Remarks on the Lesser-known Founders of the Myth of Tibet

Piotr Klafkowski

Published: 2017-12-31

Vol. 37 (2016)

Remarks on the Lesser-known Founders of the Myth of Tibet

Piotr Klafkowski

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

Tibet, orientalism, Baird T. Spalding, Edwin John Dingle, Theodore Illion, popular culture, esoteric philosophy

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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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Piotr Klafkowski

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6025-6487

Affiliation:

Institute of Sociology - University of Szczecin, Poland

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

PhD at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.