John Blofeld

John Eaton Calthorpe Blofeld (Born Anthony, April 2, 1913 - June 7, 1987) was a British scholar of Asian thought and religion, especially Taoism and Chinese Buddhism.

Blofeld was born in London and educated at Haileybury College, then Downing College, Cambridge University where he read natural sciences but did not complete his degree. Instead he left in his second year for travels to China.

From 1933-1939 he resided in and wandered around China, visiting monasteries and talking to Mongolian lamas, Zen masters, Taoist sages, etc. He lived for some time in Peking, and traveled through Asia (Tibet, Mongolia, China, India, and Burma) to visit the places where those religions lived within their practitioners. He talked to Taoist eremites, spent time in monasteries and experienced how alive the spiritual culture of China was in this period. Blofeld became a pupil of Master Hsu Yun but actually received training in Chan (Zen) meditation from Hsu Yun's pupils at a monastery near Kunming, Yunnan. He also received Vajrayana teachings.

Although he intended to spend his whole life in Peking, he was forced out by World War II. He taught at the School of Oriental Studies, University of London (1939-1940), served as Cultural Attache to the British Embassy in Chungking (1942-1945), and received a Chinese National Government scholarship to study Tang Dynasty Buddhism in Peking (1947-1949), only to be forced out again by the Communist takeover. He then taught in Hong Kong and Bangkok (1949-1961). He spoke Mandarin fluently, married a Chinese woman, Meifang, and eventually settled in Thailand. During these years he also visited Darjeeling to study with Nyingma teachers including Dudjom Rinpoche and Dodrupchen Rinpoche. Blofeld worked for the United Nations (ECAFE, later ESCAP - Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) (1961-1974), and then taught English at Kasetsart University and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok (1974-1979). In his later years, he conducted extensive lecture tours of America and Canada (1978-1980), and subsequently studied Chinese composition and literature.

His studies and his collected experiences with the sages and mystics of China are of special interest, because he entered this realm in an era before the Cultural Revolution aimed to annihilate all ties to the old feudal Chinese identity.

His own view on the practices and beliefs he encountered was always marked by admiration of this lived spirituality. In the beginnings of his travels and studies, he was not very familiar with the native languages, and held a skeptical position against the shamanistic elements of those religions. But as his studies dove deeper into the complex symbolism of Asian thought, he developed a broader view, and became himself a deeply spiritual man. According to Red Pine, “he was a very sincere Buddhist who practiced every night for several hours and loved what he did. I don’t think he ever stopped learning.” [http://kyotojournal.org/interviews/redpine.html KJ Interviews: Dancing with Words: Red Pine's Path into the Heart of Buddhism] ]

He left a son and daughter who currently reside in Spain and Guernsey. He has four granddaughters and a grandson.

Blofeld died at age 74 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Selected works

* "The Huang Po Doctrine of Universal Mind" - 1947, under pseudonym Chu Ch'an
* "The Path to Sudden Attainment, a treatise of the Ch'an (Zen) school of Chinese Buddhism by Hui Hai [ar] of the T'ang Dynasty" - 1948
* "City of Lingering Splendour : A Frank Account of Old Peking's Exotic Pleasures" - 1961
* "The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind" - 1959
* "The Zen Teaching of Hui Hai" - 1962
* "I Ching, the Book of Change: The Book of Change" - 1968
* "The Chinese Art of Tea" - 1985

* "Bodhisattva of Compassion : The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin" - 1977
* "Gateway to Wisdom: Taoist and Buddhist Contemplative Healing Yogas " - 1979 -1980
* "The jewel in the lotus: An outline of present day Buddhism in China" - 1977
* "Mantras: Sacred Words of Power" - date unknown
* "The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet : A Practical Guide to the Theory, Purpose, and Techniques of Tantric Meditation" - 1970
* "Taoism: The Quest for Immortality" - 1979
* "Wheel of Life : The Autobiography of a Western Buddhist" ISBN 0-87773-034-2, 1978

Notes