Paul Twitchell - As A Writer

As A Writer

Twitchell wrote dozens of books and discourse study programs under Eckankar, gave public lectures around the world, and also wrote thousands of letters. Some critics claim the mail Twitchell sent to Kirpal Singh was published as the book The Tiger's Fang. This misunderstanding started with comments that Kirpal Singh made publicly. It now seems likely that Singh may not have even read the book before making his comment, since he appears to have confused it with another book, Dialogues With The Master, that was composed on Twitchell's early experiences. Singh would go on to claim that he had dictated The Tiger's Fang to Twitchell on the inner planes, and then criticized it because it was made up of dream experiences rather than real spiritual experiences. All of these comments, however, were misunderstandings based on his confusion with another book, since none of his comments fit with what The Tiger's Fang actually was about. Later, critics would claim that Kirpal Singh told Twitchell about his criticisms of The Tiger's Fang, and that he rejected it, and this was what led to Paul breaking away from Kirpal Singh. However, this is also a series of misunderstandings. Even David Lane has retracted his belief in these Tiger's Fang Incident claims, since his own notes show that Twitchell and Singh had a friendly relationship long after 1963, when The Tiger's Fang Incident was supposed to occur. Twitchell told biographer Brad Steiger that he expected The Tiger's Fang to be controversial, having announced that it "would shake the foundation of the teachings of orthodox religions, philosophies, and metaphysical concepts." Twitchell even claimed to have been informed that the Pope saw the book and "was greatly disturbed by it, perhaps to the point of condemning it."