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!

This book is worth checking into. I appreciated the clearly explained philosophy behind the I Ching. I can appreciate the author's objective in simplifying the text. However, I found myself going back to the Wilhelm version and it 'spoke' more thoroughly to me. I didn't see how Blofeld's version of the hexagrams was much more enlightening. Wilhelm's book was less clearly understood in terms of plain English explanatory text and Blofeld's book certainly helped fill in the gaps. I found that he was a bit overly critical of Wilhelm's book. Be that as it may, this book is worth reading if no other reason than to gain an understanding from the introductory material. It is excellent.

I have always admired John Blofeld's work, and for many years I used his I Ching as my primary resource with the oracle. It is an energetic, enthusiastic, and enjoyable translation, and Blofeld's sense of joy in using the oracle communicates itself through his pages, even amid the scholarship and prosaic detail of translation issues. Clearly, Blofeld's work could probably use a fresh setting and an updated voice, as Wilhelm's has received at the hands of Carol Anthony and Hanna Moog: Blofeld buys whole cloth the Confucian additions, emendations, and overlays that have been crusted onto the oracle's original text, and understanding of the oracle's purpose and practical ability as a personal insight guide (rather than a mere fortune-telling instrument) could be improved upon or expanded. But what Blofeld brought to the I Ching in the mid '60's was a fresh energy and a simple, intentionally "unliterary" voice, which was much needed at the time and which still has value. If you love the I Ching, then Blofeld's translation should have a place on your I Ching bookshelf.

It is good to see this book back in print. Though less bulky (228 pages) than the Wilhelm Yi-Ching translation, Blofeld's text has merits of its own, not least the fact that it is primarily intended as a guide to divination. To say the least, this is something the Wilhelm edition never was that clear about, the chaotic presentation of the number symbolism/tables etc. There was the strange division of the text (in fact a 'doubled' text), and much that appears in the middle section (the 'Tso Chuan' etc.) would have placed the whole text in better context, if it had been discussed at the beginning. Of course, everyone is indebted to Wilhelm. Nobody who likes the Yi Ching is going to ignore his valued contribution. However, for reasons outlined above, Blofeld expressed certain misgivings about the Wilhelm text, feeling that it did not make certain things clear - when it comes to the divination process, also questioning the readings of certain line texts.

Some of the (site) files list Blofeld as a mere editor, but he has presented us with a fresh translation of the main text. His translation was vetted by a number of Chinese scholars, well versed in the peculiar idioms, imagery and line symbolism of the Yi Ching. Moreover, Blofeld's translation is supported by a bril-liant introduction - outlining the background philosophy behind the Yi-Ching, and the way in which a wise Chinese scholar-sage would go about using it. Blofeld lived in pre-Communist China for many years, having 'run away' from England after graduating from Cambridge - effectively 'going native' - something few 'white men' of good social standing did, in his day and age. He knew his Chinese language from living in the country (he married into a Chinese family), and made frequent visits to Taoist (and Buddhist) temples in remote parts of China. His travels even took him to Tibet. For all his merits, Wilhelm was as Christian missionary, and late in life, his impressions of China seemed to sour. However sympathetic to the spirit of China, Wilhelm's 'feeling tone' remained very much that of a European. Blofeld, by contrast, took to China like a fish in water. He assimilated the spirit of Chinese philosophy and lived it - without reservation.

Albeit brief, Blofeld's introduction makes engaging and fascinating reading, because distilled within its pages, are the quitessential elements of a way of living, thinking and feeling.
There is a strong Taoist flavour in Blofeld's account, a sense of
sublime totalities, whereas Wilhelm's translation is very much coloured by Confucian thinking. Of course, Blofeld respected the Confucian tradition - very much part of China (in his day), and he would have been the first to point out that an equal amount of Confucianb thought found its way into the Yi-Ching. Confucian glosses are present in the basic core text of the Yi Ching, but besides those, Blofeld has left aside the greater bulk of Confucian commentary matereal, focusing, instead, on the main text symbolism, giving better emphasis to the divination process itself.

Chinese never quite translates into 'black and white' English anyway, and this even more unlikely, given the peculiar idioms and syare not as obscure as they often seem, having an organic relationship in the 'kua' patterns of each respective hexagram. mbolism of the Yi Ching (usum ad delphi). Even so, the line texts
have an organic relationship determined by the 'kua' symbolism of each hexagram. Needless to say, some lines/line texts have given rise to a diversity of interpretations. In many cases, the brief notes appended to lines in Blofeld's text prove to be illuminating. Along with the introduction - explaining how the oracle ought to be used, the set of charts and tables at the end of Blofeld's text are quite helpful. This book is worth reading, just for the introduction, basically presenting the Yi-Ching as way of living with the cosmic flow - a mirror of the Tao itself.
Blofeld's text has a good feel to it. As he observes, while many religious systems seek to locate the truth in the infinite, a timeless context, the Yi-Ching seeks to find the truth or meaning in the flux, the tide of events and affairs. Fortune telling doesn't really come into it. The Yi Ching teaches that the universe unfolds according to immutable laws; the difference between the sage and the fool, is that the former seeks to align himself with those laws, whereas the fool opposes them. Being able to 'read off' certain things from the flow, or sense the seeds of things to come, is therefore the provence of the sage.

I sense the author is just pushing his own view on buddhism (or... existentialism) through this book: this is not a study of the crossroads between buddhism and existentialism, but the author's own view on buddhism expressed in the terms of existential thinking.
St. Batchelor in this book holds a view about buddhism very much close to that of contemporary Vietnamese zen buddhism. They see the world as manyfold manifestations all sprung from one unique universal 'tank' ('alaya vijnana'); consequently they hold the view that all things and beings in this universe are linked together in complete solidarity. This is one view: but this is not really essential either to buddhism or to existentialism. It also seems to me somewhat oversimplified as a moral and as a cosmic hypothesis. Personal responsability and gratuitous compassion are closer to ancient, theravada buddhism.
Anyway, I much preferred--and would recommend--the same author's "Buddhism without belief" as a contemporary, 'modernist' approach to the ageless and visionary wisdom of buddhism!

If you are familiar with existentialism and buddhism, and you would like to read about their relationship, this book is great. But I would not recommend one to read this book for an introduction to either Buddhism or existentialism. For an introduction to Buddhism, I recommend Bachelor's other book, "Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contempory Guide to Awakening". To learn more about existentialism, I would recommend reading the philosophy of Albert Camus.