BERNARD, Theos Casimir Hamati. Los Angeles 10.12.1908 — Kosar, Pakistan ?.9.1947. U.S. Bauddha and Yogi. Son of Glen Agassiz B. and Aura Crable, nephew of the yogi Pierre Arnold Baker (1875–1955). Graduated from the University of Arizona Law School (L.L.B. 1931) and Columbia University (M.A. 1936 in Philosophy). Prompted by his father, in 1936 went to India and was initiated as a lama in Sikkim. In 1937 he was allowed to visit Lhasa. 1938 returned to the U.S.A., lectured as “the White Lama”. Ph.D. 1943 Columbia University (under Herbert Schneider), then lived in Santa Barbara, California. In 1947 returned to India and apparently was killed in Pakistan, on his way to Lahut Valley north of the Pañjab (body never found). Married 1934 Viola Wertheim Bernard (divorce 1938), 1942 Ganna Walska (d. 1946) and 1947 Helen Graham Park. His travel book is said to be exaggerated, if not partly fabricated, but the visit to Tibet seems to be true
Publications: Penthouse of the Gods: A Pilgrimage into the Heart of Tibet and the Sacred City of Lhasa. 344 p. N.Y. 1939; Heaven Lies within Us. 326 p. N.Y. 1939; diss. 1943 publ. Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience. 68 p. N.Y. 1944; Hindu Philosophy. 207 p. N.Y. 1947.
Sources: *Lopez 2008, 189; D. Sharit, The United States in Asia. Westport, CT 1990, 42; P. G. Hacket in Columbia Univ. homepage with photo; Wikipedia with photo and further references.
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