Remarks on the Lesser-known Founders of the Myth of Tibet
Keywords:
Tibet, orientalism, Baird T. Spalding, Edwin John Dingle, Theodore Illion, popular culture, esoteric philosophyAbstract
This article presents three writers from the 20th century who are the lesser-known founders of the popular myth of Tibet: Baird T. Spalding (1872–1953), Edwin John Dingle (1881–1972) and Theodore Illion (1898?–1984) who also went by the name of Theodor Burang or Theodor Nolling. They are not as well-known as Helena P. Blavatsky, Alexandra David Nèel and Cyril Henry Hoskin; the latter known as Lobsang Rampa, but their contributions to Tibet as it is today, especially in regard to so called oriental spirituality in popular culture, is significant. They created an imagined Tibet in their works. Spalding knew nothing of India and Tibet and he was wrong in almost every detail mentioned. Dingle did not mention any Tibetan details at all and it is Theodore Illion in his In Secret Tibet who seems to be the most authentic of the three. In my article I posit the question whether Spalding and Dingle simply wanted to share with others their interpretations of Christianity dressed up in an Oriental disguise.
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References
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www.bairdtspalding.org. Access 10.11.2016: on Bairdt Spalding.
https://www.librarything.com/author/spaldingbairdt. Access: 05.10.2017: B. Spalding. Promo Picture circa 1920?
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https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Thought. Access: 05.10.2017: on the American New Thought Movement.
https://www.christianscience.com/. Access: 05.10.2017: on Christian Science Church.
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https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-AM-movement. Access: 05.10.2017: on I AM Movement.
https://archive.org/services/img/acrosschinaonfoo13420gut. Access: 05.10.2017: photo of E. J. Dingle.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yPqOjC0wnF8/VtNRbceJkaI/AAAAAAAAIak/BV5FzgBIc7w/s1600/Illion%252C%2BTheodore%2Bbl.jpg. Access: 05.10.2017: photo of T. Illion.
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B e r n b a u m E. 1980. The Way to Shambhala: A Search for the Mythical Kingdom Beyond the Himalayas. New York.
B i s h o p P. 1989. The Myth of Tibet, Travel Writing and the Western Creation of Sacred Landscape. London.
B l a v a t s k y H. P. 1971. The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy. 6 volumes. Adyar.
B l a v a t s k y H. P. (edited by Boris de Zirkoff). 1994 (new edition). Isis Unveiled, a Master Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern science and Theology (vol. I Science, vol. II Theology. Quest Books). Illinois and Chennai (Madras).
B r a u e n M. 2000. Traumwelt Tibet, Westliche Trugebilder. Bern-Stuttgart-Vienna.
B r a y J. 2009. The Oeconomy of Human Life: an “Indian Bramin” in 18th Century Tibet. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3 (19, No. 4), 439–458.
B r u t o n D. 1934. Baird T. Spalding As I Knew Him. Kessinger Reprint, n.p.
B u r a n g T. (= T. Illion). 1975. Tibetan Art of Healing. London.
C a t h i e B. n. d. Acoustic Levitation of Stones. https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/antigravityworldgrid/ciencia_antigravityworldgrid08.htm. Access: 10.11.2016.
Da v i d - N è e l A. 1971. Magic and Mystery in Tibet. London.
Da v i d - N è e l A. 2013. Podróż do Lhasy. Warsaw. [Voyage d’une Parisienne à Lhasa. 1927. Paris].
Da v i d - N è e l A. and L a m a Yo n g d e n. n. d. Lama Pięciu Mądrości. Warsaw. [Le lama au cing sagasses. 1935. Paris].
Di n g l e E. J. 1911. Across China on Foot. New York. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13420/13420-h/13420-h.htm. Access: 05.10.2017.
Di n g l e E. J. 1916. New Map of China. Far Eastern Geographical Establishment.
Di n g l e E. J. (ed.) 1917. The New Atlas And Commercial Gazetteer Of China. Shanghai.
Di n g l e E. J. 1939. My Life in Tibet. Los Angeles.
Do d i n T. and R ä t h e r H. (eds.) 2001. Imagining Tibet: Perceptions, Projections and Fantasies. Boston.
F o s t e r B. and F o s t e r M. 2005. Niezwykłe życie Aleksandry David-Nèel. Warsaw. [The secret lives of Alexandra David-Nèel. 1998. Woodstock and New York].
Gh u l a m A h m e d H a d h r a t M i r z a o f Q a d i a n. 2003. Jesus in India. Jesus’ Deliverance from the Cross and Journey to India. London. [First published in Urdu: 1908. Qadian].
I l l i o n T. 1937. In Secret Tibet. London. http://pahar.in/wpfb-file/1937-in-secret-tibet-in-disguiseamongst-lamas-robbers-and-wise-men-by-illion-s-pdf/. Access: 05.10.2017.
I l l i o n T. 1938. Darkness over Tibet. London. https://www.ivantic.info/Ostale_knjiige/Darkness-Over-Tibet-T-Illion.pdf. Access: 05.10.2017.
L e v i. 1908. The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Los Angeles. http://www.sonpikap.com/the-aquariungospel-of-jesus-the-christ.pdf. Access: 05.10.2017.
L o b s a n g R a m p a T. [C. H. Hoskin]. 1956. The Third Eye. https://www.lobsangrampa.org/ebooks/en/The-Third-Eye.pdf. Access: 15.09.2016.
L o p e z D. 1999. Prisoners of Shangri-La. Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago.
N e u h a u s T. 2012. Tibet in the Western Imagination. Basingstoke–New York.
N o t o v i t c h N. 1894. La vie inconnuè de Jesus Christ. Paris. https://bibliotheque-russe-et-slave.com/Livres/Notovitch_-_La_Vie_inconnue_de_Jesus-Christ.pdf. Access: 05.10.2017.
P l a y f a i r G. L. and H i l l S. 1984. Cykle nieba, czynniki kosmiczne i ich wpływ na nasze życie. Warsaw. [The Cycles of Heaven. Cosmic Forces And What They Are Doing To You. New York 1978].
P r o p h e t E. C. 1984. The Lost Years of Jesus. Livingstone, MT.
S p a l d i n g B. T. 2002. Życie i Nauka Mistrzów Dalekiego Wschodu (6 volumes). Gdańsk. [Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East. vol. 1. 1924, vol. 2. 1926, vol. 3. 1935, vol. 4. 1950, vol. 5. 1955?, vol. 6. 1996. http://www.horuscentre.org/images/Life_and_Teaching-Vol_1.pdf. Access: 10.11.2016].
T h a n e o f H a w a i i. 1974. Adventures in the Psychic/ External Perception World. www.theprosperos.com/open-meeting. Access: 10.11.2016.
websites:
www.bairdtspalding.org. Access 10.11.2016: on Bairdt Spalding.
https://www.librarything.com/author/spaldingbairdt. Access: 05.10.2017: B. Spalding. Promo Picture circa 1920?
www.mentalphysics.org. Access 10.11.2016: on Edwin John Dingle and the Institute of Mentalphysics. https://mentalphysics.wordpress.com. Access 10.11.2016: on Mentalphysics.
https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Thought. Access: 05.10.2017: on the American New Thought Movement.
https://www.christianscience.com/. Access: 05.10.2017: on Christian Science Church.
https://pictures.abebooks.com/PBRECY/22410916306.jpg. Access: 05.10.2017: picture of the first edition of Dingle’s My Life in Tibet.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-AM-movement. Access: 05.10.2017: on I AM Movement.
https://archive.org/services/img/acrosschinaonfoo13420gut. Access: 05.10.2017: photo of E. J. Dingle.
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yPqOjC0wnF8/VtNRbceJkaI/AAAAAAAAIak/BV5FzgBIc7w/s1600/Illion%252C%2BTheodore%2Bbl.jpg. Access: 05.10.2017: photo of T. Illion.
https://swedenborg.com/emanuel-swedenborg/explore/. Access: 05.10.2017: on Swedenborg.
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Published
2017-12-31
How to Cite
Klafkowski, P. (2017). Remarks on the Lesser-known Founders of the Myth of Tibet. Ethnologia Polona, 37, 53–66. Retrieved from https://journals.iaepan.pl/ethp/article/view/66
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