The Tibetan Hierarchy.
More than four centuries ago there lived a priest named Gendun Tub
who was a disciple of the founder of the New Sect. It was this
priest who first originated the practice of invocation of oracles
which was subsequently elaborated into a peculiar habit of selecting
incarnations. It happened in this way. When Gendun Tub was about to
expire, he left word that he would be reborn at such and such a place.
Enquiry was made, and the birth of a boy was ascertained to have taken
place at the specified place. This would not be particularly marvellous
were it not for the fact, as recorded in tradition, that, as soon as he
could articulate, the boy declared his wish to return to his temple,
the name of which he declared to be Tashi Lhunpo, the very temple where
the venerable Gendun Tub had died. There was no longer any doubt in the
minds of his faithful disciples and followers that their master had
been reborn in that boy. The boy was conveyed to the temple, was there
brought up, and was finally installed as the second Grand Lama, called
Gendun Gyamtso.
Nothing particular occurred in this matter of incarnations during the
periods of his third and fourth successors, but they grew quite popular
afterwards, especially in the days of the fifth and the sixth Grand
Lamas, till at last the whole system of the consultation of divine
oracles assumed the shape in which it is found to-day. The fifth Grand
Lama was a great promoter of the oracle system. His name was Ngakwang
Gyamtso, and though the head of the New Sect, he investigated the
texts and all matters of the Old Sect and introduced into his own sect
many things pertaining to the Old. Oracle-invocation was extensively
practised in his time, and the privilege of undertaking this solemn
work was entrusted to four temples, or rather the deities presiding
over them, namely Nechung, Samye, Lamo and Gatong. From the fifth Grand
Lama also dates another innovation of far greater importance, that is
to say, the establishment of Hierarchical Government.
Before his time, the Grand Lamas held only spiritual power, and had
nothing to do with temporal or administrative affairs, for the Grand
Lamas had no territories to administer except a small glebe.
About that time a powerful Mongolian chieftain named Shrī Gaumi
Tenjin Choe Gyal invaded Tibet and subdued all the petty tribes that
had hitherto existed there. These numbered thirteen, each counting
according to tradition ten thousand families. Tibet may thus be
considered to have contained one hundred and thirty thousand families,
and, strange to say, this is also believed to be the present number of
the population, according to popular accounts.
The Mongolian conqueror disposed of the districts he had subdued in
a very interesting manner, for instead of bringing them under his
direct control he presented the whole region to the Grand Lama of the
day. Thus originated the system of the Hierarchy, which therefore
dates only about three centuries back. But to return to the subject of
oracle-consultation.
By this time the process of consultation had to undergo considerable
modifications, owing to the fact that the high Lamas who were to be
reborn not unfrequently omitted the trouble of enlightening others
about the places of their re-appearance on the earth. These places had
to be discovered therefore, for the Tibetans firmly held, as they do
even to-day, that high Lamas who die are sure to re-incarnate somewhere
after the lapse of forty-nine days from the day of death. Hence arose
the necessity to determine the place of such re-incarnation, and this
task devolved on the oracle-invokers of one of the four particular
temples mentioned before.
The process as it is in vogue at present is essentially identical with
that prevailing in former times, and is exceedingly strange, to say the
least of it. The mediums or invokers who perform this holy business
behave themselves in such an extravagant way that the uninitiated would
consider them to be stark mad.
The consultation of the oracle is performed by a number of priests, one
of whom is a medium, the rest being assistants. These beat drums and
strike cymbals, whilst others chant the Texts. The medium is attired
in a gorgeous fashion. He wears a big head-cloth with silk pendants of
five hues hanging from behind. Sometimes strips of glittering brocade
are used instead. The garment is not unlike that worn by Japanese
priests, and is of yellow or red satin, decorated with figures of
flowers. From the knot of the sash hang long strips of cloth. Thus
attired, the medium waits for response from the deities, remaining
with closed eyes in a half sitting posture, while all the time the
discordant sounds made by the orchestra are kept up. After a while he
begins to tremble and shake, this movement gathering force, till all of
sudden he either falls on his back or jumps up, according to the nature
of the deity who responds to the invocation, and has now descended
into the body of the medium. He will then say, still continuing to
shudder, that the particular Lama has re-appeared at such and such a
place, and in such and such a house which faces in a certain direction;
that the family consists of a certain number of members; that a baby
born on a certain day is a re-incarnation of the dead Lama, and so on.
An enquiry is then made according to the direction and of course the
pronouncement of the oracle is confirmed, and a baby corresponding to
the description given is found in the house. The boy is left under the
care of his mother till he can be weaned, and then he is brought to the
specified temple where he is educated. In education special care is
taken to inspire in him the strong self-confidence that he is a holy
re-incarnation.
At any rate the practice of invoking divine oracles extensively came
into vogue from the time of the fifth Grand Lama, and is used for all
matters great or small, from vexed international problems to trifling
questions that easily admit of solution.
The oracle-giving deities, as I mentioned before, are four, and they
are regarded as the guardian angels of the Lama Hierarchy. Of the four
Nechung is the most powerful.
Suppose a Grand Lama dies, and a necessity arises to determine the
place of his re-incarnation. The four temples dedicated to the four
deities are ordered by the authorities to undertake the mysterious
business of identification, this order being generally issued about
a year after the death of the august Lama. All the priests of the
four temples are summoned on that occasion, and they separately
consult their own respective oracles. Their deities are, however,
not infallible, and often prove just as divided in their judgment as
ordinary mortals are, for very rarely do the four oracles coincide, and
usually those oracles produce three different candidates. The choice
has therefore to be made from among the three.
The three or four boy-candidates (as the case may be) are brought to
Lhasa, when they have reached the age of five years. The ceremony of
selection is next performed. This is of course conducted with great
pomp and solemnity. The dignitaries who are privileged to take part in
it are the Chinese Commissioner residing in Lhasa and the Regent Lama;
also the Prime Ministers and all the Ministers, Vice-Ministers and a
number of high Lamas are allowed to be present. First the names of
the boy-candidates (three or four in number, as the case may be) are
written on so many pieces of paper, and put in a golden urn which is
then sealed. For the period of a week a kind of high mass is performed
in the ceremony-hall, in order to entreat the divine intercession for
the selection of the real re-incarnation. When this period expires all
the dignitaries before-mentioned are once more assembled around the
sealed urn. This is carefully inspected and the seal is then taken
off. The Chinese Commissioner then takes a pair of tiny ivory sticks
something like ordinary chop-sticks in shape and size and, with his
eyes shut, puts them into the urn and solemnly picks out one of the
papers. The name written on that paper is read, and the bearer of that
name is acknowledged as Grand Lama-elect.
From what I have described, there is apparently little room, if any,
for trickery, but I have heard from the Secretary of the Chinese
Commissioner that dishonest practices are in reality not infrequent.
Indeed the temptations are too strong for greedy and dishonest
minds to resist, owing to the keen rivalry among the parents of the
boy-candidates to have their own boys selected. Strong interest urges
them on in this rivalry, for the parents of the Lama-elect are not only
entitled to receive the title of Duke from the Chinese Government,
but also enjoy many other advantages, above all the acquisition of a
large fortune. Under these circumstances the parents and relatives of
eligible boys are said to offer large bribes to the Chinese Amban, and
to others who are connected with the ceremony of selection. I do not
affirm the fact of bribes, but at least I have heard that cases of such
under-hand influence have occurred not unfrequently.
The selection of the Grand Lama is thus made by an elaborate process,
in which the influence of the oracle-invokers plays an important part.
The priests who have charge of this business are in most cases men
who make it their business to blackmail every applicant. Most of the
oracle-priests are therefore extremely wealthy.
The Nechung who are under the direct patronage of the Hierarchy, are
generally millionaires, as millionaires go in Tibet. This, taken in
conjunction with another fact, that the re-incarnations of higher Lamas
are generally sons of wealthy aristocrats, or merchants, and that it
is only very rarely that they are discovered among the lowly, must be
considered as suggesting the working of some such practices. I have
even heard that some unscrupulous people corrupt the oracle-priests for
the benefit of their unborn children, so as to have their boys accepted
as Lamas incarnate when born. From a worldly point of view the expense
incurred on this account not unfrequently proves a good ‘investment,’
if I may use the profane expression, for the boys who are the objects
of the oracles have a good chance of being installed in the temples
where their spiritual antecedents presided, which are sure to possess
large property. This property goes, it need hardly be added, to the
boys, after they have been duly installed. Whatever may have been the
practical effect of incarnation in former times, it is, as matters
stand at present, an incarnation of all vices and corruptions, instead
of the souls of departed Lamas.
I once remarked to certain Tibetans that the present mode of
incarnation was a glaring humbug, and that it was nothing less than an
embodiment of bribery.
To do justice to the incarnations themselves, they grow up, in eight
cases out of ten, to be Lamas of more than average ability, perhaps
because they are brought up with special care. Their teachers and
guardians treat their wards with kindness and never use rough language
to them even when they behave as they ought not to behave. In such case
the teachers and guardians appeal to their sense of honor and great
responsibility.
This reminds me of the necessity of treating children with
consideration, and that to abuse them as blockheads or fools, when they
err in their conduct or over their lessons, deprives them of the sense
of self-confidence, and hence prevents its natural development. They
must be educated in such a way as to allow full play to their sense of
self-respect.
The Tibetans have not adopted this particular mode of education for
their boy-incarnations from any deep conviction as to educational
policy; they are doing so out of their respect towards their
boy-masters.
I should add, also, that the general mass of the people are left in
complete ignorance of all the tricks and intrigues that are concocted
and extensively carried on in the higher circles. With guileless
innocence the ordinary people swallow all the fabulous tales that are
circulated about the alleged evidences fabricated for establishing
the re-incarnation of Lamas. Those only who are acquainted with what
is going on behind the scenes at Lhasa and Shigatze treat those
‘evidences’ with scorn, and denounce the re-incarnation affair as
downright imposture and a mischievous farce. To them the re-incarnation
is an embodiment of bribery, nothing more nor less. At best it is a
fraud committed by oracle-priests at the instance of aristocrats who
are very often their patrons and protectors.
Oracles are not confined in their operation to matters of incarnation;
they are consulted for many other purposes. A Cabinet Minister who
has committed some error will hasten to those priests, especially to
the Nechung, to prevent his being punished, or to have the punishment
modified. In such a case a Minister has to pay to the priests a sum
varying from the minimum of one thousand yen to ten or twenty times
that amount, according to the gravity of the offence. When in time
that offence comes to the ears of the Government, and the question of
punishing the offender is brought on the _tapis_, the latter can sit
silent without much perturbation, secure in the thought that he has
forestalled the Government and has secretly ‘purchased’ a favorable
understanding with the consulters of the oracles. For to these
consulters the matter is sure to be brought, sooner or later, for their
decision, or more properly for the decision of their deity. The priests
will then consult the oracles, but with a foregone conclusion as to the
nature of the response, being bound by the accused party with fetters
of gold. The oracles will say: “Don’t punish the man, for to do so will
be to invite calamity on the country. Only reprimand is enough, for the
man is at heart well-meaning. His fault came from inadvertence.” And so
the Minister is absolved from the charge, or is sentenced merely to a
nominal punishment.
On the other hand, a Minister or any other high personage who is a
_persona ingrata_ to the Nechung priests is in danger of bringing down
on his head an oracle of terrible nature at any moment, and in the
presence of the Grand Lama himself. The unscrupulous priests will even
turn the virtues of their unfortunate victim into a means of denouncing
him. The power which those oracle-priests wield in the official circles
of the Grand Lama’s Government is therefore a formidable one, and the
officials hold them in even greater awe than they do their supreme
chief. The Nechung priests may be even regarded as wielding the real
power in the Hierarchical administration. It is true that the present
Grand Lama, being a man of great force of mind, does not blindly adopt
in all cases the insidious advice of the priests; still in the great
majority of cases he has to follow it, for to reject the Nechung’s
words is contrary to the traditions of the country.
The Nechung, who exercise such power even in small affairs, very often
prove to be broken reeds when they are confronted with grave national
questions. Suppose, for instance, they are asked to consult the
oracles about a diplomatic trouble, in the presence of the Dalai Lama
and other great dignitaries. The priests proceed to do so with pomp
and solemnity, attired in gorgeous dress befitting the occasion. In
time the deity responds to the invocation, and is consulted about the
policy which the Government has to adopt, say, about the trouble which
is supposed to have appeared between it and England. The medium will
remain silent, and simply continue to tremble for some time. He will
next make one high jump, and then drop down apparently unconscious.
The attendants of the medium are then thrown into consternation,
all whispering to each other with significant nods and head-shakes
that the deity must have been offended at the impious question put
to him, and must have therefore gone off in holy wrath. And so for a
grave question, for which the aid of the oracle is most needed, the
Hierarchical Government is left in the lurch and is compelled to give
decision according to its own mother-wit. Such is the farce of the
oracle-system.
[Illustration: A SOOTHSAYER UNDER MEDIUMISTIC INFLUENCE FALLING
SENSELESS.]
Men of learning and priests of sincere piety and honest conviction are
therefore bitterly (though not openly) opposed to the doings of those
oracle-priests, whom they denounce as Ministers of devils, and as
the worst enemies of religion. Fortunately, however, the two Lamaist
chiefs are not installed only by the agency of the Nechungs, as above
mentioned.
I may, for instance, refer in passing to the supposed parentage of
the present Tashi Lama, the second Grand Lama, of Tashi Lhunpo. He is
said to have been born of a dumb woman by some unknown father. Some
say that his father was a hermit, while others are of opinion that he
was a priest, but the most probable account is the one which I heard
from a certain authority, who informed me that a learned doctor, one
Meto-ke-sang (chrysanthemum-flower) of the monastery of Sera, was the
real father of the present head of the Tashi Lhunpo. This doctor became
a monomaniac after having studied the literature of the Old Sect,
roamed about the country, and at last cohabited with a dumb woman. The
result was the birth of the boy on whom fell the great honor. The Lama
is therefore, said to bear a great personal resemblance to that mad
doctor. Though this opinion was held by a reliable authority of the
Sera monastery with whom I was acquainted, of course I cannot vouch for
the authenticity of his explanation.