the truth of what they believe, it is to be found in the
fact that Tibet, during Queen Victoria’s long reign, was
saved from invasion, saved even from that intercourse
which they hate nearly as much, and that after her
death and her return to be reincarnated again in a little
child in Tibet, the English troops immediately bore down
upon their sacred capital.
As I have said, no priestly caste in the history of
religion has ever fostered and preyed upon the terror
and ignorance of its flock with the systematic brigandage
of the lamas. It may be that, hidden away in some
quiet lamasery, far from the main routes, Kim’s lama
may still be found. Once or twice in the quiet unworldly
abbots of such monasteries as those of Dongtse
or Ta-ka-re, one saw an attractive and almost impressive
type of man; but the heads of the hierarchy are very
different men, and by them the country is ruled with
a rod of iron. The vast aggregation of symbols and
ceremonies which have strangled the life out of the
simple and beautiful faith of Buddha is but a barrier
i which the more effectually separates the priestly caste
from its lay serfs. To educate the latter in any way
would be to strike at the root of Lamaic supremacy,
and, therefore, the whole land is sunk in an ignorance
to which it would be difficult to find a parallel. To
these unlettered hinds the awful figures which scowl
from the gompa wall, blood bespattered, with dripping
tusks and bloated and beastlike bodies are as veritable
as were ever the pictures of a mediaeval hell to the
frightened catechumen. To them the muttering or
the fluttering of the strange charm, om mani padme hum
is the easiest, and for them the only, pathway to a vague
well-being after death, provided spiritual pastors shall
A Tibetan Sanctuary.
THIS PHOTOGRAVURE GIVES FAIRLY W E L L THE USUAL
APPEARANCE OF A LAMAIC SHRINE. THE NAVE OF THE
TEMPLE, TH OU GH HEAVILY COLOURED, IS IN COMPARATIVE
DARKNESS, A N D THE STRONGEST LIGHT FALLS UPON THE
ALTAR A N D THE BUDDHA. BEFORE HIM ARE TORMA, AN D
IN FRONT OF T H E M AGAIN A R O W OF BUTTER LAMPS. Wt
colours in darkness, idol gold, katags and gyantsen rambow-
hued.