Lobsang Rampa became an extremely popular author in the 1960s and 70s, providing insight into Tibetan Buddhism and his supposed life as a lama. He has enchanted hundreds of thousands of readers with stories from the spiritual realm, supernatural abilities, divination and more. However, this Tibetan guru did not acquire his knowledge and spirituality in remote monasteries in the Himalayas. In fact, he was just an ordinary guy from Devonshire, England.
An unusual biography
Rampa appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the late 1950s. He approached Seeker & Warburg with an unusual book proposal: an autobiography of his mystical life as a llama. He was reportedly born on Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, and his father was a prominent Tibetan official close to the 13th Dalai Lama. He spent his early and teenage years studying languages, philosophy, mathematics, medicine and writing. He excelled and surpassed his peers and became known as a child prodigy.
Buddha statue. Photo: mai111/Shutterstock
During his college days, he claimed to have undergone a rather violent procedure to open his “third eye.” In Buddhist philosophy, the third eye was the eye of consciousness and enlightenment. It is also considered the access point to supernatural abilities such as clairvoyance, astral projection, and the ability to see auras. In this procedure, a hole was drilled in the center of the forehead.
Rampa recovered well and continued his studies, rising in the ranks and becoming a lama. His first book, The Third Eye, was published in 1956 and sold 300,000 copies within the first year.
Exposed
But nagging suspicions prompted the publisher and several others to conduct their own investigations into the past of this enigmatic man. All conclusions pointed to fraud. Writer Donald S. Lopez Jr., who wrote The Mystery of the Three-Eyed Lama for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review in 1998, described a strange interaction between Rampa and editor Frederic J Warburg. When Warburg exposed Rampa’s lack of knowledge of the Tibetan language, Rampa dramatically feigned pain. He claimed that his knowledge of Eastern languages had been blocked, making it painful to regain.
Not long after, in 1957, Scotland Yard discovered its true identity. He was Cyril Henry Hoskin, the son of a plumber from the suburb of Plympton in Devon, England. He had moved extensively around the UK and Ireland over the last ten years. He worked indiscriminately in plumbing, manufacturing, administration and even photography. Records show that he changed his name to Kuan Suo for unknown reasons. When the British press found out about the story, it ruined Lobsang Rampa’s reputation forever.
A llama approaches a temple. Photo: Lawrence Wang Photo/Shutterstock
physical possession
When confronted with the facts, Rampa tried to sort out his story, but the details became even stranger. He claimed he fell out of a tree while photographing a bird and knocked himself unconscious. While unconscious he saw a llama asking permission to possess him. Apparently the llama was badly injured. In China he served as a pilot, survived a Japanese concentration camp and escaped the Hiroshima explosion in a boat. He was then captured and tortured by the Soviets.
His soul was looking for a body to occupy and it found this unconscious, humble Brit. Rampa gave more details, changes, and additions to the origin story in subsequent books.
He wrote and published a total of 20 books that have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Eventually he settled in Canada with his wife, adopted daughter/secretary and Siamese cat who passed away in 1980. As a testament to his legacy, his books even made their way into college classrooms, where students acquired a very misguided understanding of Tibetan culture and religion. His books contain many errors about Buddhism.
All of this begs the question, how did he become so successful?
historical context
The 1960s and 1970s saw a dramatic shift in the Western cultural and political landscape. There was growing dissatisfaction with government, politics, business and religion. Anti-establishment sentiment spread. Opposition to the Vietnam War, civil rights protests, and the rise of the countercultural hippie movement expressed their disillusionment with the status quo.
As crossing cultural norms became popular, hippies began to seek meaning and fulfillment beyond western borders. Many rely on Eastern spirituality and traditions. These philosophical teachings rejected materialism in favor of meditation and karma.
Another important event was China’s invasion of Tibet in 1950. Unfortunately, major world events and volatile geopolitics overshadowed the crisis. While the West conducted clandestine operations to help, the whole world was preoccupied with other events.
Conclusion
Lobsang Rampa capitalized on man’s desire to escape from the ordinary. Author David Michie applies to the subject on his blog davidmichie.com: “I suspect he made them up by cobblering together his own version of what Tibetan Buddhism is supposed to say… There weren’t that many real lamas around to contradict him.”
This era provided Rampa with fertile ground. The cultural scene was changing rapidly, and people were open to accepting alternative beliefs. The East was still an exotic mystery. When his story captured the public imagination, there were few sources to contradict his claims.
Cover art for the book The Third Eye by Lobsang Rampa. Photo: Secker & Warburg, 1956 (ed.)
Although Lobsang Rampa had fraudulent motives, his works encouraged interest in Tibetan culture and Buddhism. They also drew much-needed attention to the Tibetan independence movement. Even the Dalai Lama, who opposed his works and discredited his story, gave him that one point. Rampa became an unlikely figurehead for the Tibetan cause, and his books remain iconic.
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