About the author
Travers Christmas Humphreys, QC (15 February 1901 – 13 April 1983) was a British jurist who prosecuted several controversial cases in the 1940s and 1950s, and who later became a judge at the Old Bailey. He also wrote a number of works on Mahayana Buddhism and in his day was the best-known British convert to Buddhism. In 1924 he founded what became the London Buddhist Society, which was to have a seminal influence on the growth of the Buddhist tradition in Britain. His former home in St John's Wood, London, is now a Buddhist temple. He was an enthusiastic proponent of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship. == Early life == Humphreys was born in Ealing, Middlesex, the son of Travers Humphreys, a noted barrister and judge. His given name "Christmas" is unusual, but, along with "Travers", had a long history in the Humphreys family. Among friends and family he was generally known as 'Toby'. The death of his elder brother during World War I shocked Humphreys into reflection about his beliefs, and at age 17 he found himself drawn to Buddhism. He was educated at Malvern College, where he first became a theosophist, and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
💬 What our editors say about Christmas Humphreys's books
“Suzuki and Humphreys deliver a profound exploration of Zen's core purpose through Huineng's revolutionary insights. It champions a direct path to enlightenment, emphasizing inner experience over external dogma, which offers…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Zen Doctrine of No Mind: The Significance of the Sutra of Huineng
