TIBET (_continued_)
DOCTRINES OF LAMAISM
Lamaism may be defined as a mixture of late Indian Buddhism (which is
itself a mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism) with various Tibetan
practices and beliefs. The principal of these are demonophobia and the
worship of human beings as incarnate deities. Demonophobia is a
compendious expression for an obsession which victimizes Chinese and
Hindus to some extent as well as Tibetans, namely, the conviction that
they are at all times surrounded by fierce and terrible beings against
whom they must protect themselves by all the methods that religion and
magic can supply. This is merely an acute form of the world-wide
belief that all nature is animated by good and bad spirits, of which
the latter being more aggressive require more attention, but it
assumes startlingly conspicuous forms in Tibet because the Church has
enlisted all the forces of art, theology and philosophy to aid in this
war against demons. The externals of Tibetan worship suffer much from
the idea that benevolent deities assume a terrible guise in order to
strike fear into the hosts of evil[1012]. The helpers and saviours of
mankind such as Avalokita and Târâ are often depicted in the shape of
raging fiends, as hideous and revolting as a fanciful brush and
distorted brain can paint them. The idea inspiring these monstrous
images is not the worship of cruelty and terror, but the hope that
evil spirits may be kept away when they see how awful are the powers
which the Church can summon. Nevertheless the result is that a Lama
temple often looks like a pandemonium and meeting house for
devil-worship, an Olympus tenanted by Gorgons, Hydras and Furies. It
is only fair to say that Tibetan art sometimes represents with success
gods and saints in attitudes of repose and authority, and has produced
some striking portraits[1013], but its most marked feature (which
it shares with literature) is a morbid love of the monstrous and
terrible, a perpetual endeavour to portray fiends surrounded with
every circumstance of horror, and still more appalling deities, all
eyes, heads and limbs, wreathed with fire, drinking blood from skulls
and trampling prostrate creatures to death beneath their feet.
Probably the wild and fantastic landscapes of Tibet, the awful
suggestions of the spectral mists, the real terrors of precipice,
desert and storm have wrought for ages upon the minds of those who
live among them.
Like demonophobia, the worship of incarnate deities is common in
eastern Asia but here it acquires an extent and intensity unknown
elsewhere. The Tibetans show a strange power of organization in
dealing with the supernatural. In India incarnations have usually been
recognized post-mortem and as incalculable manifestations of the
spirit[1014]. But at least since the seventeenth century, the Lamas
have accepted them as part of the Church's daily round and
administrative work. The practices of Shamanism probably prepared the
way, for in his mystic frenzies the Shaman is temporarily inhabited by
a god and the extreme ease with which distinguished persons are turned
into gods or Bodhisattvas in China and Japan is another manifestation
of the same spirit. An ancient inscription[1015] applies to the kings
of Tibet the word _ḥphrul_ which is also used of the Grand Lamas
and means that a deity is transformed, or as we say, incarnate in a
human person. The Yellow Church officially recognized[1016] the
Emperor of China as an incarnation of Mañjuśrî and the Mongols
believed the Tsar of Russia to be an incarnation of the White Târâ.
The admixtures received by Buddhism in Tibet are not alien to Indian
thought. They received an unusual emphasis but India provided terrible
deities, like Kâlî with her attendant fiends, and also the idea that
the divine embodies itself in human personalities or special
manifestations. Thus Tibetan Buddhism is not so much an amalgam, as a
phase of medieval Hindu religion disproportionately developed in
some directions. The Lamas have acquired much the same status as the
Brahmans. If they could not make themselves a hereditary caste, they
at least enforced the principle that they are the necessary
intermediaries between gods and men. Though they adopted the monastic
system of Buddhism, they are not so much monks as priests and ghostly
warriors who understand the art of fighting with demons.
Yet Tibet like Japan could assimilate and transform as well as borrow.
The national and original element in Lamaism becomes plain when we
compare Tibet with the neighbouring land of Nepal. There late Indian
Buddhism simply decayed under an overgrowth of Brahmanism. In Tibet it
acquired more life and character than it had in its native Bengal.
This new character has something monstrous and fantastic in government
as well as art: the magic fortresses of the Snowland, peopled by
priests and demons, seem uncanny homes for plain mortals, yet Lamaism
has the strength belonging to all genuine expressions of national
character and it clearly suits the Tibetans and Mongols. The oldest
known form of Tibetan religion had some of the same characteristics.
It is called Bön or Pön. It would be outside my province to discuss it
here, but even when first heard of it was more than a rude form of
animism. In the eighth century its hierarchy was sufficiently strong
to oppose the introduction of Buddhism and it possibly contained a
pre-buddhist stratum of Iranian ideas[1017]. In later times it adopted
or travestied Buddhist dogma, ritual and literature, much as Taoism
did in China, but still remained a repository of necromancy, magic,
animal sacrifices, devil-dancing, and such like practices, which have
in all ages corrupted Tibetan Buddhism though theoretically
disapproved.
Of Tibetan Buddhism anterior to 747 there is little to be said. It
consisted in the sporadic introduction of books and images from India
and did not assume any national character, for it is clear that in
this period Tibet was not regarded as a Buddhist country. The first
phase deserving the name of Lamaism begins with the arrival of
Padma-Sambhava in 747. The Nying-ma-pa or Old School claims to
represent his teaching, but, as already mentioned, the various sects
have interacted on one another so much that their tenets are hardly
distinctive. Still it is pretty clear that what Padma-Sambhava brought
with him was the late form of India Buddhism called Mantrayâna,
closely allied to the Chên Yen of China, and transported to Japan
under the name of Shingon and also to the Buddhism of Java as
represented in the sculptures of Boroboedoer. The Far East felt shy of
the tantric element in this teaching, whereas the Tibetans exaggerated
it, but the doctrinal basis is everywhere the same, namely, that there
are five celestial Buddhas, of whom Vairocana is the principal and in
some sense the origin. These give rise to celestial emanations, female
as well as male, and to terrestrial reflexes such as Śâkyamuni.
Among the other features of Padma-Sambhava's teaching the following
may be enumerated with more or less certainty: (_a_) A readiness to
tolerate and incorporate the local cults of the countries where he
preached. (_b_) A free use of spells (dhâraṇî) and magical figures
(maṇḍala) for the purpose of subduing demons and acquiring
supernatural powers. (_c_) The belief that by such methods an adept
can not only summon a deity but assume his form and in fact become the
deity. (_d_) The worship of Amitâbha, among other deities, and a
belief in his paradise. (_e_) The presentation of offerings, though
not of flesh, in sacrifice[1018] and the performance of ceremonies on
behalf of departed souls. (_f_) The worship of departed and perhaps of
living teachers. His image is a conspicuous object of veneration in
the Nying-ma-pa sect but he does not appear to have taught the
doctrine of hierarchical succession by incarnation. Grünwedel[1019]
has pointed out that the later corruptions of Buddhism in northern
India, Tibet and Central Asia are connected with the personages known
as the eighty-four Mahâsiddhas, or great magicians. Their appearance
as shown in pictures is that of Brahmanic ascetics rather than of
Buddhist Bhikshus, but many of them bear names which are not Indian.
Their dates cannot be fixed at present and appear to cover a
period from the early centuries of our era up to about 1200, so that
they represent not a special movement but a continuous tendency to
import into Buddhism very various currents of thought, north Indian,
Iranian, Central Asian and even Mohammedan.
The visit of Padma-Sambhava was followed by a period of religious
activity which culminated in the ninth century under King Ralpachan,
but it does not appear that the numerous translations from Indian
works made in this reign did more than supplement and amplify the
doctrine already preached. But when after a lengthy eclipse Buddhism
was reinstated in the eleventh century under the auspices of Atîśa
and other foreign teachers we hear of something new, called the
Kâlacakra[1020] system also known as the Vajrayâna. Pending the
publication of the Kâlacakra Tantra[1021], it is not easy to make
definite statements about this school which presumably marks the
extreme point of development or degeneration in Buddhism, but a
persistent tradition connects it with a country called Śambhala or
Zhambhala, translated in Tibetan as bDe-ḥbyuṇ or source of
happiness. This country is seen only through a haze of myth: it may
have been in India or it may have been somewhere in Central Asia,
where Buddhism mingled with Turkish ideas[1022]. Its kings were called
Kulika and the Tibetan calendar introduced by Atîśa is said to have
come from it. This fact and the meaning of the word Kâlacakra (wheel
of time) suggest that the system has some connection with the Turkish
cycle of twelve animals used for expressing dates[1023]. A
legend[1024] states that Śâkyamuni promulgated the Kâlacakra system
in Orissa (Dhânyakaṭaka) and that Sucandra, king of Śambhala,
having miraculously received this teaching wrote the Kâlacakra Tantra
in a prophetic spirit, although it was not published until 965
A.D. This is really the approximate date of its compilation and I can
only add the following disjointed data[1025].
Tibetan authorities state that it was introduced into Nâlandâ by a
Pandit called Tsilu or Chilu and accepted by Narotapa who was then head
of the University. From Nâlandâ it spread to Tibet. Manjuśrîkîrti, king
of Śambhala, is said to have been an exponent of it and to have begun
his reign 674 years after the death of the Buddha. But since he is also
the second incarnation of the Panchen Lama and since the fourth
(Abhayakara) lived about 1075, he may really have been a historical
character in the latter part of the tenth century. Its promulgation is
also ascribed to a personage called Siddha Pito. It must be late for it
is said to mention Islam and Mohammed. It is perhaps connected with
anti-mohammedan movements which looked to Kalkî, the future incarnation
of Vishnu, as their Messiah, for Hindu tradition says that Kalkî will be
born in Śambhalagrâma[1026]. We hear also of a Siddha called Telopa or
Tailopa, who was a vigorous opponent of Islam. The mythology of the
school is Vishnuite, not Sivaitic, and it is noticeable that the
Pâncarâtra system which had some connection with Kashmir lays stress on
the wheel or discus (_cakra_ or _sudarśana_) of Vishnu which is said to
be the support of the Universe and the manifestation of Creative will.
The Kâlacakra is mentioned as a special form of this cosmic wheel having
six spokes[1027].
The peculiar doctrine of the Buddhist Kâlacakra is that there is an
Adi-Buddha[1028], or primordial Buddha God, from whom all other
Buddhas are derived. It is possible that it represents a last effort
of Central Asian Buddhism to contend with Moslims, which instead of
denying the bases of Mohammed's teaching tried to show that monotheism
(like everything else) could be found in Buddhism--a method of
argument frequent in India. The doctrine of the Adi-Buddha was not
however new or really important. For the Indian mind it is implied
in the dogma of the three bodies of Buddha, for the Sambhogakâya is
practically an Indian Deva and the Dharmakâya is the pantheos or
Brahmâ. Under the influence of the Kâlacakra the Lamas did not become
theists in the sense of worshipping one supreme God but they
identified with the Adi-Buddha some particular deity, varying
according to the sects. Thus Samantabhadra, who usually ranks as a
Bodhisattva--that is as inferior to a Buddha--was selected by some for
the honour. The logic of this is hard to explain but it is clearly
analogous to the procedure, common to the oldest and newest phases of
Hindu religion, by which a special deity is declared to be not only
all the other gods but also the universal spirit[1029]. It does not
appear that the Kâlacakra Tantra met with general acceptance. It is
unknown in China and Japan and not well known in Nepal[1030].
The Kâlacakra adopted all the extravagances of the Tantras and
provided the principal Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with spouses, even
giving one to the Adi-Buddha himself[1031]. Extraordinary as this is
from a Buddhist point of view, it is little more than the Hindu idea
that the Supreme Being became male and female for the purpose of
producing the universe. But the general effect of the system on
monastic and religious life was bad. Celibacy was not observed;
morals, discipline and doctrine alike deteriorated. A striking
instance is afforded by the ceremonies used by Pagspa when receiving
Kublai into the Church. The Tibetan prelate presumably wished to give
the Emperor what was best and most important in his creed and selected
a formula for invoking a demoniac Buddha.
The latest phase of Lamaism was inaugurated by Tsong-kha-pa's
reformation and is still vigorous. Politically and socially it was of
capital importance, for it disciplined the priesthood and enabled
the heads of the Church to rule Tibet. In doctrine it was not marked
by the importation of new ideas, but it emphasized the worship of
Avalokita as the patron of Tibet, it systematized the existing beliefs
about reincarnation, thereby creating a powerful hierarchy, and it
restricted Tantrism, without abolishing it. But many monasteries
persistently refused to accept these reforms.
Tibetan mythology and ceremonial have been described in detail by
Grünwedel, Waddell and others. The pantheon is probably the largest in
the world. All heaven and hell seem to meet in it. The originals of
the deities are nearly all to be found in Nepalese Buddhism[1032] and
the perplexing multiplicity of Tibet is chiefly due to the habit of
representing one deity in many forms and aspects, thus making him a
dozen or more personages both for art and for popular worship. The
adoration of saints and their images is also more developed than in
Nepal and forms some counterpoise to the prevalent demonolatry.
I will not attempt to catalogue this fantastic host but will merely
notice the principal elements in it.
The first of these may be called early Buddhist. The figure of
Śâkyamuni is frequent in poses which illustrate the familiar story
of his life and the statue in the cathedral of Lhasa representing him
as a young man is the most venerated image in all Tibet. The human
Buddhas anterior to him also receive recognition together with
Maitreya. The Pratimoksha is still known, the Uposatha days are
observed and the details of the ordination services recall the
prescriptions of the Pali Vinaya; formulæ such as the four truths, the
eightfold path and the chain of causation are still in use and form
the basis of ethics.
The later (but still not tantric) doctrines of Indian Mahayanism are
naturally prominent. The three bodies of Buddha are well known and
also the series of five Celestial Buddhas with corresponding
Bodhisattvas and other manifestations. I feel doubtful whether the
table given by Waddell[1033] can be accepted as a compendium of
the Lamaist creed. The symmetry is spoiled by the existence of other
groups such as the Thirty Buddhas, the Thousand Buddhas, and the
Buddhas of Healing, and also by the habit just mentioned of
representing deities in various forms. For instance Amoghapâśa,
theoretically a form of Avalokita, is in practice distinct. The fact
is that Lamaism accepted the whole host of Indian Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas, with additions of its own. The classifications made by
various sûtras and tantras were not sufficiently dogmatic to become
articles of faith: chance and fancy determined the prominence and
popularity of a given figure. Among the Buddhas those most worshipped
are Amitâbha, Śâkya and Bhaishajyaguru or the Buddha of Healing:
among the Bodhisattvas, Avalokita, Maitreya and Mañjuśrî.
There is nothing in the above differing materially from Chinese or
Japanese Buddhism. The peculiarities of Tibet are brought out by the
tantric phase which those countries eschewed. Three characteristics of
Tibetan Tantrism, which are all more or less Indian, may be mentioned.
Firstly, all deities, even the most august, become familiar spirits,
who are not so much worshipped as coerced by spells. The neophyte is
initiated into their mysteries by a special ceremonial[1034]: the
adept can summon them, assume their attributes and attain union with
them. Secondly, great prominence is given to goddesses, either as the
counterparts of male deities or as independent. Thirdly, deities
appear in various forms, described as mild, angry or fiendish. It is
specially characteristic of Lamaism that naturally benevolent deities
are represented as raging in furious frenzy.
Whether the superhuman beings of Tantrism are Buddhas, Bodhisattvas,
or Hindu gods like Mahâkala, it is correct to describe them as
deities, for they behave and are treated like Indian Devas. Besides
the relatively old and simple forms of the various Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas, there are many others which are usually accommodated to
the system by being described as protecting spirits, that is virtuous
and religious fiends who expend their ferocity on the enemies of the
Church.
Of these Protectors there are two classes, which are not mutually
exclusive, namely, the tutelary deities of individuals, and the
defenders of the faith or tutelaries of the whole Church. The former,
who are extremely important in the religious life of the Lamas, are
called Yi-dam and may be compared with the Ishṭa-devatâs of the
Hindus: the latter or Chos Skyoṇ correspond to the Dharmapâlas.
Every Lama selects a Yi-dam either for life or for a period. His
choice must remain a secret but he himself has no doubts, as after
fasting and meditation the deity will appear to him[1035]. Henceforth
he every morning repeats formulæ which are supposed to give him the
appearance of his tutelary and thus scare away hostile demons. The
most efficacious tutelaries are tantric forms of the Dhyâni Buddhas,
especially Vajrasattva, Vajradhara and Amitâyus. The deity is
represented not in the guise of a Buddha but crowned, robed, and
holding a thunderbolt, and his attributes appear to be derived from
those of Indra[1036]. In his arms he always clasps a Śakti.
A second class of tutelaries is composed of so-called Buddhas,
accompanied by Śaktis and terrific in aspect, who are manifestations of
the Buddhahood for special purposes. I do not know if this description
is theologically correct, for these fantastic figures have no relation
to anything deserving the name of Buddhism, but Grünwedel[1037] has
shown that they are comparable with the various forms of Śiva. This god
does not become incarnate like Vishnu but manifests himself from time to
time in many shapes accompanied by a retinue who are sometimes merely
attendants and sometimes alternative forms of the Lord. Vîrabhadra, the
terrible being created by Śiva from himself in order to confound
Daksha's sacrifice, is a close parallel to the demoniac Buddhas of
Lamaism. Some of them, such as Mahâkâla and Samvara, show their origin
in their names and the rest, such as Hevajra, Buddhakapâla and
Yamântaka, are similar. This last is a common subject for art, a many
headed and many limbed minotaur, convulsed by a paroxysm of devilish
passion. Among his heads the most conspicuous is the face of an ox, yet
this grotesque demon is regarded as a manifestation of the benign and
intellectual Mañjuśri whose images in other lands are among the most
gracious products of Buddhist sculpture.
Most tutelary deities of this class act as defenders of the faith
and each sect has one or two as its special guardians[1038]. The idea
is ancient for even in the Pitakas, Sakka and other spirits
respectfully protect the Buddha's disciples, and the Dharmapâlas of
Gandharan art are the ancestors of the Chos Skyoṇ. But in Tibet
these assume monstrous and manifold disguises. The oldest is
Vajrapâṇi and nearly all the others are forms of Śiva (such as
Acala or Mi-gyo-ba who reappears in Japan as Fudo) or personages of
his retinue. Eight of them are often adored collectively under the
name of the Eight Terrible Ones. Several of these are well-known
figures in Hindu mythology, for though the Lamas usually give Buddhist
titles to their principal deities, yet they also venerate Hindu gods,
without any explanation of their status. Thus hJigs-med-nam-mkha says
that he composed his history with the help of Śiva[1039]. The
members of this group vary in different enumerations but the following
usually form part of it.
(_a_) Hayagrîva[1040], the horse-necked god. In India he appears to be
connected with Vishnu rather than Śiva. The magic dagger with which
Lamas believe they can stab demons is said to be a form of him. The
Mongols regard him as the protector of horses. (_b_) Yama, the Indian
god of the dead, accompanied by a hellish retinue including living
skeletons. (_c_) Mahâkâla, the form of Śiva already mentioned. It
was by his inspiration that Pagspa was able to convert Khubilai Khan.
(_d_) Lha-mo, the goddess, that is Devî, the spouse of Śiva. (_e_)
lCam-sraṇ, a war god of somewhat uncertain origin but perhaps a
Tibetan form of Kârtikeya. Other deities frequently included in this
group are Yamântaka, mentioned above, Kubera or Vaiśravana, the
Hindu god of wealth, and a deity called the White Brahmâ (Thsangspa
dKarpo). This last is an ordinary human figure riding on a white horse
and brandishing a sword. He wears white clothes and a crown or turban.
He is perhaps Kalkî who, as suggested above, had some connection with
the Kâlacakra. The Eight Terrible Ones and their attendants are
represented by grotesquely masked figures in the dances and mystery
plays enacted by Lamas. These performances are said to be still
known among the vulgar as dances of the Red Tiger Devil, but in
the hands of the Yellow Church have become a historical drama
representing the persecution of Buddhism under King Lang-dar-ma and
its ultimate triumph after he has been slain by the help of these
ghostly champions.
Lamaist books mention numerous other Indian divinities, such as
Brahmâ, the thirty-three Devas, the Kings of the four quarters, etc.
These have no particular place in the system but their appearance in
art and literature is natural, since they are decorative though not
essential parts of early Buddhism. The same may be said of all the
host of Nâgas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, etc. But though these multitudinous
spirits have been rearranged and classified in conformity with Hindu
ideas they are not an importation but rather part of the old folklore
of Tibet, in many ways identical with the same stratum of thought in
India. Thus the snake demigods or Nâgas[1041] occupy in both countries
a large place in the popular imagination. In the higher ranks of the
Lamaist pantheon all the figures seem to be imported, but some
indigenous godlings have retained a place in the lower classes. Such
are rDo-rje-legs, at first an opponent of Buddhism as preached by
Padma-Sambhava but honoured as a deity after making due submission,
and the Five Kings[1042], a group of fierce spirits, under the
presidency of dPe-dkar.
It remains to say a word of the numerous goddesses who play an important
part in Tibetan Buddhism, as in Hindu Tantrism. They are usually
represented as the female counterparts or better halves of male deities,
but some are self-sufficient. The greatest of these goddesses is
Târâ[1043]. Though Lamaist theology describes her as the spouse of
Avalokita she is not a single personality but a generic name applied to
a whole class of female deities and, as in many other cases, no clear
distinction is drawn between her attendants and the forms which she
herself assumes. Originally benevolent and depicted with the attributes
of Lakshmî she is transformed by a turn of Tibetan imagination, with
which the reader is now familiar, into various terrible shapes and is
practically the same as the spouse of Śiva, celebrated in the Tantras
under countless names. Twenty-one Târâs are often enumerated in a list
said to be well known even to the laity[1044] and there are others.
Among them are (_a_) the Green Târâ, the commonest form in Tibet. (_b_)
The White Târâ, much worshipped by Mongols and supposed to be incarnate
in the Tsar of Russia, (_c_) Bhrikutî, a dark blue, angry, frowning
form, (_d_) Ushṇîshavijayâ[1045], a graceful and benevolent form known
to the Japanese. She is mentioned in the Horiuji palm-leaf manuscript
which dates from at least 609 A.D. (_e_) Parṇaśavarî, represented as
wearing a girdle of leaves and also called Gandhârî, Piśâcî and
Sarva-Śavarâṇâm Bhagavatî[1046]. She is apparently the goddess of an
aboriginal tribe in India. (_f_) Kurukullâ, a goddess of riches,
inhabiting caves. She is said to have given great wealth to the fifth
Grand Lama, and though she might be suspected of being a native deity
was known in Nepal and India[1047].
The Goddess Marîcî, often depicted with Târâ, appears to be distinct
and in one form is represented with a sow's head and known as
Vajravarâhî. As such she is incarnate in the abbesses of several
monasteries, particularly Samding on lake Yamdok[1048].
A notice of Tibetan Buddhism can hardly avoid referring to the use of
praying wheels and the celebrated formula Om maṇi padme hum. Though
these are among the most conspicuous and ubiquitous features of
Lamaism their origin is strangely obscure[1049]. Attempts to connect
the praying wheel with the wheel of the law, the cakravartin and other
uses of the wheel in Indian symbolism, are irrelevant, for the object
to be explained is not really a wheel but a barrel, large or small,
containing written prayers, or even a whole library. Those who turn
the barrel acquire all the merit arising from repeating the
prayers or reading the books. In Tibet this form of devotion is a
national mania. People carry small prayer wheels in their hands as
they walk and place large ones in rivers to be turned by the current.
In China, Japan and Korea we find revolving libraries and occasional
praying machines, though not of quite the same form as in Tibet[1050],
but, so far as I know, there is nothing to show that these were not
introduced from Tibet into China and thence found their way further
East. The hypothesis that they were known in India and thence exported
to Tibet on one side and China on the other naturally suggests itself,
but the total absence of praying machines in India as well as in the
ruined cities of Central Asia and the general Hindu habit of regarding
scriptures and spells as words rather than written documents lend it
no support. It may be that when the illiterate Tibetans first became
acquainted with written prayers, they invented this singular method of
utilizing them without reading them.
Equally obscure is the origin of the formula Om maṇi padme[1051]
hum, which permeates Tibet, uttered by every human voice, revolved in
countless machines, graven on the rocks, printed on flags. It is
obviously a Dhâraṇî[1052] and there is no reason to doubt that it
came to Tibet with the first introduction of Buddhism, but also no
record. The earliest passage hitherto quoted for its occurrence is a
Chinese translation made between 980 and 1001 A.D.[1053] and said to
correspond with the Kanjur and the earliest historical mention of its
use is found in Willelm de Rubruk (1254) and in the writings of
Bu-ston[1054]. The first legend of its origin is contained in the
Manikambum, a work of doubtful age and authorship but perhaps as
old as the fifteenth century[1055]. The popularity of the prayer may
date from the time when the pontiffs of Lhasa were recognized as
incarnations of Avalokita. The first and last words are mystic
syllables such as often occur in these formulæ. Maṇi padme is
generally interpreted to mean the jewel in the lotus[1056], but Thomas
has pointed out that it is more consonant with grammar and usage to
regard the syllables as one word and the vocative of a feminine title
similar to Padmapâṇi, one of Avalokita's many names. The analogy of
similar spells supports this interpretation and it seems probable that
the formula was originally an invocation of the Śakti under the
title of Maṇipadmâ, although so far as I know it is now regarded by
the Tibetans as an address to the male Avalokita. It has also been
suggested that the prominence of this prayer may be due to Manichæan
influence and the idea that it contained the name of Mani. The
suggestion is not absurd for in many instances Manichæism and Buddhism
were mixed together, but if it were true we should expect to find the
formula frequently used in the Tarim basin, but of such use there is
no proof.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1012: The Shingon sect in Japan depict benevolent deities in
a raging form, Funnu. See Kokka, No. 292, p. 58. The idea goes back to
India where the canons of sacred art recognize that deities can be
represented in a pacific (śânta or saumya) or in a terrific (ugra
or raudra) form. See Gopinath Rao, _Hindu Iconography_, vol. I. p. 19,
and vol. II of the same for a lengthy description of the aspects of
Śiva.]
[Footnote 1013: _E.g._ Grünwedel, _Buddhist art in India_, fig. 149,
_id. Mythologie_, fig. 54.]
[Footnote 1014: But there is still a hereditary incarnation of
Ganeśa near Poona, which began in the seventeenth century. See
_Asiatic Researches_, VII. 381.]
[Footnote 1015: See Waddell in _J.R.A.S._ 1909, p. 941.]
[Footnote 1016: See _e.g. J.A.S.B._ 1882, p. 41. The Svayambhû Purâna
also states that Mañjuśrî lives in China. See _J. Buddhist Text
Society_, 1894, vol. II. part II. p. 33.]
[Footnote 1017: See _T'oung Pao_, 1908, p. 13. For the Bön generally
see also _J.A.S. Bengal_, 1881, p. 187; Rockhill, _Land of the Lamas_,
pp. 217-218; and _T'oung Pao_, 1901, pp. 24-44.]
[Footnote 1018: The Lamas offer burnt sacrifices but it is not quite
clear whether these are derived from the Indian _homa_ adopted by
Tantric Buddhism or from Tibetan and Mongol ceremonies. See, for a
description of this ceremony, _My Life in Mongolia_, by the Bishop of
Norwich, pp. 108-114.]
[Footnote 1019: _Mythologie des Buddhismus_, p. 40.]
[Footnote 1020: In Tibetan Dus-kyi-hkhor-lo. Mongol, Tsagun kürdün.]
[Footnote 1021: Announced in the _Bibliotheca Buddhica_.]
[Footnote 1022: See Pelliot, _Quelques transcriptions apparentées Ã
Cambhala dans les textes Chinois_ (in _T'oung Pao_, vol. XX. 1920, p.
73) for some conjectures. Kulika is translated into Tibetan as
Rigs-Ldan. Tibetan texts speak of books coming from Śambhala, see
Laufer in _T'oung Pao_, 1913, p. 596.]
[Footnote 1023: See Laufer in _T'oung Pao_, 1907, p. 402. In Sumpa's
chronology, _J.A.S. Beng._ p. 46, the reign of a Kulika Emperor seems
to be simply a designation for a century.]
[Footnote 1024: See _J.A.S.B._ 82, p. 225. The king is also (but
apparently incorrectly) called Candra-Bhadra.]
[Footnote 1025: See Grünwedel, _Mythologie_, p. 41. Sarat Chandra Das
in _J.A.S. Beng_. 1882, p. 15, and _J.A.S. Beng_. 1912, p. 21, being
reprints of earlier articles by Csoma de Körös.]
[Footnote 1026: See Kalkî Purâna. Vishnu Purâna, IV. XXIV, Bhâg. Pur.
XII. ii. 18, and Norman in _Trans. III, Int. Congress Religions_, vol.
II. p. 85. Also Aufrecht, _Cat. Cod. Sansk._ 73A, 84B.]
[Footnote 1027: See Schrader, _Introd. to the Pâncarâtra_, pp. 100-106
and 96.]
[Footnote 1028: See the article "Adi Buddha" by De la Vallée Poussin
in Hastings' _Encyc. of Religion and Ethics_.]
[Footnote 1029: See, for a modern example of this, the
Ganeśâtharvaśirshopanishad (Anândâ srama edition, pp. 11 and 16)
Tvam eva sarvam khalvidam Brahmâsi ... Tvam Brahmâ Tvam Vishnus Tvam
Rudras Tvam Indras Tvam Agnis Tvam Vâyus Tvam Sûryas Tvam Candramâs
Tvam _Brahma_. Here Gaṇeśa includes all the deities and the
Pantheos. There is also a book called Gaṇeśadarśanam in which
the Vedanta sûtras are rewritten and Gaṇeśa made equivalent to
Brahma. See Madras, _Cat. of Sk. MSS_. 1910-1913, p. 1030.]
[Footnote 1030: It is just mentioned in S. Lévi's _Nepal II_, p. 385,
but is not in Rajendralal Mitra's _Catalogue_.]
[Footnote 1031: Waddell, _Buddhism_, p. 131. Pander, _Pantheon_, p.
59, No. 56.]
[Footnote 1032: Nepalese Buddhism knows not only the Dhyâni Buddhas,
Śaktis and Bodhisattvas including Vajrasattva and Vajradhara, but
also deities like Hayagrîva, Yamântaka, Bhrikutî, Marîcî, Kurukullâ.
In both Nepal and Tibet are found pictures called Thsogs-śiṇ in
which the deities of the Pantheon (or at least the principal of them)
are grouped according to rank. See for an example containing 138
deities the frontispiece of Getty's _Gods of Northern Buddhism_.]
[Footnote 1033: _Buddhism_, pp. 350-1.]
[Footnote 1034: For an outline of the method followed by Tibetans in
studying the Tantras, see _Journal Buddhist Text Society_, 1893, vol.
I. part III. pp. 25-6.]
[Footnote 1035: The deity may appear in an unusual form, so the
worshipper can easily persuade himself that he has received the
desired revelation.]
[Footnote 1036: A figure identified with Indra or Vajrapâni is found
in Gandhara sculptures.]
[Footnote 1037: _Mythologie_, p. 97.]
[Footnote 1038: The Dhyâni Buddhas however seem to be the Yi-dam of
individuals only.]
[Footnote 1039: Huth's edition, p. 1.]
[Footnote 1040: See _Buddhist Text Society_, vol. II. part II.
appendix II. 1904, p. 6.]
[Footnote 1041: See Laufer, "Hundert Tausend Nâgas" in _Memoirs of
Finno-Ugrian Society_, 1898.]
[Footnote 1042: Or Five Bodies, sKu-Lṇa. dPe-dKar or Pe-har is by
some authorities identified with the Chinese deity Wei-to. This latter
is represented in the outer court of most Chinese temples.]
[Footnote 1043: In Tibetan sGrol-ma, in Mongol Dara äkä. For the early
history of Târâ see Blonay, _Matériaux pour servir à l'histoire de ...
Târâ_, 1895.]
[Footnote 1044: Waddell, _Buddhism_, p. 360.]
[Footnote 1045: Tibetan gTsug-tor-rnam-par-rgyal-ma.]
[Footnote 1046: Cf. Whitehead's statement (_Village Gods of S. India_,
p. 79) that women worshipping certain goddesses are clad only in the
twigs of the mimosa tree.]
[Footnote 1047: See Foucher, _Icon. Bouddhique_, 1900, p. 142, and
Târanâtha tr. Schiefner, p. 102.]
[Footnote 1048: See Waddell. Grünwedel seems to regard Vajra-Varâhî as
distinct from Marîcî.]
[Footnote 1049: As for instance is also the origin of Linga worship in
India.]
[Footnote 1050: See Steiner in _Mitth. der Deutsch. Gesellsch.
Natur-u. Völkerkunde Ost-Asiens_, 1909-10, p. 35.]
[Footnote 1051: Padme is said to be commonly pronounced peme.]
[Footnote 1052: Waddell quotes a similar spell known in both Tibet and
Japan, but addressed to Vairocana. Om Amogha Vairocanamahâmudra mani
padma jvalapravarthtaya hūm. _Buddhism_, p. 149.]
[Footnote 1053: _Divyâvadâna_ (Cowell and Neil), pp. 613-4, and Raj.
Mitra, _Nepalese Bud. Lit._ p. 98. See also the learned note of
Chavannes and Pelliot, based on Japanese sources in _J.A._ 1913, I.
314. The text referred to is Nanjio, No. 782. It is not plain if it is
the same as earlier translations with similar titles. A mantra of six
syllables not further defined is extolled in the Divyâvadâna and the
Guṇakâraṇḍavyûha.]
[Footnote 1054: Bu-ston was born in 1288 and the summary of his
writings contained in the _Journal of the Buddhist Text Society_, vol.
I. 1893, represents the formula as used in the times of Atîśa, _c_.
1030.]
[Footnote 1055: See for this legend, which is long but not very
illuminating, Rockhill's _Land of the Lamas_, pp. 326-334.]
[Footnote 1056: _J.R.A.S._ 1906, p. 464, and Francke, _ib_. 1915, pp.
397-404. He points out the parallel between the three formulae: _Om
vagîśvari mum: Om maṇipadme hum: Om vajrapâṇi hum_. The hymn
to Durgâ in Mahâbhâr. Bhîshmapar, 796 (like many other hymns) contains
a long string of feminine vocatives ending in _e_ or _i_.]