Comments on: The many names of Baird T Spalding – Part 1

By: todd

todd — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:54:40 +0000

Thanks for your comment Rand – that’s very interesting information. It matches with my research, except that I am confident Spalding did not have any relatives who lived in or visited India. You are correct when you pinpoint the New Thought material as influential. I believe the genesis of the Spalding stories was a small New Thought group Spalding joined with his wife in the early 1920′s in San Francisco. It’s not widely known but his stories were first published in serial form in their magazine in the early 1920′s, and Spalding’s wife worked as an editor for another well known occult author at the time. I suspect that the ‘relatives’ angle was created later to address some critical newspaper coverage Spalding received in the 1930′s in which Spalding admitted to some followers he had never traveled to India as described in the books.

In the last two months I’ve made contact with some Spaulding family members in NY and TX which has confirmed much of the research and provided some additional angles.

I’m interested in any material about Spalding’s mining investments. I’ve spoken to one person who was involved with them in the 1940′s. Please contact me if you’d like to discuss further.

By: Rand Noel

Rand Noel — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 07:50:04 +0000

Interesting Material here But I would like to add some anecdotal evidence from two first hand accounts regarding Spalding’s actually ever going to India.
Spalding as any person who has studied anything about him knows he was in the mining Business. In 1967 I had occasion to meet one Carla Griggs in North Hollywood CA. She was in her late 80′s then but was involved with two separate and coincidental personal friends of mine about two subjects. I had dealings with the “Science of Mind Magazine: at the time and had close relations with DeVorss Publishing as they published much of the material from the Church of Religious Science and the Church of Divine Science.(I am a writer myself) Secondly my roommate at the time was involved with Gold mining in Utah and Southern California, Mrs. Griggs Husband (Already deceased when I met her) was involved with my friends Gold mining Speculations as well as one Baird T Spalding. My roommate was The Late Rev Dr. David Howe, of the First Church of Religious Science in Las Vegas were I made my home. Both Dr, Howe and Mrs. Griggs assured me that all the volumes that Devorss Published for Spalding was information garnered from Spalding about relatives who had lived in India and he himself never went there and Lived with the people the books purport to say he did. That’s not ot say he Never went to India, but it is to say that the Stories are fictionalized accounts of second, third and fourth hand information and sensationalized by Mr. DeVorss in order to sell books on the Metaphysical, and ‘New Thought’ Movement popular at the time.

By: todd

todd — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:11:01 +0000

Thanks for your feedback. I’m fairly sure I am familiar with the guru you are referring to as she has been a consistent supporter of Spalding. I plan to write a little on her later.

The second part of this article will be posted shortly, and there is much more to come.

By: AJ

AJ — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:39:21 +0000

thanks for updating us on your research – well done! i was a member of a religious group (some would call it a cult) for some years which took Spalding VERY seriously. i was given assurances by our guru that Spalding was legitimate, based on her psychic contacts. what you have uncovered here clearly shows a pattern of deception by Spalding that was lifelong, and leads any intelligent person to question his books closely.

i found a similar pattern of deception by my own guru, who turned out to have ‘feet of clay’. it is clear to me now that the motive of such people is not always spiritual enlightenment.

truth matters. to quote Kierkegaard, a human being cannot find truth separate from the subjective experience of their own existence. intention also matters. facts stated by a liar are not the same as those stated by a person who intends to be truthful. my guru had mixed intentions and i caught her in several lies. her channeling of a specific master turned out to be a simple show which took me in for many years. how ironic that your research would confirm a lesson that it took me many years to learn. thanks again, and please keep researching!