Unaware of the subtitle ("The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin"), I originally bought this book thinking it was about the maha-bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. I was greatly disappointed when I first got the book, since it turns out that it concerns the female Chinese counterpart of Avalokitesvara, namely, Kuan Yin. I read it anyway. I'm glad I did. It is truly a wonderful, readable book, mostly about the author's travels and observations in Buddhist China in the 1930's, filled with personal anecdotes that reveal the deepest teachings of the Buddha.