The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism

and Church original: und Kirche,¹ which was published thirty-five years ago and is also a compilation that is now out of print. Since these two works were published, much new information has been gained, although it is scattered across relatively inaccessible Russian, German, French, and Asian journals. This new data, combined with current opportunities for a closer study of Tibet and its customs, makes a more comprehensive and systematic work possible today.

I should mention the unique opportunities I have had to undertake this task. I have personally studied "Southern Buddhism" in Burma and Ceylon, as well as "Northern Buddhism" in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Japan. I have explored the remains of Indian Buddhism in "the Buddhist Holy Land" and studied the ethnology the study of the characteristics of various peoples and the differences and relationships between them of Tibet and its border tribes in Sikkim, Assam, and Upper Burma. Furthermore, as one of the few Europeans to have entered the territory of the Grand Lama the Dalai Lama, I have spent several years studying the practical realities of Lamaism as explained by its priests. I did this at locations much closer to Lhasa than any previously used for such research, allowing me to feel the "pulse" of the sacred city through large communities of its people—many of whom had left Lhasa only ten or twelve days earlier.

When I began my inquiry, I found it necessary to learn the language, which is exceptionally difficult and known to very few Europeans. Later, realizing the strict secrecy the Lamas maintained regarding their seemingly chaotic rites and symbolism, I felt compelled to purchase a Lamaist temple and all its equipment. I then persuaded the officiating priests to explain the symbolism and rituals to me in full detail as they performed them. Seeing how interested I was, the Lamas were so helpful...

¹ Berlin, 1859.