Walter Evans-Wentz
Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 – July 17, 1965) was an American anthropologist, a scholar of Tibetan religions, and was a Theosophist long associated with the Point Loma community in San Diego. He is most famous for his 1927 publication 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
Walter Y. Evans-Wentz was born on February 2, 1978 in Trenton, New Jersey. His parents were German immigrant Christopher Wentz from Baden, and American Mary Evans Wentz. They were Free Thinkers and spiritualists. Walter joined the Theosophical Society, Point Loma in California in 1902. The Societys leader Katherine Tingley encouraged him to continue his education at Stanford University, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in 1906.[1]
Advanced degrees and research
The following year, Evans-Wentz went to Oxford University in England. There, following years of study and lengthy research, he earned the degree of Doctor of Science in Comparative Religion in the School of Anthropology. He was "the first American to receive this degree in Anthropology, and one of the only six to whom the degree [had] ever been awarded."[2] Oxford also awarded him a Doctor of Literature degree:
The granting of such a degree as Oxford recently [in 1931] conferred upon him is regarded as a distinct achievement in scholarship. The degree is dependent upon research, the results of which must be published at least one year prior to supplicating for the degree, and must constitute, in the judgment of a committee appointed by the University, a genuine contribution to the advancement of learning. In the instance of Dr. Evans-Wentz's research, the results were published by the Oxford University Press in the three following volumes:
- The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, published in 1911, a study of Celtic Mythology and religion as illustrated by modern survivors,chiefly among the peasantry of the six modern Celtic countries Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. To this study Dr. Evans-Wentz devoted three years while living with the peasantry in various parts of these six countries.
- The Tibetan Book of the Dead, published in 1927, a translation of a Tibetan manuscript illustrative of the teachings of Northern Buddhism or Lamaism concerning the science of death, the after-death state of consciousness, and the way in which reincarnation takes place.
- Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa, published in 1928, a translation of the Tibetan biography of Jetsun Milarepa, the most illustrious of Tibet's Buddhist Saints, who was also a remarkable poet and teacher, flourishing in the twelfth century.[3]
For many years, Evans-Wentz lived away from the United States. From 1907-1914 he was in the British Isles and Europe; during 1914-1917 in Greece and Egypt; and during 1917-1922 in India and Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. After that he traveled to the Straits Settlements, China, and Japan.[4]
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
- Falling Awake: The Life and Message of Joe Miller by Richard Power and David Thompson
Notes
- ↑ "Evans-Wentz, Walter Yeeling," in Theosopedia.
- ↑ "W. Y. Evans-Wentz, M. A., D. Litt., Theosophical Scholar, Honored by Oxford University." The Theosophical Path 39.6 (June, 1931), 547-548. Reprinted from The San Diego union, March 1, 1931.
- ↑ "W. Y. Evans-Wentz, M. A., D. Litt., Theosophical Scholar, Honored by Oxford University." The Theosophical Path 39.6 (June, 1931), 547-548. Reprinted from The San Diego Union, March 1, 1931.
- ↑ U. S. Passport issued in 1922.