The Third Eye, by Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, was first published in 1956. It purported to be his autobiographical account of growing up in Tibet and studying Tibetan Buddhism.
Rampa claimed he had been born into a wealthy Tibetan family and at the age of seven had joined the Chakpori Lamasery in Lhasa where he studied medicine, astrology, Tibetan history, telepathy, hypnotism, and the theory of reincarnation. He also underwent a painful operation to open up the "third eye" in the middle of his forehead. This operation had bestowed upon him amazing psychic powers.
Rampa's book sold well, but soon questions began to be raised about his identity. People wondered why he spoke English like a native-born speaker if he had, as he claimed, learned the language in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. Scholars also pointed out numerous errors in his book. For instance, they noted that in Tibetan culture the "third eye" was understood to be a psychical center that was supposed to be opened by meditation, never by surgery.
Keen to debunk what he was sure was a fraud, the Tibetologist Heinrich Harrer hired a private detective, Clifford Burgess, to determine the validity of Rampa's tale.
Cyril Henry Hoskins
Cyril Henry Hoskins, aka Tuesday Lobsang Rampa
Burgess published the results of his investigation in February, 1958 in the
Daily Mail. He revealed that Rampa had never been to Tibet, nor had he ever had any operation done to his forehead. Instead Rampa was actually Cyril Henry Hoskins, born in Devon, England, and son of a plumber. He had worked first as an assistant to his father, then as an employee of a surgical-implements firm, and later as a clerk in a correspondence school.
But Cyril, it turned out, had always been interested in the study of the occult. He had studied it as much as he could in his spare time. And one day he had taken his interest a step further by growing a beard, shaving his head, and changing his name to "Dr. Kuan-suo." He later changed it again to Tuesday Lobsang Rampa.
When his true identity was exposed, Hoskins was initially nowhere to be found. But reporters eventually tracked him down to Ireland, where he said he was too ill to receive visitors. Eventually he offered an explanation for his dual identity. He said that it was true he was born Cyril Henry Hoskins, but that the soul of Rampa had transmigrated into his body. Therefore, according to him, all the information in his book was true.
Despite having been proven to be a phony—a plumber's son posing as a Tibetan monk— a market still existed for Rampa's writings. So he continued on with his career as Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, authoring numerous books before his death in 1981. However, none of them sold as well as
The Third Eye.
Satirical Third Eyes
A number of satirical works subsequently used the phrase "The Third Eye" in their titles. For instance,
The Third Eye of America by Dr. Boyd Boyland & Dr. Rex Lode was published in 1963.
Links and References
- Rampa, T. Lobsang. The Third Eye. Doubleday. 1956.
- "The Tibetan Lama Hoax." Tomorrow 6, 1958: 9-13.
- "Tibetan lama or plumber's son?" (Feb 23, 1958). Los Angeles Times.
- "Third Eye Author in Hiding in Ireland." (Feb 4, 1958). The New York Times.
Comments
http://www.lobsangrampa.org/francais/materiel.html
reincarnation solve many questions concerning the equity between people.
do not reject any idea of mr.T.Lobsang Rampa books,some day you will adapt it if you are interested in spiritual life.
best regards.
But once you experience the astral travel with a good practice of meditation then you will come to know that everything he had written is true.
You know he explained indirectly about the toucj screen technology and few other technologies that we are using now in this books.
However, arguments are waste unless one is ready to think about what the other person say.
We as human beings not accept anything unless there is a scientifical proof.
For eg many people blamed Wright Brothers and Nicola telsa.
Think widely. Get outta your comfort zone.
Keep smiling and keep learning!
Recently though - after having read a 1957 edition of the Third Eye, and having thought about what he'd come up with, I'd say he was a genius. Anybody who could have come up with that sort of story in 1956 must have had the most amazing imagination.
Everything he has tried to educate the ignorant is true and much of what he wrote we know exists. If humanity does not wake up to the reality reality of this planet and how we all have been trapped in this limited 3rd Dimensional world then there is no hope for them and they will continue in their entrapment, and will continue to be recycled onto this planet by the unseen forces whose existence depends on using us.
We can all poke a hole into the inflatable raft of life and causality will be experienced let alone casualty. Where should blame lie and when should laymen have an omen for the future. When, what we read by the hundreds of million, since the proclamation of the beginning of time on our yearly calendar, negating all others of so called truths, can no one see through the veil of silence. They only propagate; corruption, chaos and propaganda to quell the masses! I for one am the one that understands the oneness of removing clutter from the brain and coax the mind to enter the vast realm of the universe as we all are meant to experience, at least once before passing to the other side again ""Om Mani Padme Hom""
P.S., I just discovered the site but one article struck me as very silly. It was about a woman giving birth to a horse. It said that it has to be a hoax because such a thing is impossible. I agree it didn't happen, but that is stupid logic. The whole point of the thing and why it's a big deal is that it IS impossible. That something happened to make the normally impossible possible.