Customer Reviews

Wheel of Life: The Autobiography of a Western Buddhist (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

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John Blofeld's autobiography, giving account of his long travels in Buddhist Asia (chiefly China), is an inspiring and honest one. It is probably more inspiring, because of his reticence. Few Western Buddhists - writing books of this type, have detailed the deeper aspects of the Buddhist life. Despite evident inspiration, Lama Anagarika Govinda, Madame Alexandra David-Neel et al, actually said relatively little about peak experiences. In fact, few Asian Buddhists have left biographies, detailing their inner life. Dogen's account amounts to a few lines - where 'peak' experiences are concerned. Hakuin is an exception to this - detailing all sorts of psycho-spiritual changes. The Ming Master Han-shan gave good account of his experience of meditation. Hsu-yun (1840-1959) touched on some of his experiences, but modestly, for a man who lived to be 119 years of age, 100 of them in the Sangha.

Admittedly, there is a kind of unfulfilled yearning in J.B.'s autobiography, made that much more poignant by his expectat-ions and an impending sense of coming in sight of his goal. The first edition of WOL left it open ended. The sequel, added to later editions, did, in some ways, lend a dispiriting tone to the end of the book. Still, it is worth remembering that J.B. was in China - in the years leading up to the civil war and the eventual triumph of Chinese Communism. Such events shook up the foundations of Chinese Buddhism - and, the foundations of Buddhism in Tibet. John Blofeld re-settled - out of necessity, in Thailand, at which time, there was little room to feel optimistic about the fate of Buddhism in China and Tibet. He had been cut off from the people and places which had inspired him,in his youth. What he had to say, about his years in Buddhist China etc., therefore constitutes a precious account.

The subtitle of this work is "The Autobiography of a Western Buddhist". Unfortunately, that is not really an accurate description. The author, whether from humility or reticence, tells us little of his spiritual development and practice.

Still, his life has been remarkable and he describes a spiritual world in China and Tibet that is gone forever and can only be vicariously experienced through books such as this.

The author is a modest man, perhaps excessively so. I believe that he has left out much that would be of interest to his readers. The result is more a spiritual travelogue than a true spiritual autobiography. Yet, this book is so evocative that I am grateful to accept however much he is willing to share about his extraordinary experiences.

ven. Huston Smith's comments are right on. Having used and admired Blofeld's edition of the 'I Ching' for some time, I always wanted to get around to reading this book, and now am very glad I did! ven. John Blofeld gives us an honest account, free of self-conscious editing, of a Western seeker attracted by the fragrance of Dharma while still in grade school, who then pursued it to pre-Mao China and met many great sages from a millenia-old tradition. On my sagging particle-board bookshelf, I put this book lovingly next to ven. Anagarika Govinda's 'The Way of the White Clouds' and ven. Lama Alexandra David-Neel's 'Magic and Mystery in Tibet' and and ven. Kawaguchi's 'A Stranger in Tibet', and ven. Bhagavan Das's 'It's Here Now', (and while we're at it, next to ven. Friedrich Nietzsche's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' as well! :). Namaste, y'all!

I'm interested in Asian culture and Buddhism. I found the author's experience very interesting and entertaining. It was fun and easy to read.