the relative positions of pope and cardinal, abbot and
parish priest, all have their equivalent in Lamaism, and
the use of the cross gammadion as the badge of the
faith, cannot but strike as curious the most careless
observer. The practice of blessing small articles distributed
among pious pilgrims is, of course, common to
all religions in the world. Indulgences also are freely
used, though it must be admitted that in Lamaism
these approximate more nearly to the erroneous view
of their intention taken by Protestant communities
than to their real function in the Roman Church.
The Dalai Lama on one occasion somewhat overstepped
prudence in this matter. To induce the men of Kams
to come down and fight us, he offered them plenary
indulgences which should not only absolve them from
sins past, but safeguard them against the penalties for
sins to come for the next six months. The men of
Kams, furnished with this spiritual armour, did not fail
to make use of it, and on their return from the Karo
la, ran riot among the Grand Lama’s own temples,
looting and sacking everywhere they went.
The spiritual brigandage of the lamas finds its
counterpart in many other creeds, for the purse of superstition
lies at the mercy of the first comer \ but it would
be unjust not to record in the strongest terms the
great radical difference that exists between Lamaism at
its best and Christianity at its worst. There has never
been absent from the lowest profession, of our faith a
full recognition of the half-divine character of self-
sacrifice for another. Of this Tibetans know nothing.
The exact performance of their duties, the daily practice
of conventional offices and continual obedience to their
Lamaic superiors is for them a means of escape from personal
damnation in a form which is more terrible perhaps
than any monk-conjured Inferno. For others they do
not profess to have even a passing thought.
The Eleven-headed Shenrezig.
Now this is a distinction which goes to the very root
of the matter. The fact is rarely stated in so many
words, but it is the truth that Christianity is daily judged
by one standard and by one standard only— its altruism,
VOL. II. 4