The Third Eye
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- For other uses of third eye, see third eye (disambiguation).
Nom de Plume or Hoax?
The Third Eye was published under the name Tuesday Lobsang Rampa with no mention of Cyril Hoskins, its Devon-born author (though subsequent books describe Rampa-Haskins in detail). Though claiming to be an authentic autobiography of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa's education as a monk born in Tibet, it bears little relation to documented Tibetan life (sources?}. It includes a description of the "third-eye" forehead operation which Rampa claims to have undergone to enhance psychic powers. Suspicious of this 'mystic' and alarmed by such a grossly inaccurate book's runaway success, Western Tibet authorities (source) hired a private investigator to find the author. When questioned, Cyril Hoskins admitted that he had written the book, but claimed he was indeed Rampa. He said that his body had been permanently taken over by the Tibetan monk's spirit. The author had suffered a blow to the head on falling out of a tree, after which he began to have these delusional or channeling experiences.Plot
The Third Eye's story begins in Tibet during the reign of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, the son of a Lhasa aristocrat, takes up theological studies and is soon recognised for his prodigious abilities. As he enters adolescence, the young Rampa undertakes increasingly challenging feats until he is recognised as a crucial asset to the future of an independent Tibet. Tibet's Lamas had foretold a future in which China would attempt to reassert its authority, and Rampa is operated upon to help him preserve his country: a third eye is drilled in his forehead, allowing him to see human auras and to determine peoples' hidden motivations.With his third eye, Rampa could then serve as an aide in the Dalai Lama's court as a spy on visitors to the court as they were being received. The visitors upon whom Rampa spies include Sir Charles Alfred Bell, deemed by Rampa as naive but benevolent. In contrast, Rampa and others are certain that Chinese visitors are essentially nefarious and are soon to attempt to bring conquest and destruction to Tibet. Tibet must then prepare for an invasion. Rampa has many more adventures throughout the book and its two sequels, The Doctor from Lhasa and The Rampa Story.
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa stated in his books that his story is the true and that he instructed his publishers in this respect.
Responses
Despite having been castigated as a myth of Cyril Hoskins' own creation, after more than four decades the book and its sequels remain the most popular publications claiming to represent Tibet. Worldwide, the book and its sequels continue to sell better than most other books about Tibet, despite there being no records of Rampa ever having lived, and despite the non-existence of a surgical procedure of drilling a third eye into the human forehead or other practises described in the book, such as out of body experiences on journeys to other planets in Tibetan Buddhism (sources?). Nonetheless, many readers, even those who understand it to be a work of fiction, continue to enjoy the book.The Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield has cited this book as one of his early inspirations.
References
- Lopez, Donald S., Jr. Prisoners of Shangri-LA : Tibetan Buddhism and the West,' ISBN 0226493113, discusses the influence of The Third Eye' on the Western interest in Buddhism.
- Boese, Alex. "[The Third Eye]". URL accessed on August 29, 2005.
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