Walter Evans-Wentz
Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 – July 17, 1965) was an American anthropologist and writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and in transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the Western world, most known for publishing an early English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead in 1927. He had three other texts translated from the Tibetan: Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (1928), Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (1935), and The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation (1954), and wrote the preface to Paramahansa Yogananda's famous spiritual book, Autobiography of a Yogi (1946).
Early life and background
Walter Yeeling Wentz was born in
At age 24 Evans-Wentz went to Stanford University, where he studied religion, philosophy, and history and was deeply influenced by visitors William James and W. B. Yeats.[3] He went on to receive B.A. and M.A degrees.[2] He then studied Celtic mythology and folklore at Jesus College, Oxford[6] (1907). He performed ethnographic fieldwork collecting fairy folklore in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man. In 1911 Evans-Wentz published his degree thesis as a book, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries.[2][7] While at Oxford, he added his mother's Welsh surname Evans to his name, being known henceforth as Evans-Wentz.[5]
Career
At Oxford, Evans-Wentz met archaeologist and British Army officer
Thereafter, funded by his rental properties in Florida,
Finally he reached
For the next two months, Evans-Wentz spent morning hours before the opening of the school with Samdup working on the text. During this period, they worked out the origins of what was to become The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Evans-Wentz soon left for the Swami Satyananda's ashram, where he was practicing yoga. Samdup meanwhile was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Calcutta, in the same year, and died in Calcutta three years later, long before the book could be finally published.[10]
In 1927, The Tibetan Book of the Dead was published by Oxford University Press. Evans-Wentz chose the title "Book of the Dead" because it reminded him of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. For Westerners, the book would become a principal reference on Tibetan Buddhism.[3] Evans-Wentz credited himself only as the compiler and editor of these volumes; the actual translation was performed by Tibetan Buddhists, primarily Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup. Evans-Wentz's interpretations and organization of this Tibetan material is hermeneutically controversial, being influenced by preconceptions he brought to the subject from Theosophy and other metaphysical schools.[11]
This book was followed by Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (1928), also based on Samdup's translations. Evans-Wentz was a practitioner of the religions he studied. He became Dawa-Samdup's "disciple" (E-W's term), wore robes, and ate a simple
Evans-Wentz intended to settle permanently in India, but was compelled by
In 1946, he wrote the preface to Yogananda's well known Autobiography of a Yogi, that introduced both Yogananda and himself to wider audiences in a book which has been in print for over sixty-five years and translated into at least thirty-four languages. He mentions having personally met Yogananda's guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, at his ashram in Puri and noted positive impressions of him. Evans-Wentz remains best known for his lasting legacy to Tibetology.[3][14]
Later years and death
Evans-Wentz remained a
Legacy
The Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University has hosted "The Evans-Wentz Lectureship in Asian Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics" since 1969, funded by a bequest from Evans-Wentz.[17]
Partial bibliography
- The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, London, New York, H. Frowde, 1911.[18]
- M. J. LeGoc (1921). The Doctrine of Rebirth and Dr. Evans-Wentz: A Public Lecture Delivered Under the Auspices of the Catholic Union of Ceylon. Messenger Press.
- The Tibetan Book of the Dead; or, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, According to Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering, with foreword by Sir John Woodroffe, London, Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1927.
- Tibetan Yoga And Secret Doctrines; or, Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering; Arranged and Edited with Introductions and Annotations to serve as a Commentary, London, Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1935.
- Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa: a Biography from the Tibetan; Being the Jetsün-Kahbum or Biographical History of Jetsün-Milarepa, According to the Late Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Tendering (First edition, 1928); (2d ed.), edited with introd. and annotations by W. Y. Evans-Wentz, London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1951.
- The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation; Or, The Method of Realizing Nirvana Through Knowing the Mind Preceded by an Epitome of Padma-Sambhava's Biography and Followed by Guru Phadampa Sangay's Teachings According to English renderings by Sardar Bahädur S. W. Laden La and by the Lāmas Karma Sumdhon Paul, Lobzang Mingyur Dorje, and Kazi Dawa-Samdup. Introductions, annotations, and editing by W. Y. Evans-Wentz. With psychological commentary by C. G. Jung. London, New York, Oxford University Press, 1954.
- Cuchama and Sacred Mountains. Ohio University Press. 1989. ISBN 978-0-8040-0908-9.
See also
- Tibetan Book of the Dead
Notes
- ^ https://lamesahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/LO_222_2001.pdf - "Wentz-Park House Landmarked, A Designated Historic Site" in Lookout Avenue, Volume 22, Number 2 (Autumn 2001), p. 6 (La Mesa Historical Society)
- ^ a b c d David Guy. "The Hermit Who Owned His Mountain: A Profile of W.Y. Evans Wentz". Tricycle. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
- ^ a b c d e Oldmeadow, p. 135
- ^ Lopez, p. 49
- ^ a b c d e Lopez, p. 52
- ^ Sutin 2006, pg. 262
- ^ "Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (Walter Yeeling), 1878-1965:Biographical History". University of Virginia. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
- ^ a b c d Oldmeadow, p. 136
- ^ Swami Shyamananda Giri (May 4, 1911 - August 28, 1971) - AKA Yogacharya Binay Narayan. His name at birth was Binayendra Narayan Dubey.
- ^ Lopez, p. 53
- ^ Donald S. Lopez, Jr. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography, Princeton University Press, 2011.
- ^ Sutin 2006, pg. 263
- ^ a b c d Lopez, p. 54
- ^ 'Walter Evans-Wentz' in: Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2013). The Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. B00BCRLONM
- ^ Oldmeadow, p. 137
- ^ Sutin 2006, pg. 267
- ^ "The Evans-Wentz Lectureship | The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies". buddhiststudies.stanford.edu. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ "Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine". archive.org. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
References
- Winkler, Ken (2013). Pilgrim of the Clear Light: The Biography of Dr. Walter Y. Evans-Wentz, Second Edition (ebook). Bookmango. ASIN B00EYRK898.
- At Bodleian Library, Oxford: Archives Hub: Papers of W. Y. Evans-Wentz
- Lopez, Donald S. (1999). Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-49311-4.
- Oldmeadow, Harry (2004). Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions. World Wisdom, Inc. ISBN 978-0-941532-57-0.
- McGuire, William (2003) "Jung, Evans-Wentz and various other gurus", in: Journal of Analytical Psychology; 48 (4), 433–445.
- Sutin, Lawrence (2006) All is Change: the two-thousand-year journey of Buddhism to the West Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 0-316-74156-6
- In the Online Archive of California: Guide to the Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Collection SC0821
External links
Media related to Walter Evans-Wentz at Wikimedia Commons
- Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz Papers, 1894-1961(5 linear ft.), Walter Y. Evans-Wentz collection, 1894-1993 (.5 linear ft.) and Ed Reither collection of W. Y. (Walter Yeeling) Evans-Wentz correspondence and ephemera, 1935-1960 (.5 linear ft.), among related collections are housed in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives at Stanford University Libraries
- W.Y.Evans-Wentz papers (English) are also housed at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, see [1]
- Evans-Wentz's Tibetan manuscripts are in the Bodleian Oriental Special Collections of manuscripts, see the Tibetan catalogue: [2] (search for "Evans-Wentz")
- Works by Walter Evans-Wentz at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Walter Evans-Wentz at Internet Archive