The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism

A full index has been provided, along with a chronological table and a bibliography.

I must acknowledge the special help afforded to me by the learned Tibetan Lama, Padma Chhö Phél; by that venerable scholar the Mongolian Lama, She-rab Gya-ts'ô; by the Nyingma Ñīn-ma Lama, Ur-gyän Gya-ts'ô, head of the Yang-gang monastery of Sikkim Sikhim and a noted explorer of Tibet; by Tun-yig Wang-dan and Mr. Dor-je Ts'e-ring; by S'ad-sgra S'ab-pe, one of the Tibetan governors of Lhasa, who supplied useful information and a few manuscripts; and by Mr. A.W. Paul, C.I.E., while I was pursuing my researches in Sikkim.

I am also deeply indebted to the kindness and courtesy of Professor C. Bendall for much special assistance and advice, and more generally to my friend Dr. Islay Muirhead.

Regarding previous writers to whose books I am especially obligated, foremost must be mentioned Csoma Körösi, the enthusiastic Hungarian scholar and pioneer of Tibetan studies, who first made the Lamaist stores of information accessible to Europeans.¹ However, to Brian Houghton Hodgson—the father of modern critical study of Buddhist doctrine—belongs the credit of discovering² the Indian nature of the bulk of Lamaist literature, and of procuring the material for the detailed analyses by Csoma and Burnouf. My indebtedness to Köppen and Schlagintweit has already been mentioned.

¹ Alexander Csoma of Körös, in the Transylvanian region of Hungary, like most subsequent writers on Lamaism, studied that system in Ladakh Ladāk. After publishing his Dictionary, Grammar, and Analysis, he traveled to Darjeeling Darjiling in the hope of penetrating Tibet from there. However, he died in Darjeeling on April 11, 1842, a few days after his arrival. His tomb there now bears a suitable monument, erected by the Government of India. For details of his life and labors, see his biography by Dr. Duka.

² Asiatic Researches, xvi., 1828.