More than that cannot, I think, be found in the earliest
form of Buddhism. There were, however, few even
among the earliest Buddhists who were strong enough
to drink this pure milk of the Word, and we find that
even before Asanga had fused the two creeds, Buddhism
was peopled with many semi-deities.
After the ‘ Buddhas ’ and the Bodisats— a large class,
consisting of those who have, so to speak, qualified themselves
to be Buddhas, but whose self-denial has not yet
and may never be called upon —there is a class of
divinity which is very strikingly prominent in Tibet.
These are the tutelary or guardian deities, chiefly of
the “ Towo “ or “ terriblte ” aspect. These were the
original gods of the country, and after Buddha, who is always
conceived as having made a personal mission tour
through the land, had converted these hideous human
monsters to his own austerer faith, he permitted them
to retain their aspect and even their powers of doing
harm, in order, as he said, that they might defend the
faith and the chosen people from outside attack. This
retention has had a natural result. There is no doubt
that the inclusion of these “ terrible ” guardians in
the Lamaic Pantheon has been the chief cause of the
people remaining at heart devil-worshippers. We can'
imagine that at first the apostles of Buddhism found
their work considerably smoothed for them by accepting
the devil-gods of the aboriginal inhabitants. In
this they after all only carried out Asanga’s own
policy in India, but the result, which they might
have foreseen, has been that, except for the external
veneer of Buddhism, devil-worship has absorbed its
conqueror.
Pictures of some of these terrible deities will be found
among the deities surrounding the central Buddha on
plate V. These are the gods of the common people of
Tibet. The mild-eyed Buddha is to them only a vague
means of escape from the tyranny of these loathsome and
misshapen monsters, aureoled with the fire of hell, who
with dripping fangs and beastly deformities are far more
present and practical than the master. They are placed,
naturally enough, at the gates and in the forecourts of
temples, either in actual carved shape, or, as is far more
common, painted upon the walls. Upon these the
eye of the passer-by rests, and it is probable that he
rarely asks for any higher sanction for his religious
duties than that which they afford. They terrify him
into obedience to his lama, and that is all that the
lama requires. For an adequate conception of the
real effect of Lamaism upon the Tibetans, it is hardly
necessary to go higher up in the scale than these tutelary
deities.
Vaguely known to the common Tibetans by their
coloured figures upon wayside rocks are such semideities
as Dolma, in her three hues of green, red and
white, and in the same class may perhaps be placed the
eight ladies in whom Col. Waddell recognises aboriginal
deities adopted en bloc by the incoming Buddhists.
They are of comely complexion, and certainly do not
look as if butter would melt in their mouths: This,
however, is not the case if the fearsome tales which were
told to me by one of our interpreter lamas have any
foundation in fact. They are probably merely the
spouses of the male tutelary deities, and derive any importance
they may possess from the reflection of their
consorts’ terrors. A very common figure in wall paintings
is the god of wealth. He is represented with a red