The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism

page xiii

PREFACE.

H.A. Jäschke’s Heinrich August Jäschke (1817–1883) was a Moravian missionary and linguist whose 1881 Tibetan-English dictionary remains a landmark in the field. great dictionary is a mine of information on technical and doctrinal definitions. The works of Giorgi, Vasiliev, Schiefner, Foucaux, Rockhill, Eitel, and Pander have also proved most helpful. The Narrative of Travels in Tibet by Babu Sarat Chandra Das Sarat Chandra Das (1849–1917) was an Indian scholar and explorer who worked for the British Raj; he famously traveled to Lhasa in disguise to gather intelligence and geographical data., and his translations from the local literature, have provided some useful details. The Indian Survey reports and Clements Markham’s Tibet have been of service; and the systematic scholarly works of Professors Rhys Davids, Oldenberg, and Beal have provided several useful insights.

The vastness of this many-sided subject—which is far beyond the scope of individual experience—the underdeveloped state of our knowledge on many points, the peculiar difficulties that accompany the research, and the conditions under which the greater part of the book was written (in the limited leisure time of a busy official life), may, I trust, excuse the frequent roughness of the writing as well as any errors that may be present. I may have failed to capture the meaning occasionally, though I have spared no effort to ensure accuracy. But if my book, despite its shortcomings, proves to be of real use to those seeking information on the Buddhism of Tibet, as well as on the later Indian developments of Buddhism, and to future workers in these fields, I shall feel amply rewarded for all my labors.

London,
October 31, 1894.