pass certain tests, of which several were described
to me. The first thing to be proved is their capacity
to transmit their personality in a visible form to Lhasa,.
Gyantse and Tashi-lhunpo within the space of a few
seconds. Another and probably a more difficult feat upon,
which to satisfy their examiners consists in their ability
to crawl through the keyhole of their locked cell. The
Abbot of Nyen-de-kyi-buk had successfully passed these
tests, but one felt that the rules of courtesy forbade one
from making any direct request that he should repeat
on the spot even the simplest of his miracles. But supernatural
powers are of course claimed in a very definite
manner by all the wizards and magicians of the country
and also by the Dalai Lama and other high officials.
I t is perhaps unfair to class the pretence of the magician,
to keep off hail from the crops by his prayers as an illustration
of witchcraft, for a not dissimilar claim is implied
even in Christian services; but it would be difficult to
find a hard and fast point at which to draw a dividing
line between such a pretension as this and that which,
underlies the claims of the austerer members of the Red
Cap faction to the supernatural powers to which I have
just referred. The earlier teachers of Lamaism are undoubtedly
credited with curious non-human capacities,
and the manner in which these mighty men of old encountered
and defeated the obstacles devised by their
enemies, or put in their path by the conditions of nature,
are probably the basis of the Theosophist contention.
I have been at some pains to ascertain the origin of
this belief, which Madame Blavatsky has been perhaps
chiefly responsible for spreading. The following most
learned teachers may be quoted here as having been the
source of much of her doctrine:
1. Nub-chen-nam-kar-ning-po.— A Red-cap Lama,
who transported himself at will through the air.
2. Nub-chen-sang-gyi-ye-she.— This man had even
dared to see Shin-je himself, the god of Hell. He was
also able to split rocks with a stroke of his purbu.
3. Nal-jor-gyal-wa-chok-yung.— A mighty teacher of
the Red-cap school.
4. Khan-dro-ye-she-tso-gyal.-^-A woman disciple of the
Guru Rinpoche. She exercised supernatural powers.
5. Dog-mi-pal-gi-ye-she.— He meditated on a snow-
field with such success that the welfare and the misery
of the world alike were visible to him, and he was obeyed
by the goddesses themselves.
6. Nyak-chen-ye-she-scheun-nu.— A Lama of the Redcap
sect, who obtained water from a rock in the desert
by touching it with his finger.
7. Tub-chen-pal-gyi-sing-ge.— A Bhutanese, whom the
gods and goddesses were compelled to obey.
8. Nga-dag-cho-gyal.— This Lama lived at Samye.
He lived without eating and made himself invisible at
will.
9. Nal-jor-wang-chuk-chempo.— A pupil of the Guru
Rinpoche, of great but unspecified supernatural powers.
10. Na-nam-dor-je-dud-jom.— A pupil of the Guru
Rinpoche, who could project himself through the air.
11. Ba-mi-ye-she.— A pupil of the Guru Rinpoche.
This man, like Enoch, passed into Nirvana without
going through the pains of death.
12. Sok-po-lha-pal.— This man, the fourth of the
Guru’s great disciples, had the power of killing a tiger
by touching its neck with his hands.
13. Na-nang-ye-she.— This Lama was learned enough
to be able to fly through the air like a bird.
v o l . 11. 3