About Our Blog:

For some time I have felt the need
to post more frequent updates
about my research into the history
and origins of the Five Tibetan
Rites.  The problem with research is
that it is about as time consuming
and laborious as moving
mountains.  And so, my articles
about the Five Rites must, of
necessity, be few and far between.

Yet there is much to write about
that doesn't require scholarship:

    * my personal experiences
    with the Rites,

    * new findings that (while not
    yet rising to the level of
    scholarship) will still be of
    interest,

    * and just general comments
    or ideas.

The point is, my friends, here I will
be free to comment or just
speculate about anything pertaining
to the Five Rites.  Maybe I'll even
get a little personal (not really sure
about that).

Why do I call this blog "Twirlings?"  
Well, I sometimes euphemistically
refer to the Five Rites as "my
twirlings" because of Rite 1.  The
name is informal yet descriptive --
just right for what I intend, here.
Prior Posts

General Update - The Hilton Connection and Further Research
3/7/11

The more I work on my second book about the Five Rites, the more work there is to do.  Honestly, I've been
finding some incredible ....

Read More.
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The Man Who Was Colonel Bradford
12/6/10

I've posted a new article about Major-General Sir Wilfrid Malleson, the thrice-knighted British Army officer
whom I believe was the Colonel Bradford mentioned in the Eye of Revelation.  

I was contacted by Sir Wilfrid's granddaughter who also has a photo of him.  She and her husband, David,
have given me new information.

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A Change to My Practice
11/30/10

For some time I had been experiencing intermittent sharp pain in my upper back when doing Rite 2.  Often it
was so severe that ....

Read More.
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Hair Regrowth
7/29/10

Liam from the UK wrote to ask about the Rites and hair regrowth ....

Read More.
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7/23/2010
Meditation and the Five Rites

Paul from the UK wrote to ask about meditation and the Five Rites, and here ....

Read More.
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6/29/2010
Top Ten Best Seller!

Woohoo!  Just checked out my stats at Booklocker who publishes my reprint edition.  I'm number nine on the
list.  Officially in the top ten . . . again.  Was there briefly about a year ago.  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you.

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6/29/2010
My Practice of the Five Rites (Continued)

I have the suspicion that the Five Rites work better for some people than for others, and that I am one of the
lucky ones.  There is no way to guess ....

Read More.
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6/18/2010
My Practice of the Five Rites

I've never considered myself a very good practitioner of the Five Rites.  I've been diligent at times and a real
slacker at other times.  My practice has been ....

Read More.
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5/24/2010
Preserving History

My principle purpose in republishing the 1946 edition of the Eye of Revelation was to preserve it for history.  
That goal, if not achieved, has at least been greatly ....

Read More.
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5/14/2010
The Back Story
Helping to prove the reality of the Five Rites

One reason I'm interested in the Five Rites "back story" is because I love a good mystery.  The greater reason
for pursuing the history of the Rites, however, is to help demonstrate their reality ....

Read More.
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5/13/2010
Blog Meets Approval
A reader tells of how the Five Rites have worked for him.

There was no way I could know whether this blog would be accepted.  So far, however, so good.

Yaja writes ...

Read More.
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5/13/2010
Second Edition
Will there be a second edition of the Eye of Revelation: The Ancient Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation?  A
foreign language edition?

Yes, I'm already making plans for a second edition of the Eye of Revelation (EoR), and I would like to have a
Russian language edition available as soon as practical.  There is a lot of new information ....

Read More.
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5/12/2010
Himis: A Likely Candidate for the Five Rites Monastery
Lost Horizon provides an clue.

As time permits, I am working on a piece about the Himis Monastery in Kashmir.  This is the famous Tibetan
monastery which has records ....

Read more.
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5/11/2010
James Hilton's Novel, Terry
Early reference to a Shangri-la type monastery, predates his novel, Lost Horizon.

It would set you back two grand if you wanted a ....

Read more.
May 23, 2010 - Age 66
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9/9/2011
James Hilton and the Search for Shangri-la

You could not be faulted if you have concluded that there is little
going on with my research into the Five Rites backstory.  It's been six
months since I've published an update.  However, the reason for the
lack of news is not that there isn't any, but, rather, too much.  Every
time I think about putting something up here, I get side tracked along
another avenue of research.  

Also, as you may know, I am writing another book about the Five
Rites.  The tentative title is, "Tibetan Health and Shangri-la." It will
cover much new ground.  Work on the book has also taken up much
of the time I might normally have spent blogging.  So, to bring you at
least partially up to date, here are some of the things I have been
researching and pondering:

The James Hilton connection has already provided many leads for
further research.  There is no doubt that Hilton was the true author of
the Eye of Revelation (EoR) and that Lost Horizon holds clues for
finding the Five Rites monastery.  And, yes, I am certain that there
really was a Five Rites monastery where Colonel Bradford (Sir Wilfrid
Malleson) learned the Rites.  I am very sure that it was in Ladakh, a
region of Kashmir which is Tibetan in language and culture.  Could
also be Spiti, just south of Ladakh which is also very Tibetan, but
Ladakh is the prime candidate; it is in Spiti where you will find the
mountain called Blue Moon.

The Five Rites Monastery is the Shangri-la monastery James Hilton
wrote about in Lost Horizon -- not in a literal sense, of course, but
certainly in a figurative sense. Hilton's description of the Shangri-la
monastery seems to be a composite of several monasteries combined
with Hilton's fertile imagination, but in particular it seems to evoke the
Himis monastery.  However, I am no longer at all convinced that Himis
is the Five Rites monastery; some clues Hilton left point elsewhere.  
Nevertheless, there are other writers dating back to the 1940s who
cite Himis as being the inspiration for Shangri-la.  I am not really
saying anything that hasn't been said before.

Colonel Bradford did not spend years looking for the Five Rites
Monastery as we have been told.  I believe he knew where it was all
along.  That was just a cover story.  One does not enter a Buddhist
monastery and suddenly get taught the temple's most secret
doctrines.  No, he spent perhaps two or more years studying at the
monastery before he was initiated into the more secret traditions.

On a more personal note, as soon as I can I will post more about hair
regrowth.  Once again I have begun using the butter massage and
have gotten some (albeit minor) results.  I want to share some of  
findings with you.