The _Book of Dzyan_—from the Sanskrit word “Dhyân” (mystic meditation)—is
the first volume of the Commentaries upon the seven secret folios of Kiu‐
te, and a Glossary of the public works of the same name. Thirty‐five
volumes of Kiu‐te for exoteric purposes and the use of the laymen may be
found in the possession of the Tibetan Gelugpa Lamas, in the library of
any monastery; and also fourteen books of Commentaries and Annotations on
the same by the initiated Teachers.
Strictly speaking, those thirty‐five books ought to be termed “The
Popularised Version” of the Secret Doctrine, full of myths, blinds, and
errors; the fourteen volumes of _Commentaries_, on the other hand—with
their translations, annotations, and an ample glossary of Occult terms,
worked out from one small archaic folio, the _Book of the Secret Wisdom of
the World_(720)—contain a digest of all the Occult Sciences. These, it
appears, are kept secret and apart, in the charge of the Teshu Lama of
Tji‐gad‐je. The Books of Kiu‐te are comparatively modern, having been
edited within the last millennium, whereas, the earliest volumes of the
_Commentaries_ are of untold antiquity, some fragments of the original
cylinders having been preserved. With the exception that they explain and
correct some of the too fabulous, and to every appearance, grossly‐
exaggerated accounts in the Books of Kiu‐te(721)—properly so‐called—the
_Commentaries_ have little to do with these. They stand in relation to
them as the Chaldæo‐Jewish _Kabalah_ stands to the Mosaic Books. In the
work known as the _Avatumsaka Sûtra_, in section: “The Supreme Âtman
[Soul] as manifested in the character of the Arhats and Pratyeka Buddhas,”
it is stated that:
Because from the beginning all sentient creatures have confused
the truth and embraced the false, therefore there came into
existence a hidden knowledge called Alaya Vijñâna.
“Who is in possession of the true knowledge?” is asked. “The great
Teachers of the Snowy Mountain,” is the response.
These “great Teachers” have been known to live in the “Snowy Range” of the
Himâlayas for countless ages. To deny in the face of millions of Hindus
the existence of their great Gurus, living in the Âshrams scattered all
over the Trans‐ or the Cis‐Himâlayan slopes is to make oneself ridiculous
in their eyes. When the Buddhist Saviour appeared in India, their
Âshrams—for it is rarely that these great Men are found in Lamaseries,
unless on a short visit—were on the spots they now occupy, and that even
before the Brâhmans themselves came from Central Asia to settle on the
Indus. And before that more than one Âryan Dvija of fame and historical
renown had sat at their feet, learning that which culminated later on in
one or another of the great philosophical schools. Most of these Himâlayan
Bhante were Âryan Brâhmans and ascetics.
No student, unless very advanced, would be benefited by the perusal of
those exoteric volumes.(722) They must be read with a key to their
meaning, and that key can only be found in the _Commentaries_. Moreover
there are some comparatively modern works that are positively injurious so
far as a fair comprehension of even exoteric Buddhism is concerned. Such
are the _Buddhist Cosmos_, by Bonze Jin‐ch’on of Pekin; the _Shing‐Tau‐ki_
(or _The Records of the Enlightenment of Tathâgata_), by Wang Puk—seventh
century; _Hisai Sûtra_ (or _Book of Creation_), and some others.
SECTION XLVIII. AMITA BUDDHA KWAN‐SHAI‐YIN, AND KWAN‐YIN.—WHAT THE “BOOK
OF DZYAN” AND THE LAMASERIES OF TSONG‐KHA‐PA SAY.
As a supplement to the _Commentaries_ there are many secret folios on the
lives of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and among these there is one on
Prince Gautama and another on His reincarnation in Tsong‐Kha‐pa. This
great Tibetan Reformer of the fourteenth century, said to be a direct
incarnation of Amita Buddha, is the founder of the secret School near Tji‐
gad‐je, attached to the private retreat of the Teshu Lama. It is with Him
that began the regular system of Lamaic incarnations of Buddhas (Sang‐
gyas), or of Shâkya‐Thub‐pa (Shakya‐muni). Amida or Amita Buddha is called
by the author of _Chinese Buddhism_, a mythical being. He speaks of
Amida Buddha (_Ami‐to Fo_) a fabulous personage, worshipped
assiduously—like Kwan‐yin—by the Northern Buddhists, but unknown
in Siam, Burmah, and Ceylon.(723)
Very likely. Yet Amida Buddha is not a “fabulous” personage, since (_a_)
“Amida” is the Senzar form of “Âdi”; “Âdi‐Buddhi” and “Âdi‐Buddha,”(724)
as already shown, existed ages ago as a Sanskrit term for “Primeval Soul”
and “Wisdom”; and (_b_) the name was applied to Gautama Shâkyamuni, the
last Buddha in India, from the seventh century, when Buddhism was
introduced into Tibet. “Amitâbha” (in Chinese, “Wu‐liang‐sheu”) means
literally “Boundless Age,” a synonym of “En,” or “Ain‐Suph,” the “Ancient
of Days,” and is an epithet that connects Him directly with the Boundless
Âdi‐Buddhi (primeval and Universal Soul) of the Hindus, as well as with
the Anima Mundi of all the ancient nations of Europe and the Boundless and
Infinite of the Kabalists. If Amitâbha be a fiction of the Tibetans, or a
new form of Wu‐liang‐sheu, “a fabulous personage,” as the author‐compiler
of _Chinese Buddhism_ tells his readers, then the “fable” must be a very
ancient one. For on another page he says himself that the addition to the
canon, of the books containing the
Legends of Kwan‐yin and of the Western heaven with its Buddha,
Amitâbha, was also previous to the Council of Kashmere, a little
before the beginning of our era,(725)
and he places
the origin of the primitive Buddhist books which are common to the
Northern and Southern Buddhists before 246 B.C.
Since Tibetans accepted Buddhism only in the seventh century A.D., how
comes it that they are charged with inventing Amita‐Buddha? Besides which,
in Tibet, Amitâbha is called Odpag‐med, which shows that it is not the
name but the abstract idea that was first accepted of an unknown,
invisible, and Impersonal Power—taken, moreover, from the Hindu “Âdi‐
Buddhi,” and not from the Chinese “Amitâbha.”(726) There is a great
difference between the popular Odpag‐med (Amitâbha) who sits enthroned in
Devachan (Sukhâvatî), according to the _Mani Kambum_ Scriptures—the oldest
_historical_ work in Tibet, and the philosophical abstraction called Amida
Buddha, the name being passed now to the earthly Buddha, Gautama.