The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism

ing This continues from the previous page: "...persuaded the officiating monks" to interpret... as to interpret in my favor a prophetic account which exists in their scriptures regarding a Buddhist incarnation in the West. They convinced themselves that I was a manifestation original: reflex of the Western Buddha, Amitābha, and thus they overcame their moral hesitations original: conscientious scruples and shared information freely. With the knowledge gained this way, I visited other temples and monasteries critically, expanding my information and hiring a small staff of Lamas to copy manuscripts and search for texts related to my research. Having these special opportunities to penetrate the secrecy of Tibetan ritual, and obtaining most of the necessary objects and explanatory material directly from Lhasa and Tashilhunpo, I have uncovered much entirely new information on Lamaist theory and practice.

This work, while containing much original research, also consolidates most of the information on Lamaism previously scattered across various publications. Keeping in mind the increasing number of general readers interested in ancient ethics, customs, and myths, and in the tireless effort of the human heart in its insatiable craving for absolute truth—as well as the more serious students of Lamaism among orientalists scholars of Near Eastern and East Asian languages and cultures, travelers, missionaries, and others—I have attempted to provide a clear insight into the Underlined in ink: structure, prominent features, and cults of this system. I have moved the more technical details and references required by specialists to smaller type and footnotes.

The special characteristics of the book are its detailed accounts of the external facts and Underlined in ink: strange original: curious symbolism of Buddhism, and its analysis of the internal movements leading to Lamaism and its sects and cults. It provides material gathered from ancient original: hoary Tibetan tradition and explained to me by Lamas to clarify many obscure points in early Indian Buddhism and its later symbolism. Thus