Re the plumber who wrote the books on Tibetan lama culture: he did not deny that he had been born as Cyril Hoskin, but he claimed that his body was now occupied by the spirit of Lobsang Rampa. From Wiki I extract this passage: American tibetologist Donald S. Lopez, Jr., in Prisoners of Shangri-La – Tibetan Buddhism and the West (1998), points out that when discussing Rampa with other tibetologists and buddhologists in Europe, he found that The Third Eye was the first book many of them had read about Tibet; "For some it was a fascination with the world Rampa described that had led them to become professional scholars of Tibet." Lopez adds that when he gave The Third Eye to a class of his at the University of Michigan without telling them about its history, the "students were unanimous in their praise of the book, and despite six prior weeks of lectures and readings on Tibetan history and religion, [...] they found it entirely credible and compelling, judging it more realistic than anything they had previously read about Tibet."
---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote: Excellent! That brings me right back to my childhood when, here in the UK, a series of books appeared - and were very popular - supposedly written by "Lobsang Rampa". The first book was called The Third Eye and purported to relate his experiences while growing up in Tibet. The title of the book is derived from an operation, similar to trepanation, that Rampa claimed he had, in which a small hole was drilled into his forehead to arouse the third eye and allow stronger powers of clairvoyance. The author of the book was, in real life, a man named Cyril Henry Hoskin, who had been born in Plympton, Devon, in 1910 and was the son of a plumber. Hoskin had never been to Tibet and spoke no Tibetan. How curious that his fantasies actually had a correspondence in actual Tibetan beliefs. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com> wrote: For trepanation psuchophants ... http://www.gloje.org/en/phowa_dharma_auspicious_signs http://www.gloje.org/en/phowa_dharma_auspicious_signs Photos about a third way down the page. ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <noozguru@...> wrote: Re noozguru/jr_esq: neither ayurveda nor astrology seem amenable to scientific evaluation. Don't know much about ayurveda? It's just biochemistry. On 10/20/2013 04:08 PM, s3raphita@... mailto:s3raphita@... wrote: All of us are born with holes in our skulls. For most of us the hole space is sealed up by growing tissue by our first birthday. For some, however, the holes are never permanently sealed and so they are naturally "treppaned." A medieval burial ground was recently investigated and researchers discovered something very intriguing. Almost all the remains of lower-caste people (peasants, labourers, etc) had normal skulls; almost all the skulls of the high caste (magistrates, church dignitaries, etc) had unsealed holes in their skulls. The link between high achievers and trepanation (naturally occurring in this case) is worth following up. I wonder if someone could investigate if high achievers today show a similar bias towards the "holes". Shouldn't be too difficult to find out. The hole in the head thing isn't just for psychedelic druggies who want to stay "high" permanently but could be a way of enhancing creativity. As holes can be re-sealed later I wonder if an experiment involving volunteers and a control group might be feasible. Re noozguru/jr_esq: neither ayurveda nor astrology seem amenable to scientific evaluation. By the way, Countess Amanda Feilding I mention (the one who wanted free trepanning operations for everyone in the UK) actually performed her own trepanation on herself with a power drill! There's footage in the DVD. ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com mailto:fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> mailto:jr_esq@... wrote: Seraphita, There's no need for this operation. Why? Because there is already a subtle and astrological connection between the top of the head to the star Polaris, the source of cosmic manifestation here on earth. Please, see my earlier post regarding Prisca Theologia for details of the lecture by Santos Bonacci regarding syncretism. ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com mailto:fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <noozguru@...> mailto:noozguru@... wrote: Seems a bit extreme. You can manipulate the metabolism to increase blood flow to the brain. That's something that ayurveda is good at. On 10/19/2013 07:30 PM, s3raphita@... mailto:s3raphita@... wrote: A Hole in the Head is an hour-long documentary about trepanation - the process of boring a hole in the skull. It examines the development of modern trepanation as used by people in the UK, the USA, and the Netherlands for the purpose of attaining a higher level of consciousness. This procedure, used by the ancient Egyptians, Incas, and others, is believed by the voluntarily trepanned to allow for renewed brain pulsations that increase brain blood volume and thereby improve brain function. Interviews regarding the history and efficacy of the procedure are also held with some of the world's most respected neurosurgeons and anthropologists. There's an appearance by Countess Amanda Feilding. Twice Amanda stood for Parliament in Chelsea, London, as an independent on a manifesto with a singular topic - trepanning for free to everyone on the National Health Service! In 1979 she polled 40 votes, and in 1983 she managed 139. John Lennon tried (unsuccessfully) to persuade the other Beatles to undergo the procedure. If he'd succeeded maybe all those who followed the Fab Four from LSD to TM would now be treppaned! Ye gods! How boring and conformist modern society seems in comparison to those heady sixties. Does the procedure do what it is claimed? How about some enterprising FFLifers volunteering to undergo the operation and then reporting back to the forum on the benefits? I've seen the film and one of the sadder interviewees is a young woman who, following an accident, had a hole in her skull . She was very chirpy and upbeat when first seen. Her doctors advised her to have the hole sealed with surgery. An interview at the end of the film shows her after the operation and she is strikingly depressed! Is trepanation a fast-track to enlightenment? A newspaper article about the countess is here: http://tinyurl.com/y38drfk http://tinyurl.com/y38drfk The trailer for the DVD is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoU_-ru8yEc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoU_-ru8yEc"; style="font-family:garamond, 'new york', times, serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;
