Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth
by Peter Kelder
I have to say that the I heard it from someone who swears it's true is an effective construct. It saves a lot of time when trying to convince one's readers to just sit back and trust that what is being said is the gospel truth. Trust me, I know of what I speak. Second-hand storytelling worked in Mérimée's Carmen. It worked in Don Quixote. And it worked for Thomas More in his Utopia. But does it work in the Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth?
I came across this book about three years ago and I am always surprised to see that it remains a bestseller. The cover boasts 2 million copies sold and I believe it. It certainly is something of a phenomenon.
If forced to put myself in a category, I'd say that I'm firmly a believer rather than a sceptic. And yet this believer began to struggle with this book on page xvii. This is the section entitled About the Author. In it, we are told that the author is an intensely private man, who shuns the public eye. We are assured, however, that the author is a real man. Immediately I tried to think of someone who had touched the lives of millions (as Mr. Kelder has with this book) and has managed to avoid ever being seen. Let's see – Salinger couldn't do and neither could Garbo. But I find myself relenting and choosing to suspend my sense of disbelief. So I read on.
The book opens in southern California with the author sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper. A stranger approaches him and takes up beside him. They strike up a conversation and a friendship. This is where we meet Colonel Bradford (not his real name– i.e. don't bother trying to verify that he's real, just trust me).
Colonel Bradford, we are told is in his sixties and has served as a member of the British Army. While serving in colonial India, he heard of a fountain of youth in Tibet. And as he is desperate to stop growing any older, he tells the author that he is to return to India to find this Shangri-La. He goes. Years pass. He comes back. He looks so much younger that his friend (again the author) almost doesn't recognise him.
Fortunately for the author (and us), Colonel Bradford hasn't returned empty handed. He is back to preach the virtues of the Five Rites. These are five secret yoga exercises that the Tibetans happily shared with their western visitor.
When performed daily, these exercises (sorry, Rites) take very little time indeed – only twenty minutes. But they offer some pretty astonishing benefits – youth, weight loss, pain relief, increased energy, etc. There are countless testimonials. And from the cover it appears that even celebrities are jumping on the Five Rites bandwagon.
In today's society, we don't exercise enough. And perhaps we need the conceit of Tibetan secrets to do a little yoga. But I can't help but find the window dressing that is much of this book a bit too much to swallow.
Do I think that daily exercise and visualisation can lead to some pretty astonishing benefits? Of course, I do. And to that end, I'll leave you with my own Five Rites – which mysteriously came to me while staring at a magical mountain range in Asturias, Spain:
- Walk, don't drive.
- Take the stairs, not the lift.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Sleep at least eight hours a night.
- Stay out of the sun as much as possible.
Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth is available at Amazon.
Alan's Rating:
| Life-changing |
| Can't live without |
| Put the kettle on and settle down |
| Worth a quick flick |
| Leave it on the shelf |
Alan Bridges
Intuitive Consultant
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