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The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects
The secret behind the secret.
In 1960 a small print run was made of a book by Alexandra David-Neel and Lama Yongden titled, The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects. David-Neel was a French woman who spent 40 years in Tibet. In 1923, at the age of 55, she disguised herself as a pilgrim and made her way to Tibet’s forbidden city of Lhasa, becoming the first Westerner to visit. She wrote over 30 books about her travels and Tibetan religion and philosophy.
The few copies of the book were quickly snatched up. One person who got his hands on a copy was Alan Watts — the great spiritual entertainer of the mid-20th century. It has been said it was his favorite book.
In 1967 the book was reprinted with a foreword by Alan Watts. He begins the forward saying:
For several years I have referred to this hitherto, rare and inaccessible work as the “I-told-you-so-book,” because it has often been implied that I have invented my explanations of Buddhism out of thin air, thus falsifying its authentic teachings.
He goes on to say,
…this is the most direct, no-nonsense…
