Who - or what - was T. Lopsang Rampa?
In the spring of 1949 an Englishman, Cyril Hoskin, hit his head as he fell from a tree in his garden. From that point he claimed to be Tuesday Lopsang Rampa - a highly trained Tibetan lama who had taken over the body of Mr. Hoskin. As T. Lopsang Rampa he wrote many books about life in Tibet and the esoteric knowledge held by the Tibetan priesthood, including the best seller "The Third Eye" (1956).
The British newspapers quickly decided that Lopsang Rampa was a fraud and published many stories attacking him. Yet a large number of readers enjoyed his books and felt they contained important spiritual teachings.
Rampa stated that Mr. Hoskin had been near suicide and that an agreement had been made with him on the soul level. Hoskin was released from the obligations of his life and a Tibetan soul took over his body. Lopsang Rampa had been carefully prepared in Tibet to perform his important tasks - advance work for the Tibetan diaspora that the Dalai Lama and his advisors knew was coming, and education of Western people in Tibetan ideas.
I have spent two months in Tibet and have spent a great deal of time in Kathmandu, Nepal, where many Tibetan people now live. I can say that Rampa's books have much detail that seems accurate, information that would not be available to an Englishman in the 1950's when Tibet was closed to nearly all foreigners.
If you are are interested in learning about Tibet before the Chinese invasion in 1959 read "Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer and "Journey to Lhasa" by Alexander David Neel. Both these books are written by Europeans who spent a number of years in Tibet. Put these excellent books beside Mr Rampa's work and the difference is clear - Lopsang Rampa knows Tibet from the inside and is at ease with it's intricacies. Neel and Harrer are sympathetic, both have much respect for Tibetian culture, but clearly feel themselves to be outsiders.
The true test of Rampa's work is the authentic feel of Tibet, something only a Tibetan could provide.
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Labels: Lopsang Rampa, Tibetan Monasteries
posted by AccentNepal | 1:20 PM
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Nice Article!
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