Theos Casimir Bernard
(1908–1947) was an explorer, and author, known for his
work on yoga and religious studies, particularly in Tibetan
Buddhism. Bernard first trained in law,
obtaining a bachelor’s degree in 1931 and embarking on an
internship in 1932, but decided instead to pursue an
advanced degree at Columbia University. There, according to
2010’s The Madman’s Middle Way, Bernard, who described
himself as “the first white lama”, became the first American
to write a dissertation on the subject of Tibetan
Buddhism. In 1936, he toured India and Tibet
with his wife, Viola, studying Tantric Yoga in an effort to
master its fundamental principles. On his return to the
United States in 1937, his experiences were published across
the country over several weeks by the North American
Newspaper Alliance and Bell Syndicate. This was followed by
a series of lectures and radio appearances in 1939 and by
the publication of the memoir Penthouse of the
Gods.[7] Bernard was also featured in popular
magazines, including a cover story in Family Circle in 1939,
followed shortly by his second book, Heaven Lies Within Us,
which explored Hatha Yoga under the guise of an
auto-biography. According to 2008’s Barbarian Lands, many of
the experiences Bernard describes in his books have recently
been discovered to have been fabricated, based on the
experiences of his father. In 1939, Bernard opened the
American Institute of Yoga and the Pierre Health
Studios. See two Famil Circle (1938) Articles
on Theos Bernard Penhouse of the Gods –
History
of Tibet