Frequently asked questions
Because the pendulum of Spalding’s personality swung across such a wide arc which contained contradictions, falsities, deception, kindness, gentleness, selfishness, generosity, anger, hatred and love for his fellowman (as well as combinations of these), it is very difficult to present a comprehensive picture of him. The shortest, and probably the most effective, description of him is that he was fantastic – and fabulous.
David Bruton
Who was Baird T Spalding?
Baird Thomas Spalding is the nom de plume of Bayard Spaulding*, an American writer born in 1872 in Cohocton, New York. Spalding self-published Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East in 1924 which told of a fantastic research expedition to India and Tibet in the 1890′s that witnessed masters who could perform miraculous feats, imparting simple spiritual truths in a format which appealed to Western audiences.
Spalding’s first book was republished by DeVorss & Co in 1935 and became a runaway hit, selling many thousands of copies and leading Spalding on lecture tours across America. Spalding continue to write three more volumes of Life and Teaching, and led a small group of followers to India in 1935. He died in 1953 in Arizona at the age of 80.
Spalding’s books and his publisher say he was born in the 1850′s in England, and his father/grandfather was from India. What’s your source for saying otherwise?
Baird T Spalding’s family history has been published here, taken from authoritative sources such as passport records, the US census and Spaulding family obituaries and they are unequivocal.
Spalding had no family connection to India, but he did have a lifelong penchant for tall tales. The biography and timeline provided in the books and on the DeVorss & Co website is primarily based on those tales and is mostly fictional, just like Spalding’s nom de plume.
Are the books fiction or non-fiction? Did Spalding actually go to India in 1894?
Many readers are disappointed when they learn that Spalding did not go to India in 1894, and there was no research expedition as described in Life and Teaching. Spalding was only 22 years old in 1894, and he spent most of the 1890′s in the Yukon mining for gold. Spalding’s first visit to India was in 1935 at the behest of his publisher, after the release of Life and Teaching Volume 3.
Presenting fictional material of a spiritual nature in the style of scientific expeditions to distant lands and discoveries of rare documents was a popular genre around the turn of the century (see Nicholas Notovitch and Edmund Bordeaux Szekely for similar examples). Life and Teaching is a work of fiction in the genre of magical autobiography.
Spalding was a fascinating man who freely mixed fact and fiction in his life, telling stories that varied from one telling to the next. Many of the incredible stories surrounding Spalding were told in a way that helped people to comprehend the spiritual content of his books.
Can I get a map of Spalding’s travels through India, or the names of his companions? What about the location or photographs of the Temple Of Silence, the Healing Temple, or the Temple Of The Great Tau?
Unfortunately, since Spalding did not travel to India as described in Life and Teaching, there is no map, photographs or further information available. Astute readers may notice the books lack any detailed information about locations or people that is typical of scientific expeditions. The journey, researchers and the temples existed only in Spalding’s imagination.
Spalding’s books and his publisher say he studied at Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia and the University of Heidelberg. Is that true?
Spalding did make those claims, but there are no records of him studying at Berkeley, Stanford or Columbia according to University registrars. Since Spalding did not travel to Germany, it is highly unlikely he studied at the University of Heidelberg.
Where did the spiritual content of the books come from?
Much of the content of Life and Teaching was inspired by the New Thought movement. Spalding was a member of a New Thought group in San Francisco during the early 1920′s when he wrote Life and Teaching Volume One and the first chapters of the book were published in the groups magazine. His wife Stella Spalding was an intelligent, University educated woman who helped Spalding greatly when writing the books. Spalding’s publisher Doug DeVorss was raised in the Unity Church, a New Thought group, and it is likely he had input on the later volumes of Life and Teaching.
Spalding was a wealthy man, wasn’t he? Didn’t he own several gold mines?
Spalding was mechanically inclined, and worked as a mining engineer in Alaska, Montana and California for much of his early life. Although he was involved in several mining ventures, none were particularly successful and at least two of them ended up bankrupt or in legal troubles. It appears that his primary income from the 1930′s until his death in 1953 was income from book sales. He died with few assets to his name.
What about Spalding’s relationships with famous scientists and artists like Einstein, Tesla, Charles Proteus Steinmetz and Cecil B DeMille?
Most of the people named have been covered extensively by biographers, and there are historical archives of their correspondence and diaries. Spalding isn’t mentioned in them, or the connections are extremely tenuous. Many of these claims can again be chalked up to Spalding’s penchant for tall tales.
Did Spalding write any other books?
No. Life and Teaching Volumes 1-4 were his only works. Volumes 5 and 6 were published posthumously by DeVorss from articles Spalding wrote for Mind Magazine and from collected notes of the India Tour in 1935.
The Vietnamese book Journey to the East (Hanh Trinh Ve Phuong Dong) by Nguyen Phong which claims to be a translation of a Spalding book written in 1924 is a work of fiction written in the 1970′s by the pseudonymous Nguyen Phong.
If all these stories about Spalding aren’t true and his books were fiction, why bother with the research on this website?
Despite his love for tall tales, Spalding was a fascinating man, and the story of how he managed to enchant people with his books and lectures is one worth telling. Although he battled his own personal demons for many years, Spalding had a positive influence on many readers, and his books remaining in print nearly sixty years after his death is a testament to their appeal.
In the years since his death, and despite the lack of supporting evidence for his stories, Spalding has become an important influence on alternative religions and New Age thought in general. This website examines Spalding from a cultural, historical and anthropological point of view, celebrating the life of a man who achieved immortality in print far beyond his wildest dreams. In the spirit of the Native American trickster legends, Spalding challenges readers to think outside normal religious beliefs, with a sparkle in his eye that reminds you that truth is often far stranger than fiction.
*A note on names. For clarity, the website refers to Baird Spalding by that name, even though he was born as Bayard Spaulding. Members of his family are referred to with the Spaulding surname.
Last updated: January 2010
Thank you very much for all of the time and effort you’ve put into this website. Based on your meticulous research, I now have an answer to a question that could not have ever been answered had someone like yourself not spent all of the time you have. I’ve been watching this site for the results of your request for his travel records. Most importantly, I wanted to know if he witnessed the incredible things he said he did.
I have to say that my initial reaction was one of disappointment. I thought, “Spalding was nothing more than a liar!” But then I recall how these books inspired me to delve deeper into Eastern philosophy, where over the years, I found that the essence of what he wrote about in his series is true after all… “Secret Masters” or not. That initial inspiration was over 20 years ago for me and I’ve read, learned, and experienced a lot because of his work of fiction. Anyway, I knew then that something smelled fishy while I was reading them. Sure, this is a “If it seems too good to be true…” moment, but then I ask myself, “How could any group of individuals be secret if they’re telling people about them?”
Besides, what could “Secret Masters” do for me anyway? It’s my job to seek enlightenment, and this little let-down is only proof that all of the billions of things necessary to bring me one step closer to it, can come from the strangest of places. It’s all good.
Matt
MR SPALDING LIFE AND TEACHING OF THE MASTERS OF THE FAR EAST BOOKS ARE THE GREATEST BLESSING TO HUMANITY THEY MAKE SO MUCH SENSE THEY CHANGE MY LIFE AND MADE ME A BETTER PERSON THE MASTERS DO EXIST AND THE TRIP IS REAL ,LETS JUST FOCUS ON THE WISDOM AND CONCEPTS OF THESE GREAT SOULS THESE BOOKS WERE WRITTEN FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY TO BE ENLIGHTENED FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY TO BE THE MASTERS OF THEIR OWN DESTINY FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY TO MOVE FROM THE HUMAN KINGDOM TO THE MASTER KINGDOM .THE wisdom in the life and teaching of the masters of the far east stands like the sun in the heavens and it give us a light to take with us on the unknown road ahead of us .
I believe Mr Spaldings books becouse they are realy fantastic ,they influence many mindes and change mindfulnes .Human need that knowledge and human deserve that too.
God bless Mr Spalding!
I commend you for your dogged and meticulous research. I would hope you take the fruits of all this documentation and produce the first true biography of this remarkable man. There will always be those who prefer not to have their beautiful fantasies burst like bubbles. But the essence of the teachings in the books and their ramifications as they echo down the suberranean byways of history are evidence of their own worth, not the claimed provenance.
Virtually all the classics of Occult or Hermetic philosophy are at their essence romantic fictions, including the Hermetica, the original Hermetic Canon itself.
And there are those who would describer the Gospels or the Budda Tales themselves as fictional tales. That does not take a wit of power from the profundity of their central liberating messages.
Thanks Remy. I am indeed working on a biography of Spalding as time permits. Recently I’ve had the pleasure to meet some of Baird’s surviving family members from New York which has been very enlightening.
What resonates in the heart is the truth.I am so amazed and honored that I found Baird’s Spalding’s Books.They come as a precious gift to all who are ready to strive for higher realms of consciousness.Mr.Baird Spalding’s biography is irrelevant in comparison to the Magnificence of his Work. Actually his Work is his biography.Ohh..what a blessing….what a pleasure …….to be in touch with these teachings…..I would be very happy to meet with people who share this point of view.
Hi Todd, I am reading vol.4 and I feel this blissful, radiant light, undescribable. I wonder if we can create a study group around these teachings, a place for like-minded people to sustain each other in their evolvement.How did you decide to do the biography?
The bottom line is that Spalding gave humanity the wisdom it so desperately needs in a form that would most appeal to its need for glamour and illusion over spirit. Humanity wouldn’t listen to just some normal guy dressed in jeans and a polo shirt born in some normal town and brought up in a normal way. Not back then and not now. Yet, back then, bring in India, which back then was full of mystery and intrigue, and naturally people thought that it was the truth. It appealed to their vanity and made them read and listen. It was the truth brought to them in a way they would most pay attention.
It’s so true even today. Carlos Casteneda had to invent Don Juan, an Indian Shaman. Oh, we’ll listen to a mysterious shaman but not to just some guy from California. It’s like the pope. “Wow, look at that house he lives in and that big hat and all those robes. That guy must know the truth”. What if the pope just showed up one day in some slacks and a tee shirt. Think anyone would listen? So, Spalding needs us to imagine guys in turbans who were mysterious and probably had long beards and dressed in all white and did miracles. And it worked. People bought the truth in a glamorous package.
The truth is the truth. I’ve read the books many times and along with 40 years of study with other books, hundreds of hours of meditations, countless retreats and studying with enlightened people all over the world, what Spalding wrote was true wisdom and matches all enlightened thought ever presented. That’s all that matters. The thing is, these books can make us better people and make humanity a better whole entity. In that light, I say, good for him.
I’m glad you have done the research you have done. People need to know that Spalding was just a guy like any of us. It gives us each hope that one doesn’t need to travel to India, or find a shaman, or find someone in a turban with white robes to know the truth. The truth in inside each of us and the only place we need travel is into our own inner silence.
I must say that I am a little disappointed to learn of the truth of the fables. However, the books are very enlightening. I guess it just makes you look a little deeper into your own soul for what is the truth, as only each man can answer for himself. Thank you for your time and research and bringing forth this information.
i really liked claudia´s idea, of making a group of people around this teachings, i would be really happy of having contact with some of you, just send me an email to gabo.gc@gmail.com
Recently, I’ve been re-reading Spalding’s books. I was reading them as fact not fiction. There was, however, the question of how proficiently dialog was transcribed. The information on your site answers that question — no need to transcribe what was never said!
I do feel disappointed as truth is important. I hope that people will not become totally disillusioned when they find out that Spalding was pretty much a “bull shiter”. There are many good books that truth seekers can read that help put life’s puzzle together.
To the curious? What if Spalding channeled several of the masters! I have read the books several times and in book three, when Jesus talks of him being on the cross. That part about him not saying, “My God My God why hast thou forsaken me. Well, several years before I read his books I talked with a person that channels, and she is real; said the angel that she channels said the same thing about the mis-quote found in the bible. What if?.
I’m re-reading the series and googled Baird T. Spalding to find more information . Also disappointed to hear the stories are fiction. the teachings seem so timely and familiar! perhaps like others have stated, because my previous reading began a long exploration of many varieties of religious/spiritual thought and experiences. After all this reading, I had the thought: “wow. what if all this is true?! what if we really could do all these things? (for the highest posssible good of all, of course.)
Many thanks for your research . The fact is that the East is always associated with the within in spiritual writings. I did wonder if the place names/ human names used translate into any meaning other then stated. The Unity Metaphysical Dictionary comes to mind with all the treasures contained within its pages of the inner meaning of places / birth names. Thanks again, Joe.