Walter Evans-Wentz

2021-02-24T01:06:57Z

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[[File:Walter Evans-Wentz and Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup photographed circa 1919.jpg|thumb|[[Kazi Dawa Samdup|Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup]] and Evans-Wentz, circa 1919]]
'''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 ''[[Bardo Thodol|The Tibetan Book of the Dead]]'' in 1927. He translated three other texts 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|''Autobiography of a Yogi'' (1946).]]

==Early life and background==

Walter Yeeling Wentz was born in [[Trenton, New Jersey]] in 1878. His father Christopher Wentz (1836 - February 4, 1921) - born in Weissengen, [[Baden, Germany]] - had emigrated to America with his parents in 1846.<ref>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)</ref> At the turn of the century (1900) Christopher was a real estate developer in Pablo Beach, Florida. Walter's mother (and Christopher's 1st wife) - Mary Evans Cook (died 1898) - was of Irish heritage. Christopher and Mary were married on August 11, 1862 in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Christopher's 2nd wife (they were married on June 4, 1900 in Duval County, Florida) was Olivia F. Bradford (1863-1949). Walter had two brothers and two sisters.<ref name=david>{{cite web| title = The Hermit Who Owned His Mountain: A Profile of W.Y. Evans Wentz |publisher= Tricycle| url = http://www.tricycle.com/ancestors/the-hermit-who-owned-his-mountain-a-profile-wy-evans-wentz|author=David Guy| access-date = 2013-08-30}}</ref> Though initially a Baptist, Walter's father had turned to [[spiritualism]] and [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]].<ref name="Oldmeadow135"/> As a teenager, Walter read [[Madame Blavatsky]]'s ''[[Isis Unveiled]]'' and ''[[The Secret Doctrine]]'' in his father's library, and became interested in the teachings of Theosophy and the occult.<ref name="Lopez49">[[#Lo|Lopez, p. 49]]</ref> Subsequently, at the turn of the century, Walter moved to [[San Diego]], California to join his father's profession, but also because it was close to [[Lomaland]], the American headquarters for the [[Theosophical Society]],<ref name=david/> which he joined in 1901.<ref name="Lopez52"/>

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]].<ref name="Oldmeadow135"/> He went on to receive B.A. and M.A degrees.<ref name=david/> He then studied [[Celtic mythology]] and folklore at [[Jesus College, Oxford]]<ref name="sutin262">Sutin 2006, pg. 262</ref> (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''.<ref name=david/><ref>{{cite web | title = Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (Walter Yeeling), 1878-1965:Biographical History|publisher=University of Virginia|url =http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=evans-wentz-w-y-walter-yeeling-1878-1965-cr.xml| access-date = 2013-08-30}}</ref> While at Oxford, he added his mother's Welsh surname [[Evans (surname)|Evans]] to his name, being known henceforth as Evans-Wentz.<ref name="Lopez52">[[#Lo|Lopez, p. 52]]</ref>

==Career==
At Oxford, Evans-Wentz met archaeologist and British Army officer [[T.E. Lawrence]], who advised him to travel to the [[Orient]].<ref name="Oldmeadow135"/>

Thereafter, funded by his rental properties in Florida,<ref name="Lopez52"/> he started travelling extensively, spending time in [[Mexico]], [[Europe]], and the Far East. He spent the years of the [[First World War]] in [[Egypt]]. He boarded a ship from [[Port Said]], Egypt for [[Colombo]], [[Sri Lanka]] (then Ceylon).<ref name="Oldmeadow136"/> Here he started studying the history, customs and religious traditions of the country,<ref name="Oldmeadow136"/> and also collected a large number of important [[Pali]] manuscripts, which were later donated to Stanford University. Next in 1918, he travelled across [[India]], covering important religious sites, "seeking wise men of the east". He met spiritual figures like [[Yogananda]], [[J. Krishnamurti]], [[Paul Brunton]], [[Ramana Maharishi]], [[Sri Krishna Prem]] and [[Alfred Sorensen|Shunyata]]. He also visited the [[Theosophical Society Adyar]], where he met [[Annie Besant]] and Swami Shyamananda Giri (1911-1971).<ref>Swami Shyamananda Giri (May 4, 1911 - August 28, 1971) - AKA Yogacharya Binay Narayan. His name at birth was Binayendra Narayan Dubey.</ref><ref name="Lopez52"/>

Finally he reached [[Darjeeling]] in 1919;<ref name="Oldmeadow136">[[#Ol|Oldmeadow, p. 136]]</ref> there he encountered Tibetan religious texts firsthand, when he acquired a Tibetan manuscript of [[Karma Lingpa]]'s ''Liberation through Hearing during the Intermediate State'' (or ''[[Bardo Thodol]]'') from Major Campbell, a British officer who had just returned from Tibet. He next met [[Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup]] (1868–1922), an English teacher and headmaster at Maharaja's Boys School, in [[Gangtok]], [[Sikkim]]. Samdup had been with [[13th Dalai Lama]] during the latter's exile years in India in 1910; more importantly for Evans-Wentz, he had already worked as a translator with [[Alexandra David-Néel]], the Belgian-French explorer, travel writer, and Buddhist convert, and Sir [[John Woodroffe]], noted British Orientalist.<ref name="Lopez52"/><ref name="Oldmeadow136"/>

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.<ref name="Lopez53">[[#Lo|Lopez, p. 53]]</ref>

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 [[Book of the Dead|Egyptian ''Book of the Dead'']]. For Westerners, the book would become a principal reference on Tibetan Buddhism.<ref name="Oldmeadow135"/> 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 [[Hermeneutics|hermeneutically]] controversial, being influenced by preconceptions he brought to the subject from Theosophy and other metaphysical schools.<ref>Donald S. Lopez, Jr. ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography,'' Princeton University Press, 2011.</ref>

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 [[vegetarian]] diet.<ref name="sutin263">Sutin 2006, pg. 263</ref> In 1935, he met [[Ramana Maharshi]] and went to Darjeeling, where he employed three translators, Sikkimese of Tibetan descent, to translate another text which was published as ''Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines'' (1935).<ref name="Lopez54"/>

Evans-Wentz intended to settle permanently in India, but was compelled by [[World War II]] to return to the U.S. There he would publish ''The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation'' in 1954. A final work, ''[[Cuchama]] and Sacred Mountains'' (1989), was published posthumously.

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]].<ref name="Oldmeadow135">[[#Ol|Oldmeadow, p. 135]]</ref><ref>'Walter Evans-Wentz' in: Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2013). ''The Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. B00BCRLONM</ref>

==Later years and death==
Evans-Wentz remained a [[Theosophist]] for the rest of his life, writing articles for Theosophical publications and provided financial support to the [[Maha Bodhi Society]], [[Self-Realization Fellowship]], and the Theosophical Society.<ref name="Lopez54">[[#Lo|Lopez, p. 54]]</ref> He lived for 23 years at the Keystone Hotel in [[San Diego]].<ref name="Lopez54"/><ref name="Oldmeadow137">[[#Ol|Oldmeadow, p. 137]]</ref> Evans-Wentz spent his last months at Yogananda's [[Self-Realization Fellowship]] in [[Encinitas, California]]<ref name="Lopez54"/> and died on July 17, 1965. His ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'' was read at his funeral.<ref name="sutin 267">Sutin 2006, pg. 267</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scbs.stanford.edu/ARC/archives/evans-wentz.html|title=Stanford Evans-Wentz Lectureship|website=stanford.edu}} {{dead link|date=June 2019}}</ref>

==Partial bibliography==
*''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ffcc/ The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries]'', London, New York, H. Frowde, 1911.<ref>[https://archive.org/search.php?query=Fairy-Faith%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts Available online and downloadable at archive.org.]</ref>
* {{cite book|author=M. J. LeGoc|title=The Doctrine of Rebirth and Dr. Evans-Wentz: A Public Lecture Delivered Under the Auspices of the Catholic Union of Ceylon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaYMAAAAIAAJ|year=1921|publisher=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'' (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.
* {{cite book|title=Cuchama and Sacred Mountains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUbOAAAACAAJ|year= 1989|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8040-0908-9}}

==See also==
* ''[[Tibetan Book of the Dead]]''

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{cite book|author=Winkler, Ken|title=Pilgrim of the Clear Light: The Biography of Dr. Walter Y. Evans-Wentz, ''Second Edition (ebook)''|url=https://www.amazon.com/Pilgrim-Clear-Light-Evans-Wentz-ebook/dp/B00EYRK898|year=2013|publisher=Bookmango|asin=B00EYRK898}}
* At Bodleian Library, Oxford: [http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/wyew.html Archives Hub: Papers of W. Y. Evans-Wentz]
* {{cite book|author=Lopez, Donald S.|title=Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjUHF7kQfVAC&pg=PA48|year=1999|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-49311-4|ref=Lo}}
* {{cite book|author=Oldmeadow, Harry|title=Journeys East: 20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vC1qAj6RbRQC&pg=PA135|year= 2004|publisher=World Wisdom, Inc|isbn=978-0-941532-57-0|ref=Ol}}
* McGuire, William (2003) "Jung, Evans-Wentz and various other gurus", in: ''Journal of Analytical Psychology''; 48 (4), 433–445. {{doi|10.1111/1465-5922.00406}}
* 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: [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt038nf0pg/ Guide to the Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Collection SC0821]

==External links==
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf900006xp Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz Papers, 1894-1961](5 linear ft.), [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt038nf0pg Walter Y. Evans-Wentz collection, 1894-1993] (.5 linear ft.) and [https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11380133 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 [http://library.stanford.edu/ Stanford University Libraries]
* W.Y.Evans-Wentz papers (English) are also housed at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, see [http://archiveshub.ac.uk/features/wyew.html]
* Evans-Wentz's Tibetan manuscripts are in the Bodleian Oriental Special Collections of manuscripts, see the Tibetan catalogue: [http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/95715/JESD-Tibetan-mss-catalogue-optimized.pdf] (search for "Evans-Wentz")
* {{Gutenberg author | id=Evans-Wentz,+W.+Y.+(Walter+Yeeling)}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans-Wentz, Walter}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:American anthropologists]]
[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American religious writers]]
[[Category:Buddhism in the United States]]
[[Category:Writers from Trenton, New Jersey]]
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[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhism writers]]

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Walter Evans-Wentz