The Ancient Secret of The Fountain of Youth

Peter Kelder published a booklet in 1939 entitled ‘The Eye of Revelation’, originally written as a 32 page booklet in which Kelder claims to have met a retired British army colonel, the mysterious Colonel Bradford in Southern California during the 1930’s. Colonel Bradford, who should have at his age been a stooped and bent old man, appeared to Kelder to be a man in the prime of his life. This marvellous youth and vigour is attributed by Kelder to Bradford’s daily practice of what are now commonly known as The Five Tibetan Rites. These are a series of exercises similar in certain ways to traditional Tibetan Yoga (in that they emphasize a continuous sequence of movement where Indian yoga focuses more on maintaining static positions).

While the true origin of these exercises remains uncertain and argued by practitioners and sceptics alike, there is growing interest in the practice of these exercises in Western culture and many reports of miraculous recoveries and improvements of general health and well being ranging from recovery from disease, to weight loss, remarked improvement in energy to a flat out reversal of the aging process.

In 1985 a book called The Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth written by Peter Kelder was published, which for the first time fully described an exercise program for "youthing". This is an exercise program used by Tibetan monks to live long, vibrant and healthy lives. In fact, this book states that many have lived longer than most can imagine by following the program often called the "Five Tibetan Rites". The benefits are described in this book and a subsequent book 2 with an expanded description of the program by the publisher called the Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth - Book 2, a companion to the original book by Peter Kelder.

The authors provide many examples of the benefits of the "Five Tibetan Rites" including the following: looking much younger; sleeping soundly; waking up feeling refreshed and energetic; release from serious medical problems including difficulties with spines; relief from problems with joints; release from pain; better memory; arthritis relief; weight loss; improved vision; youthing instead of aging; greatly improved physical strength, endurance and vigor; improved emotional and mental health; enhanced sense of well being and harmony; and very high overall energy.

Chris Kilham, whose 1994 book 'The Five Tibetans' resparked the 'The Five Rites' current popularity says, "Whether or not the Five Tibetans are in fact Tibetan in origin is something we may never ascertain. Perhaps they come from Nepal or northern India...As the story has it, they were shared by Tibetan lamas; beyond that I know nothing of their history. Personally, I think these exercises are most likely Tibetan in origin. The issue at hand, though, is not the lineage of the Five Tibetans. The point is their immense potential value for those who will clear 10 minutes a day to practice."

There still remains little historical or cultural evidence to support the Rites. Kelder's writing is also notably discordant with the five traditional Lamaits schools in many ways, and indeed there is no known lineage holder, of either high or lower stature, from any tradition in Tibet, that acknowledges The Five Rites.

Some noted discrepancies between what is published about the Five Rites and what is known about Tibetan tradition:

There are five chakras in Tibetan medicine, not seven chakras.
Tibetan medicine considers health to be a balance of five elements, not the speeding up of seven vortices.
Yoga in Tibet never included whirling.
Buddhist Lamas teach to transcend attachment to the body, including ideas of being young, thin or beautiful.
Authentic Tibetan yoga includes over a 100 movements and involves a variety of exercises.
Tibetan yoga also includes several breathing practices, hundreds of complex visualisations and many meditation practices that a practitioner will take years to perfect under strict guidance from their personal Lama.
An authentic Tibetan practitioner will always reveal the name and lineage of their teacher, usually accompanied by long dedicational verses. Similarly, authentic practitioners of any Tibetan system will make frequent citation and indeed veneration of any practice from an authentic ancient text. Generally said, any authentic Tibetan practice will have numerous references to lineage and provenance, and will contain countless safeguards against invasive foreign interpolations.
Tibetan monks did not teach secret yoga practices or share anything but minor spiritual practices with Westerners or laypersons generally in 1939.

In all likelihood, the rites may not actually be Tibetan, or, they may just be a very well kept secret adapted by Kelder and still highly effective even if not entirely ‘authentic’.

While people might not reverse the effects of aging as drastically as claimed by Kelder in his story of Colonel Bradford, there is no denying that the exercises known as The Five Tibetan Rites have certainly aided many people on their road to health and general well being.

I do believe that the Five Tibetan Rites are designed to work towards achieving balance in the major energy centres of the body and increase the flow of Pranic energy (also known as Chi) throughout the body. Any form of exercise that enhances the function of the chakras will enhance the function of the endocrine system, so it stands to reason that an improved functioning of the endocrine system will lead to an overall improvement of health.

Although we rarely think about them, the glands of the endocrine system and the hormones they release influence almost every cell, organ, and function of our bodies. The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating mood, growth, development and aging, tissue function, and metabolism, as well as sexual function and the reproductive processes.

In general, the endocrine system will have an influence on every system of the body in some way or another. So if you are looking for an exercise programme that can improve your sleep patterns, help your body to process food better, improve your metabolism, increase fertility and virility, assist in mood enhancement, menopause and stress relief; the Five Tibetan Rites are a good place to start, and will only take about 15 minutes out of your day.

I have practiced these exercises myself and seen the benefits both on an energetic and physical level, so I am beyond the point of really caring whether or not they came out of Tibet with the ever youthful Colonel Bradford. If you are interested in beginning a daily practice of the Five Tibetan Rites, click on the link below. And if at a later stage you are interested in learning more about these simple, yet highly effective exercises in more detail, I would recommend you look for the book published in 1985 by Peter Kelder called The Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth or the subsequent book 2.