Walter Evans-Wentz

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Evans-Wentz and Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup, circa 1919

Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 – July 17, 1965) was a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, and was from his youth a Theosophist associated with the Point Loma community in San Diego. He is most famous for his 1927 translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and other pioneering works that transmitted Tibetan Buddhism to the West. He was a close friend of Boris de Zirkoff.

Early life

Cover of published text of Ananda College lecture

Association with Theosophists

Evans-Wentz was well acquainted with many Theosophists in the Point Loma tradition and in the Theosophical Society based in Adyar. He and Boris de Zirkoff were close friends. He gave a public lecture at Ananda College, a Sri Lankan Buddhist school founded by Henry Steel Olcott, and the text was subsequently issued in a booklet by the Maha Bodhi Society.

Writings

The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals list 17 articles by or about Evans-Wentz, including reviews of his books.

These are some of the books he published:

• The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. London: H. Frowde, 1911 and numerous later publishers. Hathitrust.
• Cachuma and Sacred Mountains. Chicago: Swallow Press; Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1981. Written with Frank Waters and Charles L. Adams.
• Tibet's Great Yogi, Milarepa. London: Oxford University Press, 1928 and later publishers. Subtitled: "a Biography from the Tibetan, Being the Jetsün-kahbum, or Biographical History of Jetsün-Milarepa, according to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering." Edited with introduction and annotations by W. Y. Evans-Wentz from translation of Mi-la-ras-pai rnam-thar. Authors listed as Gtsan-smyon He-ru-ka (1452-1507) and Zla-ba-bsam-'grub (1868-1922).
• Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines. London, Oxford University Press: H. Milford, 1935 and several later editions. Subtitled: "or, Seven Books of. Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering." Arranged and edited with introductions and annotations to serve as a commentary by W.Y. Evans-Wentz. Author listed as Zla-ba-bsam-'grub (1868-1922).
• The Tibetan Book of the Dead. London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1927, and numerous later editions and publishers. Subtitled: "or, The after-death experiences on the Bardo plane, according to Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English rendering." Introductions, annotations and editing by W.Y. Evans-Wentz. Author listed as Zla-ba-bsam-'grub (1868-1922).

Additional resources

Articles

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