dedicated to examining his legacy and promoting the work of a man who believed implicitly that he was a Tibetan lama who transmigrated into the body of an Englishman to fulfil his destiny.
QUOTES ABOUT RAMPA
"I have never ceased to wonder that such an ordinary individual such as myself could be so closely associated with such a remarkable occurrence as the advent of a Tibetan lama to the western world." (Sarah Rampa 1958)
"Dr Rampa is not the gruff embittered old man portrayed by some thoughless persons... Instead he is constantly thinking of others. I personally owe my outlook and my whole attitude to life to this man who has sacrificed so much to help us, and especially to help me." ('Sarah Rampa, 'Twilight' 1975)
"He was a wonderful man. He has great powers." (Sheelagh Rouse, 'Daily Mail' 1958)
"She (Sheelagh Rouse) told me he is a brilliant surgeon and she believes implicitly that he is from a high ranking Tibetan family. She believes he has wonderful mystical powers." (Mrs Isherwood, S. Rouses's mother, 1958)
"I have known him for two years and I am convinced he is thoroughly genuine. He has been a guest in my home, a good friend of my wife and myself, and I am sure he is no phoney." (John Rouse, 1958)
"He possesses extraordinary powers of telepathy. He has given me proof on a number of occasions." (Cyrus Brooks, literary agent 1958)
"The many personal conversations we have had with him proved him to be a man of unusual powers and attainment." (Publisher's Foreword, 'The Third Eye')
"No normally intelligent person could believe he was Chinese or Tibetan. He seemed a gentleman, harmless, lonely and completely lost in the fantastic role he had set for himself." (John Irwin, TV producer, 1958)
"People who met him say he is quiet and friendly. He gave new bikes to Mr Edgar McLoughlin's sons who took his newspapers from the sea front shop up the hill and also offered education in a Texas academy to other children of Howth, but the parents refused." ('Daily Mail' Feb 4, 1958)
"There seemed to be no doubt at all that Lobsang Rampa was a unique and impressive personality. He seems genuinely to feel that he must help anyone who requests his aid. He's very friendly." (M. Legat, director Corgi Books 1970)
"I was expecting to meet some kind of crank, but I came away overawed... the person who calls himself Tuesday Lobsang Rampa is one of the most fascinating and intriguing individuals I have ever met." (L. Cutts, publisher, 1970)
"He was very different, very special as a person." (A. Stanké, French agent, 1999)
"Despite Rampa's obvious lack of knowledge about Tibet, his positive myth has a great impact on the popular image. One Tibetan participant stated that Rampa had done more for the awareness of Tibet than most of the scholarly work... and one of the organisers of the symposium claimed that Rampa had awakened his interest in Tibet." (Mythos Tibet- Creation of a myth, 1996)
"He was a fine gentleman." (H. Mendlesohn, 1998)
"Lobsang Rampa was as a lion thrust into the shoes of a mouse by taking over a mediocre life with commitments that definately were a millstone around his neck. He was not a quite 'pussycat' type of family man. He was a genius wih a brilliant mind, far, far beyond what he strove to fit into." (Sheelagh Rouse, 2005)
THE RAMPA BOOKS
'The Third Eye' 1956- The autobiography of a young Tibetan noble Tuesday Lobsang Rampa who was sent to a medical lamasery at the age of seven. At Chakpori he was taught medicine, religion, the martial arts and the innermost secrets of Tibetan esoteric science. His awesome psychic powers were facilitated by an operation called 'the opening of the third eye' which stimulated the psychic centre of the brain. His patron was the Thirteenth Dalai lama. Rampa witnessed many marvels such as extraterrestrial mummies and yetis. (TE)'Doctor from Lhasa' 1958- This book continues Rampa's autobiography in 1927 when he journeyed to China to study medicine at Chungking. He was also given the opportunity to fly and later became a medical pilot during the Sino-Japanese war. After being captured by the Japanese, he endured many years of starvation and torture in POW camps across China and Japan. Eventually he was sent to another camp near Hiroshima, managing to make his escape to the coast after the explosion of the atomic bomb. (DFL)
'The Rampa Story' 1960- completed the autobiographical trilogy. Rampa escaped by boat to Korea, made his way to Russia and managed to cross the continent on the Trans Siberian Railway. In Moscow he was arrested and tortured, but released after a few weeks and deported to Poland. Eventually he escaped from behind the Iron Curtain and crossed Europe by ferrying luxury cars, during which time he obtained the papers of an American merchant sailor. Eventually he made his way to the USA but was injured in a car accident and directed by his spiritual masters to transmigrate into the body of an Englishman. Cyril Hoskin was recruited and Rampa returned to Tibet where his body was to be stored. The transmigration took place and Rampa found himself in England with a wife and unemployed. (RS)
'Cave of the Ancients' 1963- A story of Lobsang's experiences in the lamasery. The climax of the book is a trip to the Cave of the Ancients, a working laboratory of artefacts from a highly advanced race who lived in antiquity. Rampa revealed a great deal of the world's hidden history.
'Living with the Lama' 1964- The autobiography of the Rampas' Siamese cat, Mrs Fifi Greywhiskers. It is unlike Rampa's earlier books, a charming tale of a cat's lonely life in Paris before being adopted by the famous author. Fifi narrated the everyday aspects of life with the Rampa family in Canada, who were composed of Lobsang (the Guv), wife Sarah (Ma), Sheelagh Rouse (Buttercup) and Miss Ku'ei, a young Siamese.
'You Forever' 1965 A book of instruction for those trying to develop psychic powers. Subjects such as astral projection, telepathy, the aura and clairvoyance are explained simply and clearly. This book is a classic in occult literature.
'Wisdom of the Ancients' 1965 A dictionary of esoteric terms, including Chinese and Sanskrit concepts. There is also a valuable supplement on diet, breath control and gemstones.
'The Saffron Robe' 1966 - Recounts Lobsang's experiences in Lhasa and his meetings with the Dalai lama, who wore the saffron robe. Rampa provides a long discussion on the origins and tenets of Buddhism.
'Chapters of Life' 1967- A book of metaphysics, explaining such concepts as other dimensions, parallel worlds, prophecy and the coming world leader. Rampa answers questions about religion and the Christianity.
'Beyond the Tenth' 1969- Rampa's first question and answer book in which he discusses such subjects as reincarnation, herbalism, UFOs and the purpose of life.
'Feeding the Flame' 1971- Rampa reveals his feelings about the Press, the Dalai Lama, Tibet as well as other topics. He answers questions submitted by his readers.
'The Hermit' 1972- An extraordinary story of a blind old Tibetan hermit who was abducted by extraterrestrials who called themselves the Gardeners of the Earth. They claimed to have created the human race and settled this planet as a colony. The hermit was taken to centre of the Empire in another galaxy where he was shown the history of our planet and its probable future unless humanity changes its evil ways.
'The Thirteenth Candle' 1973- More stories about Tibet, an index of Rampa's books and information on such controversial subjects as homosexuality.
'Candlelight' 1974- Rampa discusses such things as pendulums and religion. He recounts the Press persecution he has endured and includes an interview with 'Mr Telly' who presented Rampa with questions posed to him by his critics.
'Twilight' 1975 The hollow earth concept is discussed in detail. Rampa pays tribute to his many friends and discusses more questions from his readers.
'As it Was' 1976. This book is a condensed version of the author's life, including and expanding upon events which were discussed in the trilogy.
'I Believe' 1977 - Rampa walks the reader through the death and after death experiences of a suicide called Algernon who is reborn as Alan Bond. This book answers many questions about the Afterlife.
'Three Lives'- 1978 Develops the theme of life after death in much more detail. He describes the different afterlife realms and three characters, an atheist, a devout Christian and an enlightened monk, who journey there. The book discusses how karma works and how no-one is ever abandoned to eternal hell and punishment.
'Tibetan Sage' 1980- In Rampa's final book he returns to his boyhood in Lhasa and the exciting cave near Lhasa which contained an alien control centre in suspended animation. More prophecy for the planet is revealed. In the Epilogue Rampa farewells his readers and voices his regrets that he could not help Tibet by representing it in the United Nations.
UNAUTHORISED RAMPA BOOKS
'My Visit to Venus' an unauthorised anthology of earlier writings from Rampa's first two books. It describes a visit to Venus in a spaceship parked in the Chang Tang highlands of Tibet and a chapter on the Subsurface world.'My Visit to Agharta' (published 2003) Purported writings from Rampa about his visit to the Inner world of Agharta. Also contains chapters from earlier books.
BOOKS BY SARAH RAMPA
'Pussywillow' Sarah Rampa (Mama San Ra-ab) introduces the cat Sindhi who had lived briefly with their family but had made a huge impact on their lives. She also talked about her beloved cats Miss Ku, Taddy and Cleopatra, as well as events in the Rampa household in the 1960s and 70s.'Tigerlily' This book describes Sarah's relationship with her original husband Cyril Hoskin (Carl) and the silver tabby Tigerlily who lived with them. She also tells of how her life changed when the entity Lobsang Rampa transmigrated into her husband's body.
'Autumn Lady'- Sarah's beloved Siamese Taddy who died of cancer in 1978 is the centrepiece of the story. The author also wrote of Fifi, who died on the way to Uruguay and Ku'ei, who passed on in 1966.
'Wild Briar' 1983. This book was a tribute of love to Lobsang Rampa, who had passed on. Sarah described the last months of her husband's life and her life as a widow, with a young lady named Miss Wheat and Cleopatra as her companions. This was a book of under ninety pages and after a poor run in English was published in Portuguese under the title 'Flor Sylvestre'. It was translated into French as 'Lumiere et Sagesse' and included an index of Rampa's works.
'Le Testament de Rampa' 1984- Sarah's book provided a summary and overview of her husband's works. It was later translated into Spanish as 'El Testament de Lobsang Rampa.'