THIBET.
Ah! blessed Lord! Oh, High Deliverer!
Forgive this feeble script, which doth thee wrong,
Measuring with little wit thy lofty love.
Ah! Lover! Brother! Guide! Lamp of the Law!
I take my refuge in Thy name and Thee!
I take my refuge in Thy Law of Good!
I take my refuge in Thy Order! Om!
The Dew is on the Lotus! Rise, Great Sun!
And lift my leaf and mix me with the wave.
_Om Mani Padme Hum_, the Sunrise comes!
The Dewdrop slips into the shining Sea!
EDWIN ARNOLD. (PERORATION OF “THE LIGHT OF ASIA.”)
Thibet is a country lying north of India and west of China. It has a
population of about six millions. The early worship of the Thibetans
was that of spirits, devils and of nature. The old worship, called
the _Bon_ religion, bore a strong resemblance to the Taoism of
China, and even to-day Buddhism has not destroyed that old religion
entirely. The people still have gods of the hills, trees, dales and
lakes, and still use charms and resort to magic. Just when Buddhism was
introduced into this branch of the Mongolian family we cannot tell, but
it certainly was not well-established until 630 A.D. All around Thibet
Buddhist missionaries had gone long before this, and it is probable
that there is some myth in the tradition that a few missionaries
toiled, though in vain, to bring the Thibetans to the Buddhist belief.
At the beginning of the fifth century Fa-Hian, the Chinese monk, made
a pilgrimage to the sacred places of Buddhism in India. He and his four
companions were forced to avoid crossing Great Thibet.
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF LAMAISM.
[Illustration: A THIBETAN LAD.]
A Thibetan king established his seat of government at H’lassa in 617
A.D. He married a Chinese princess of the Buddhist faith. By her
request, he sent a minister to India, who brought back with him a great
number of the Buddhist sacred books. The king had great difficulty
in overcoming the objections of both priests and people, but finally
succeeded. About the middle of the fourteenth century a great reformer
arose in Thibet named Tsong-khapa. He forbade the priests to marry,
and declared that magic and necromancy were against Buddhism, and
introduced other changes. Another great reformer lived about the same
time named Gedeen-tubpa; he built the great monastery at Teshu Lumbo
in 1445, and in him commenced the perpetual incarnation of Buddha,
in the persons of the Grand Lamas. In 1650 the sixth successor of
this last reformer visited the Emperor of China, and accepted from
him the designation of Dalai Lama, _Lama_ meaning priest, and
_Dalai_, ocean. There are several rival Grand Lamas, the Dalai
Lama, the Teshu Lama and the Taranath Lama. There rapidly grew up in
Thibet a system of organized priesthood, which has made the Buddhism of
Thibet almost altogether unlike that of any other land.
MONKS AND MONASTERIES.
[Illustration: MONASTERY OF HEMIS IN THE HIMALAYAS.]
There are the monks and clergy, who are subordinate to the holy and
sacred Lamas, the monks and nuns, the abbots and abbesses, chief Lamas,
and, over all, the Grand Lama. The monks go bare-headed, though those
of high rank wear caps; their heads are shaved, and they are dressed in
a yellow robe and high leathern boots, with the mendicant’s food-bowl
and the prayer-wheel in their hands. They are collected in vast
monasteries scattered over the country, the largest and most numerous
being round the city of H’lassa. These monasteries contain many
thousands of lamas, and similar establishments are scattered not only
in the inhabited valleys, but over the wildest parts of Great Thibet.
As there is little wood in the country, the people rarely burn their
dead. The dead bodies are usually carried to a high mountain, to be
devoured by beasts and birds. The monks’ bodies are, however, burned,
and their ashes carefully gathered as relics. Women are not buried or
exposed with the bodies of their dead husbands, as was once the case
with Hindu women. In fact, this is rendered impossible by the existence
of polyandry, one woman in Thibet generally having many husbands.
[Illustration: TARTAR WOMAN.]
The monasteries are called _Gonpas_; the Lamas’ house, _Labrang_; and
the temple, consisting of a room full of images and pictures, Lhakhang.
The _Dung-ten_ is a relic repository, such as the _Tope_ of India; and
immense votive piles of stones or dykes, from a few feet to half a mile
in length, covered with slabs and stuck over with banners inscribed
with the Thibetan prayer _Om mani padme hum_, are called _Mani_. The
images of Buddha are always seated, with the right hand resting on the
knee, the left on the lap, and holding the alms-dish; the body painted
yellow or gilt, and the hair short and curly and painted blue. They
are of all sizes, and there are other images of beings connected with
Buddhistic ideas.
The services consist of recitations and chanting of the _Sutras_, or
precepts and rules of discipline, to the sound of musical instruments,
trumpets, drums, cymbals and conch-shells. The tunes are impressive and
solemn; incense is burned during the services, and there are offerings
of fruits and grain to Buddha and to the Buddhisatwas, especially to
Avaloki-teswara, who is incarnate in the Dalai Lama. Mystical sentences
and titles of Buddha are also recited. The bell is used during the
performance of service, and the prayer-wheels--metal cylinders,
containing printed prayers in rolls, with the axes prolonged to form
handles--are in constant use, not only during the service, but on every
occasion, being fixed in rows on the walls of temples, near villages,
and in streams, to be turned by water. The prayer-wheels have been in
use among these people for more than a thousand years, for they are
mentioned by the pilgrim Fa-Hian.
TEMPLE AT TESHU LUMBO MONASTERY.
It contains thirteen gigantic figures, which would be about eight feet
high standing, but they are all, except the image of the god of war
and another, sitting cross-legged. They are of copper-gilt, holding a
pot with flowers or fruit in their lap. They are represented covered
with mantles, and crowns or mitres on their heads; and altogether,
particularly the drapery, are far from being badly executed. The
thrones upon which they sit are also of copper-gilt, adorned with
turquois, cornelians and other inferior stones. The mouldings and
ornaments of the thrones are in a good style. Behind each figure
the wall is covered with a piece of carved work, like unto the heavy
gilt frames of our forefathers’ portraits or looking-glasses. Behind
them are china vases, some of them very handsome; loads of china and
glass-ware, the last partly Chinese, partly European, filled with
grain, fruit or gum flowers, a variety of shells, large conches set in
silver, some ostrich eggs, cocoanuts, cymbals, and a variety of other
articles, making a most heterogeneous gathering. Round the necks of the
images are strings of coral, ill-shaped pearls, cornelian, agate and
other stones, and their crowns are set with the like ornaments. The
ceiling of the gallery is covered with satins of a variety of patterns,
some Chinese, some Kalmuk, some European, brought through Russia and
overland. The gallery is lighted on the south side from five windows,
and the walls between are hung with paintings of the different deities
and views of heaven. The opposite side, where the images are, is shut
in all the length of the gallery with a net of iron-work that meddlers
may be kept off.
SERVICES AT THE H’LASSA CATHEDRAL.
Köppen presents a very full account of the worship in one of the chief
Buddhist temples, in the centre of Buddhism, the city of H’lassa.
Rhys-David condenses this as follows:
The entrance to the chief temples of the holy city is through a large
hall where holy water and rosaries are sold, and in which stand four
statues of the archangels. The walls are covered with rude paintings
of scenes from the legends of Buddha, and its roof is supported by six
massive pillars, covered with beautiful carving, spoilt by gorgeous
paint and gilding. The temple itself is a long nave, divided by rows of
pillars from two aisles, and by silver screens of open trellis-work
from two large chancels. Into the aisle on each side open fourteen
chapels; at the end is the holy place. In its furthest niche, in a kind
of apse, is the magnificent golden statue of the now deified Gautama
Buddha. In front of the idol is the high altar or table of offerings,
raised by several stages from the floor; on the upper levels being
images of gold, silver and clay; on the lower, the bells, lamps,
censers and other vessels used in the holy service. At the sound of a
trumpet the clergy assemble in the entrance hall, wearing the cloak and
cap; at its third blast the procession, with the living Buddha, the
Grand Lama, at its head, marches down the aisle. When he is seated on
his throne, each Lama, or cardinal, bows three times before him, and
then seats himself on a divan according to his rank. After a bell is
rung, the ten Buddhist commandments are repeated and other formulas,
then the priests sing in choir pieces from the sacred books. The monks
burst out into a hymn of prayer for the presence of the spirits of all
the Buddhists. One of them raises aloft over his head a looking-glass,
the idea of which seems to be to catch the image of the spirit as it
comes; a second raises a jug; a third a mystic symbol of the world; a
fourth a cup, and so on. Meanwhile the voices of the singers, and the
sound of the bells, drums and trumpets grows louder and louder, and the
temple is filled with incense from the sacred censers. The monk with
the jug pours several times water, mixed with saffron and sugar, over
the mirror, which another wipes each time with a silk napkin. The water
flows over the mirror to the symbols of the world, and is caught in
the cup beneath. Thence the holy mixture is poured into another jug,
and a drop or two is allowed to trickle on to the hands of each of the
worshiping monks, who marks the crown of his shaven head, the forehead
and his breast with the sacred liquid. He then reverently swallows the
remaining drops, and, in so doing, believes himself to be swallowing
a part of the divine being, whose image has been caught in the mirror
over which the water has passed.
PRAYING-WHEELS.
Among the most curious things in Thibet are the praying-wheels. They
are little wooden drums covered round the sides with leather, and
fitted vertically in niches in the walls. A spindle running through
the centre enables them to revolve at the slightest push. They are
generally in rows of eight and ten, and well thumbed and worn they
usually are. Others, of larger dimensions, are placed by themselves,
decorated with the words, “Om mani padmi hum,” in the Lanza character,
all round the barrel.
In the vicinity of the monasteries are various small temples, like
chapels of ease, rudely decorated with grotesque figures in red and
yellow, and having queer-looking structures fastened on the top of
them, generally a trident, with tufts of hair attached, or strips of
colored calico, horns of animals and other rude devices.
[Illustration: PRAYING MACHINE.
Instead of saying prayers they set a machine in motion, each
revolution counting as a prayer. The more prayers one says or
turns, the more sure he is to get to Heaven. Sometimes the
wheel is set so as to be turned by water or machinery, and
these machine-prayers are counted as good as others.]
In one place there is a praying-wheel turned by water; but one cannot
ascertain whether the benefit accrues to the water, or to the possessor
of the stream, or to the public generally. Sometimes the people carry
portable wheels, and one often meets them provided with huge brass
ones, with a wooden handle. They are suspended from their necks, in
company with a collection of square leather charms fastened by a string
to the coat, the whole collection presenting a very odd appearance.
THE MYSTIC SENTENCE OF THIBET.
[Illustration: PRAYING WHEEL WHIRLED IN THE HAND.]
There is one sentence which the Thibetans and Mongolians have
continually in their mouths. The same sentence is written upon their
monuments, temple-walls, relic-houses, prayer-wheels--indeed, almost
everywhere. It is
OM MANI PADMI HUM.
These are words from the Sanskrit language. “Om,” among the Hindus,
is the mystic name of divinity, which begins all their prayers. It
corresponds to our interjection Oh! only that it is uttered with a
religious emphasis, due to its hidden, sacred meaning. “Mani” means
jewel; “padmi,” the lotus; and “hum,” amen. So the whole sentence
is, “Oh! the jewel of the lotus. Amen.” But the Thibetan Buddhists
have attached mysterious meanings to each of the six syllables of
the sentence. These meanings grew out of the legendary history
of the introduction of Buddhism into Thibet; but even this is
all but forgotten, and the words are repeated by the millions of
Thibetans without the slightest knowledge of their force, but with
a superstitious belief in their sacredness, which is unshaken and
immovable as the rocks themselves
THE INCARNATION OF BUDDHA IN THE GRAND LAMA.
[Illustration: STONE WITH THE MYSTIC SENTENCE, “OM MANI PADMI
HUM.”]
[Illustration: MANI PADEE, A BUDDHIST TOMB IN THIBET.]
The Thibetans believe that the soul of Buddha dwells in the body of
their high-priest or Grand Lama; that, at the time of his death, the
soul passes into the body of another person, who is to be the Grand
Lama until his death. Thus Buddha is born and re-born over and over
again. It is an easy matter to determine into whose body the soul of
Buddha enters, because they make it so. It is very much the same as
if the chief Lamas were to elect the Grand Lama’s successor, because,
in reality, they determine where the soul of Buddha shall be found.
At present, however, it seems that the Emperor of China exercises a
paramount influence on the discovery of these transmigrations, or, in
other words, on the filling up of clerical posts; and there can be no
doubt that his influence is supreme in the case of determining the
election of the two highest functionaries of this theocracy. In order
to ascertain the re-birth of a departed Lama, various means are relied
upon. Sometimes the deceased had, before his death, confidentially
mentioned to his friends where and in which family he would re-appear,
or his will contained intimations to this effect. In most instances,
however, the sacred books and the official astrologers are consulted
on the subject; and if the Dalai-lama dies, it is the duty of the
Pan-chhen to interpret the traditions and the oracles; whereas, if
the latter dies, the Dalai-lama renders him the same good service.
The proclamation of so great an event, however, as the metempsychosis
of any Dalai-lama or Pan-chhen is preceded by a close examination of
the child that claims to be in possession of the soul of either of
these personages. The re-born arch-saint, usually a boy four or five
years old, is questioned as to his previous career; books, garments
and other articles used and not used by the deceased are placed before
him, to point out those which belonged to him in his former life.
But, however satisfactory his answers be, they do not yet suffice.
Various little bells, required at the daily devotions of the Lama,
are put before the boy, to select that which he did use when he was
the Dalai-lama or Pan-chhen. “But where is my own favorite bell,” the
child exclaims, after having searched in vain; and this question is
perfectly justified, for, to test the veracity of the re-born saint,
this particular bell has been withheld from him. Now, however, there
can be no doubt as to the Dalai-lama or Pan-chhen being bodily before
them. The believers fall on their knees, and the Lamas who successfully
performed all these frauds join them in announcing to the world the
momentous fact.
THE LAMAIST BIBLE.
[Illustration: A THIBETAN WOMAN.]
The Thibetan sacred books are called Kanjur. This contains 1,083 works
gathered in 180 folio volumes. These are divided into seven sections as
follows: 1. The Book of Discipline. 2. The Book of the Transcendental
Wisdom. 3. The Book of the Association of Buddhas. 4. The Book of “the
Jeweled Peak,” (whatever that may mean). 5. The Book of Aphorisms.
6. The Book of the Doctrine of “Deliverance from Emancipation from
Existence” (_sic_). 7. The Book of Mysticism. These all are said
to contain the words of Buddha himself. Besides these is a work, called
the Tanjur, or translation of doctrine, but has not the authority of
the Kanjur.
The art of printing from engraved wooden blocks has been long known to
the Thibetans. This aided greatly in spreading the sacred books. There
is no Buddhist monastery in Thibet which has not a copy of these works.
Sometimes these are very costly; one was prepared about a quarter of a
century ago, which cost $10,000. Four or five years ago a magnificent
copy of Buddha’s works was being executed for a Mongol prince, in the
Thibetan language. At that time 80 of the 180 volumes were completed.
The printing was in letters of gold, and the volumes are bound in
embroidered silk with silver clasps.