frame|The Eye of Revelation by Peter Kelder
The Five Tibetan Rites is a system of exercises first described by Peter Kelder in a 1939 booklet titled The Eye of Revelation, published in Los Angeles, California. Later authors refer to the exercises as "The Five Rites", "The Five Tibetans" and "The Five Rites of Rejuvenation". Kelder described the rites as having the potential to restore youthfulness through changing one's internal "vortexes". There is no evidence of the exercises being authentic Tibetan practices. The rites have been reprinted in multiple expanded editions and translations, and have been popular among New Age practitioners.
Origins and publications
Origins
Kelder claimed that the rites were more than 2,500 years old, but there is no evidence to support this claim. Tibetans have not recognized the rites as being authentic Tibetan practices. John Michael Greer, a writer on occult topics, described the rites as inspired by Indian spiritual practices but of American origin. Greer writes that the dietary advice in the booklet is similar to the contemporary Hay diet, and that the second, third, fourth, and fifth rites seem similar to hatha yoga as described by American books published in the early 1900s as part of the physical culture movement, which was influenced by German-American gymnastics clubs. Greer also draws a connection between the first rite and the American spiritualist movement.
Historical context
Kelder published the first version of The Eye of Revelation in 1939 and an expanded edition in 1946, using a small publishing company in Los Angeles that published booklets related to occult topics. In 1924, William Montgomery McGovern, billed as the first American in Tibet, published To Lhasa in Disguise, a Secret Expedition through Mysterious Tibet. Three years later, American anthropologist Walter Evans-Wentz published an English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
The English translation of French explorer Alexandra David-Néel's memoir With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet was published in 1931. In it, she describes learning a Tibetan yoga practice from a lama. In The Eye of Revelation, Kelder claimed to have met a retired British army colonel who shared with him stories of travel to a remote Tibetan monastery and subsequent discovery of the rites and their youthful effect. The 1988 bestseller Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig included a description of the rites.
Chris Kilham, whose 1994 book The Five Tibetans contributed to the popularity of the exercises, is an example of practitioners who do not insist on a literal interpretation of Kelder's story.
Story
In The Eye of Revelation, Kelder claims that, while stationed in India, British army officer Colonel Bradford (a pseudonym) heard a story about a group of lamas who had apparently discovered a "Fountain of Youth". After retiring, Kelder's Colonel Bradford went on to discover the lamasery and lived there with the lamas, who taught him five exercises, which they called "rites". According to the booklet, the lamas described seven spinning "psychic vortexes" within the body: "two...in the brain; one at the base of the throat, another in the right side of the body in the region of the liver; one in the sexual center; and one in each knee." For example, one teacher suggested warming up first, going slowly, and keeping the head and neck in alignment,
In The Eye of Revelation, Kelder claims that Mevlevi Order dervishes spin clockwise – hence the direction of the first rite – but they spin counter-clockwise.
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|Rite number one However, that edition begins with a disclaimer that includes, "The exercises, dietary measures, and other advice regarding health matters outlined in this book are not suitable for everyone, and under certain circumstances they could lead to injury." In the early 1990s, the rites were referenced by fraudulent mailings that claimed to offer secrets of youth to seniors.
Some teachers and practitioners consider the rites' benefits to be similar to other yoga practices, such as reducing stress and improving well-being.