LAMAISM, the name usually given in the Occident to the form of Buddhism which is the prevailing religion in Tibet and in parts of central Asia. The word is derived from the Tibetan Lama, "Superior One," a term properly applied to the higher clergy, though often given by courtesy to all fully or dained monks. Buddhism was first introduced into Tibet in the 7th century A.D., during the reign of King Srong-tsan Gam-po, who mar ried two Buddhist princesses, the one from Nepal and the other from China; but the re ligion made little headway until King Thi-srong De-tsan about 750 A.D. caused it to be preached throughout his dominions by an Indian teacher named Padmasambhava. This remarkable man, who is famous in Tibet for his supposed magical powers, succeeded in converting most of the people from their former religion, an animistic belief known as "Bon," but only by incorporating much of its demonolatry into the already corrupt form of Buddhism that he taught. At this time the order of monks, or Lamas, was established, monasteries were built, and the translation of the sacred books from Sanskrit into Tibetan was actively carried on. After an ineffectual persecution by King Lang Darma in the 9th century, which led to the ruin of the reigning dynasty, Buddhism soon re gained its sway and the authority of the mo nastic order increased. In the 11th century Atisha, a monk from India, tried to reform some of the abuses then prevalent arid to spread a purer theology, an effort which gave rise to the sectarian divisions of Lamaism. The Sa-kya sect was especially favored by Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor of China in the 13th century, who recognized its Grand Lama's spiritual and temporal supremacy over Tibet. Another reformer arose in the person of Tsong-kha-pa (1355-1417), who revived the strict monastic discipline and founded the Ge lug-pa or "Virtuous Method' sect, often known as the "Yellow-hat" sect, from the color of its headdress, that of the other sects being red. Its third Grand Lama converted the inhabitants of Mongolia, and received from one of their chieftains the title of Dalai or "all-embracing") Lama, by which his successors have generally been known to Europeans. The fifth Grand Lama of the Ge-lug-pa, named Ngag-wang Lo-zang Gya-ts'o, gained the tem poral power over Tibet with Mongol aid about 1640, and began the building of the great palace monastery of Potala near Lhasa, the capital.
In the following century the Chinese govern ment asserted its suzerainty over Tibet, and it has since then kept the Dalai Lamas subject to its political control, without, however, dimin ishing their ecclesiastical prestige in Tibet and Mongolia. At the present day Lamaists are also found in Manchuria, among the Buriat tribes in Siberia, the Kirghiz, and the Kalrpuks on the Volga. In the south the inhabitants of the Himalayan districts of Ladakh and Bhutan and, in part, of Sikkim and Nepal belong to one or another of the Lamaist sects. The total number of the adherents of the religion is per haps 10,000,000.
The Buddhism which Padmasam bhava brought to Tibet was that of the Matta school (see MAHAYANA), to which the mystical rites and theories of the Tantra (q.v.) had already been added. The doctrinal peculiar ities of Lamaism are to be found mainly in its luxuriant mythology and demonology, derived partly from Hindu and partly from Tibetan sources. Beside and indeed outranking the his toric Gautama or Sakyamuni are the figures of the divine "meditative" Buddhas (usually five) with their active celestial emanations, called Bodhisattvas, and their appearances on earth as human Buddhas in the present world cycle, Gautama himself being the most recent of these. A "primordial Buddha," or first cause, is also recognized. Especial reverence is accorded to the Bodhisattva Avalolciteavara, "the all-seeing, merciful Lord," who is the offspring of AmitAbha Buddha and the heavenly counter part of Gautama, to Manjuiri, the god of wisdom, and to the fierce Vairapani. There are corresponding female Bodhisattvas or god desses, of whom Tara in her various forms is most worshipped. The foregoing deities, to gether with others, mostly of fiendish aspect, serve as "tutelaries," and both the various sects and each individual Lama have their respective patrons. Another highly revered class of demons is that of the "Defenders of the Faith,° and there are many inferior spirits, friendly or malignant. Famous religious teachers, both In dian and Tibetan, have been canonized and are worshipped as incarnations of the deities.