Hi everyone,
My research crawled to a standstill this semester, as I had a lot of work to do at university.
I thought I would get started again by lighting the flame about the Tibetan exercises, today called the Five Tibetan Rites. Samael Aun Weor mentioned these in his books, especially his book Exercises of the Lamasery. He talks about the "Colonel" who went to Tibet an old man and came back youthful after *GASP* transmuting his sexual energies!
This raises a red flag for me, especially after having spent years in those SAW cults that teache how to "transmute" the sexual energies (if you don't, you'll get cancer for having orgasms!) The original book, which SAW never acknowledges by name and originally called "The Eye of Revelation" now sold as Ancient Secrets of the Fountain of Youth: Books 1 and 2 (Book 1 was so good and solved all your problems it needed a sequel, as seen on Amazon's page for Book 2!), says this:
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In order to become a superman or superwoman this powerful life force must be conserved and turned upward, so that it can be utilized by all the vortexes, especially the seventh. In other words, it is necessary to become celibate, so that the reproductive energy can be rechannelled to a higher use.
Now turning this vital life force upward is a very simple manner, and yet through the centuries people attempting it have usually failed. In the West, whole religious orders have tried this very thing and failed because they sought to master reproductive energy by suppressing it. There is only one way to master this powerful urge, and that is not by dissipating or suppressing it, but by transmuting it, and at the same time lifting it upward. In this way, you have not only discovered the elixir of life, as the ancients called it, you also have to put it to use, which is something the ancients were seldom able to do.
You know, I think it's funny that at the beginning of the books is a disclaimer about how it's not to be a substitute for Western medicine. Let's continue looking at the text:
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Please understand that in order to perform rite number six, it is absolutely necessary that an individual have active sexual urge. He or she could not possibly transmute reproductive energy if there were little or nothing to transmute. It is absolutely impossible for a person who has lost sexual urge to perform this rite. He or she should not even attempt it, because it would only lead to discouragement, and more harm than good. Instead, such an individual, regardless of age, should first practice the other five rites until they regain a normal sexual urge. When this is achieved, he or she may then go into the business of being a superman or superwoman.
Also, an individual should not attempt rite number six unless he or she is genuinely motivated to do so. If an individual feels incomplete in terms of sexual expression, and must struggle to overcome its attraction, then that individual is not truly capable of transmuting reproductive energy and directing it upward. Instead, energy will be misdirected into struggle and inner conflict. The sixth rite is only for those who feel sexually complete, and who have a real desire to move on to different goals.
Wow, this eerily reads like a SAW text, especially with a phrase like "then that individual is not truly capable of transmuting reproductive energy." I wonder how many people in the past before the Internet tried desperately to make this work and aged, wondering why they kept on aging, despite their best efforts to fight their own sexuality.
Most people would be drawn in by the rave 4 or 5 star reviews, but we know that people who have been brainwashed by this stuff will jump on places like Amazon and write laudatory reviews at the sign of the smallest gains.
The author, about whom a Google search cannot even yield information about, makes the disclaimer that most people would have a hard time against fighting their sexuality:
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For the great majority of people, a celibate life is simply not a feasible choice, and they should perform the first five rites only. However, in time the five rites may lead to a changing in priorities, and a genuine desire to become a superman or superwoman. At that time, the individual should make a firm decision to begin a new way of life.
Such an individual must be ready to move forward without wavering or looking back. Those who are capable of this are on their way to becoming true masters, able to use vital life force to achieve anything they desire,
"I repeat, let no man or woman think of turning sexual currents upward until he or she is prepared to leave physical needs behind in exchange for the rewards of true mastership. Then, let that individual step forward, and success will crown his or her every effort."
It sure sounds like a dialect similar to Samaelspeak to me, especially the word "mastership."
Here's the "biographical information" about Peter Kelder, the author from this webpage (http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/catalog/books_ancientsecretsfounta.html):
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Peter Kelder was raised by adoptive parents in the midwestern United States, and while still in his teens he left home to embark on adventures that took him around the world to many distant and exotic lands. He became an educated, polished, and articulate man, conversant in many languages, and throughout his life he maintained a love of books, libraries, words, and poetry.
Kelder asserts that Colonel Bradford—the pseudonym for his book's main character—was a real individual who did travel to Tibet and whom he did meet in the 1930s in southern California where his book was written.
However, Kelder is an intensely private man who does not wish to reveal more to the public than these brief details. He feels that his book speaks for itself and that issues concerning himself and Colonel Bradford can serve only to detract from the validity of the simple, straightforward message which is his offering to the world.
While he does not reveal when he was born, Mr. Kelder is very much alive, well, and productive today, nearly sixty years after his book was first published.
Even the Wikipedia article on the Five Tibetan Rites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Tibetan_Rites) says that there is hardly anything known about Kelder. The 1946 edition says:
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You are holding in your hands a most intriguing book. It was first published in 1939 by Peter Kelder, a man we know next to nothing
about. Mr. Kelder tells a tale of a mysterious British Army Officer, a Colonel Bradford, who located a hidden monastery in Tibet. There the Lamas taught secrets of health and rejuvenation through a simple system of exercise.
A 1985 Harbor Press edition has this thinly veiled caveat from the editor of the book:
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I cannot promise that the rites will erase 50 years from your age, transform you overnight, or make you live to 125. But I
do know that they can help anyone to look and feel years younger, and to gain a greater sense of well-being.
He then goes to continue:
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If you perform the rites daily, you should begin to notice results in 30 days or less. In about ten weeks, you'll probably start to see more substantial benefits. Whatever the pace of your progress, it's always a thrilling moment when friends actually begin to comment that you are looking younger and healthier.
Then the real kicker (right after the above quote)!
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If the five rites really work, the big question is how?
From "sure" to "not so sure" within a paragraph (hell, practically a sentence)?
The editor then goes on to talk about Kirlian photography and how we all have auras that are either strong or weak (which has been debunked, by the way). Check out this scientific article:
[
www.abc.net.au]
The 1946 edition states that over 2 million copies had been sold by then. By plugging 10 cents (let's say that was the fixed price in 1946) into an inflation calculator, we find that in 1946 it is equivalent to $1.16 in 2011 US Dollars. $2,320,000 in today's money. There would still be a tidy sum left over after taxes and paying some overhead costs.
If this book was so good, why has it gone out of print and revived a few times over the past several decades since 1939?
Food for thought!
Lone Flame out!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 06:23PM by Lone_Flame_of_Eternity.