"The 'Aura' World Of Tony Quinn", Sunday World
Mrs X, the mother of two who left her family to live at the Yoga Commune in Templeogue, is back home.
An avalanche of letters, most of them from the house at Templeogue, arrived at the Sunday World building during the week, defending Yoga and its exponent in Dublin, Tony Quinn, on the issue.
They say that our story was unfair.
The similarity of their content is rather remarkable. But they agree on several points: that Mrs X only stayed in the Commune for ten days; that her husband knew she was there and gave her money while she stayed; and that Tony Quinn persuaded her to return to her children.
All the correspondents agree that ‘Mrs X’ was, while at the house at Templeogue ‘in a state of emotional shock and expressed very little feeling for her husband and children’.
Many of them say that she was mentally disturbed before she went, but their explanations vary as to why she was allowed enter in that state.
One Yoga member said that many psychiatrists recommend Tony Quinn’s Yoga for such cases.
(Mr X told Sunday World he only met Tony on the third try. He was told twice that Mr Quinn was ‘sick’.)
The letters, some of which have also come from St Jude’s, Brookfield, College Road, Cork, as well as St Columban’s, Templeogue, (the Commune hold on to the name of the house they secured from the Columban Fathers), say the writers have benefited in health and spirit from Yoga.
Only a very few anti-Yoga letters have come from homes from which family members have left for the Commune. These complain that persons have ‘lost their religion’ and ‘given up their careers’ having sample the new philosophy.
Among the pro-Yoga letter writers were several with university degrees.
But cures from obesity, asthma, drug-addition and depression are reported by people in various Dublin addresses, apart from the letters that came from the Yoga houses themselves.
An explanatory printed letter headed, ‘Who Is Tony Quinn?’ was circulated by Yoga devotee, Sean Nolan, in Dublin last August, a photostat copy of which has been sent to Sunday World. The letter was issued with a list of classes and venues, urging people to join the movement.
Readers may remember that Tony Quinn refused to be interviewed by us and was ‘not in’ when we tried to find him at the Templeogue Yoga house.
The letter, however, seems to speak on his behalf. Here are some excerpts.
‘Two years ago, Tony Quinn started giving classes here in Dublin. As they were concerned with the ages-old idea of perfected man, they were called yoga classes. But they bore little resemblance to conventional yoga, or indeed to any system of spiritual development in the world. The classes were unique. And Tony was unique. He was taught by no man, followed no teacher, for he was born with certain abilities which made all of this unnecessary.
‘To begin with, there is the very cornerstone of Tony’s teaching – true meditation. Where other systems of meditation could be called passive, since they concentrate on blotting out the mind, this is active meditation. Everybody uses this type of meditation already, without realising it, but at a very low level. It is a system of getting information from that part of you that normally lies beyond your conscious mind.
‘Such people as Mozart, Leonardo Da Vinci, or Thomas Edison, all ascribed their creations and discoveries to this greater intelligence. Jesus, Buddha and other great masters of the past used it on a higher level again. Jesus in particular was the outstanding example of this positive meditation.
‘He did not retire to a cave to spend his life cultivating an empty mind. Instead, through his meditation, he was able to manifest the love, intelligence, and power of God for all men to see.
‘In the world today there is only one man who can practice this meditation at its perfect level – Tony Quinn. To watch him meditate at this level is an awesome experience. Myself and many others from the classes have seen it and would be glad to talk to you about it. What happens is the aura, or glow, around his head changes to pure white.
‘Then he seems to be transformed into light as the aura vanishes and the outline of his body becomes indefinite. The features of the face change also as it is transfigured with the power of this light shining from within. Those who have seen this count themselves among the most fortunate of people.
‘With these powers, and with the knowledge you will gain through meditation, you can at last be master of your destiny and discover true happiness. Positive meditation then, the key to Tony’s teaching is the gateway to the hidden but greater part of you.
‘I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of Jesus, the saints or other holy men with this golden or white glow painted around them. Of course, the aura around the head of an ordinary person would not be white or gold. It would be darker, perhaps blue. this is because they have a weaker connecting with God, who is the source of life itself.
‘I will explain this by saying that the energy which sustains man and the universe comes from God. Those who can accept this energy in its pure form have white auras, while those who cannot, reduce it to a lower rate of vibration. At this energy lowers its vibration it changes colour, hence the different coloured auras, since the aura is the radiance of this energy around the body.
‘The colours of the aura are, in seven descending rates of vibration: white/gold, gold with green/yellow, with green/blue, or violet/red or brown/grey or black.
‘I would like to mention here than Tony can also, if necessary, bring the aura down to black. This is because there are in the world, those who would exploit this idea of God, for money, possessions, or simply power. To capitalise in this way on the longing many people feel at this time for a teacher, is to sin to a far greater extent than the normal person could understand.
‘The way things stand at the moment, any guru-so-called can, if he knows certain techniques to show people a light, impress them to the extent that they will fall down and worship him as God. Taking all their money is nothing compared to the damage such an individual can do to the soul.
‘I have seen him heal the sick, cast out evil spirits (low forms of energy, which can live in the aura and control the person in that way – possessing him, in fact) and do many others things which I will not dwell on here, as I feel they distract from the greatest miracle of all, if your could only understand it, which is to change the aura.
‘The reason I’m telling you all this is to get you along to the classes. Tony wants the auras of as many people as possible improved. You have nothing to lose. Even in the 24 lesson preparing for having the aura changes, you will gain all the knowledge necessary to become happy.
‘Yes, it costs money to attend the classes. The world happens to run on it, so we need it. Even getting this printed for you to read costs money.
‘So now you have some idea of Tony Quinn, and what he represents. You may be wondering how somebody with a name like Tony Quinn, coming from a place like Ireland, rather than India, could represent anything. Two thousand years ago they were saying nothing good could ever come out of Nazareth. Or you may consider him an odd sort of fellow, suffering from delusions. It is we who are deluded. Tony is the perfect example of man as he should be, even at this stage.
‘He has a well-developed body and mind. He eats, drinks and does everything a man does, and does it well. But he is different in another important respect. Unlike you and I, he can change all this at will and become something quite different. Tony is a sane voice in a world of confusion. He offers real life – will you grasp it now, or forever turn away, never understanding?’
The author of the circular letter, Sean Nolan, whose address is at Kylemore Road, Bluebell Avenue, Dublin, told us that he has been with Tony Quinn, now for three years. The reason he thought that Tony did not speak to the reporter was that he had been on a ten-day fast, experimenting to discover suitable diets to eat after fasting.
Sean Nolan says that healing sessions are held each Sunday in the Templeogue House where many people have been healed of a ‘wide range of infirmities’.
Printed with this circular were venues for classes in various suburbs of Dublin and in Kildare areas.
The circular seemed extraordinary to us but one of the protestors from the Commune (among the many that jammed our telephone system for several hours) boasted that he had seen Tony Quinn in meditation and could bear witness to the aura that surrounded him.
He said that modern science was discovering more about his aura and especially the investigations were being made (and published) by Soviet scientists.
Others said that as far as they were concerned Tony Quinn Yoga was a matter of diet and the proper way to meditate.
Our telephonist noted that there were no concurrent telephone calls about Yoga, only consecutive ones. And some of the protesters began by saying, ‘I want to add my voice…’
It would appear that our aura with this group of disciples appears black.
Tony Quinn – a priest replies
Dear Sir
Your article on Tony Quinn’s Yoga was referred to me during the week. Twice during the past year I have had to help people as a result of their participation in Mr Quinn’s Yoga.
In one case, the person involved suffered a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalised. In the other case, I had to call a doctor owing to the near physical breakdown of the person involved.
The person in the former case has written a complete testimony of her experience and it makes fascinating and frightening reading.
I think it is important that people know exactly what Mr Quinn is offering before they enrol as members of his group and I feel that you have done a service to the community to point out the possible dangers in these Yoga classes.
Your sincerely
Martin Tierney CC
This article was sourced from Dialogue Ireland (second article).