Adventure, sport and travel on the Tibetan steppes . e Bon, andwhere it reahy has established itself in the Mantze States,it has done so by yielding substantially to the wishes of thepeople, and allo\ving them to retain much of their old beliefand customs ; though in many of the States Buddhism hasreally succeeded Bonism, yet it is a Buddhism different fromthat of most parts of Tibet. Colonel Waddell states in hisinvaluable book, Lhasa and its Mysteries (page 381),that the Black Cap is not unknown, even at Lhasa. Hewrites: They have no literature, and utter their sayingsorally. The leading ora
Adventure, sport and travel on the Tibetan steppes . e Bon, andwhere it reahy has established itself in the Mantze States,it has done so by yielding substantially to the wishes of thepeople, and allo\ving them to retain much of their old beliefand customs ; though in many of the States Buddhism hasreally succeeded Bonism, yet it is a Buddhism different fromthat of most parts of Tibet. Colonel Waddell states in hisinvaluable book, Lhasa and its Mysteries (page 381),that the Black Cap is not unknown, even at Lhasa. Hewrites: They have no literature, and utter their sayingsorally. The leading oracles in Lhasa are the Nachung andthe Karmashar. The chief oracle is attached to the principal Statemonastery, Dapung. For, notwithstanding its un-Buddhistcharacter, this gross form of heathen sorcery was so deeplyrooted in the minds of the people that that crafty ruler, thefirst Dalai Lama, brought it into the order of the Lamas. Indoing this he was doubtless actuated, as were the Romangovernors, by the obvious political advantages of having so 250. Mantze Religion and Customs. powerful an instrument for the Government service entirelyunder the control of the priests. Those who are masters in this art bear the title of Chiefof the Wizards, and not only do they perform at statedfestive ceremonies, when they dance frantically to quickmusic in the midst of clouds of incense, burning from largeswinging censers, but they also take it upon themselves tofrighten the people into paying sums of money to the temples,and the up-keep of the Lamas, who live on the fat of the land,and make the people beheve that they are the only mediumthrough which the gods can be approached. Demon possession also forms part of the programme. On oneoccasion I witnessed a most impressive ceremony while I waswaiting for dinner in a village, and everything was perfectly we saw a demon-possessed priest dressed in scarletrobes with a black, conical-shaped hat on his head, and in hishand a sword dy
Size: 1086px × 2301px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyorkscribner
