LAMAISM, Ifi'ma-lz'm (from Tibetan Mania, superior, lama). The name given to that form of Buddhism which prevails in Tibet and Mongolia. It is Buddhism (q.v.) corrupted by Sivaism (see Sm'.t) and by Shamanism (q.v.). The re ligion was not known in Tibet until the seventh century A.D.. when King Sron Tsan Campo (A.D. 63S-641) married two princesses, one from India and one from Western China, both of whom were devoted Buddhists. Through their influence this monarch be"aine converted to the faith of the Enlightened One. But Srofi Tsan appears to have been a Buddhist more in name than in fact ; it was left to a later king, Thi-Sron Detsan. to become the true promoter and ardent upholder of the faith. This ruler invited a Buddhist monk named Padma-Sambhava, or 'Lotus-Born.' to come from Northern India to Tibet, \Od•ll lie did in the year A.D. 7.17. and 'became the real founder. organizer, and patron saint of Lamaism as the religion of Tibet. Ile gave his attention at once to checking, soreery and devilish practiees. and. aided by the King. lie established the order of Lama priests. The character of this new Tibetan faith, as Waddell points out, was largely "a priestly mixture of Sivaite mysticism. magic, and Dulo-Tibetan demonolatry, overlaid by a thin var nish of Mahayana [Northern] Iluddhism. And to the present day T.amaism still retains this character." From the date of its founding the religion continued to develop and spread until about A.D. !mo, when it received a cheek and under went a brief period of persecution or reaction; lint it soon recovered, growing stronger than ever, and emit inning to advance until in the seven teenth century Church and State became united in a single priestly individual. it was Nag-wan zing, the fifth Grand Lama, who in A.D. 1640, by a stroke of statecraft. got himself confirmed as the Dalai-Lamu, or Lama vast as the Ocean. and the modern period of Lamaism may be said to have begun with him. To-day Lama km extends beyond the borders of Tibet to the Kahunk Ta tars on the banks of the Volga, through Siberia, Alanchuria, Mongolia, and scatteringly in China, so that it is estimated that its followers number no fewer than 10,000,0011.
With regard to doctrine and religious belief, the Buddhistic theory of the universe, with its Hindu heaven and hell and its general system of morality, was adopted, but the presence of abun dant extraneous matter or foreign accretions has already been mentioned. As ancient Bud dhism knows of no worship of God, but merely of an adoration of saints, the latter is also the main feature of Lamaism. The of all lhat is sacred is comprised by this religion under the name of dKon mehhog gSsum (pronounced kon-ch'og-sum), which consists of the 'three most precious jewels'—`the Buddha-jewel,' the 'doc trine-jewel,' and 'the priesthood-jewa—whieh represent a kind of with essential unity. The first person of this trinity is the
Buddha; hut he is not the creator, I n. the origin of the universe: as in Buddhism, he is merely the founder of the doctrine, the highest saint, though endowed with all the qualities of supreme wisdom, power. virtue, and beauty, which raise him beyond the pale of ordinary existence. The second jewel, or the doctrine, is the law or reli gion—that which as it were, the incarna tion of the Buddha, his actual existence after he had disappeared in Nirvana. The third jewel, or the priesthood, is the congregation of the saints, comprising the whole clergy, the in carnate as well as the no -incarnate representa tives of the various Buddhistic saints. The latter comprise the live Dhyani-Biuldhas. or the Ilthl dhas of Contemplation. and, besides all those myriads of Bodhisattvas, Pratyckailuddhas, or solitary saints who have attained perfection by themselves without the Supreme help, and pious men, who became canonized after their death. It is obvious that among their 1111111 her a portion only can enjoy practical worship; but the clergy, as the visible representative of these saints. claim and receive (Inc homage at all the religions ceremonies, Inferior in rank to these saints are the gods and spirits, the former chiefly taken from the pantheon of the Siva it es. The highest position among these is occupied by the four spirit-kings—Indra (q.v.j. the god of the firmament ; Varna. the god of death and the infernal regions: Vamantaka, or Siva, as revenger in his most formidable shape: and Vais.ravaha, or the god of wealth. Besides all these, there are a number of genii, tutelary demons, and spirits, which receive recognition or worship. The worship of these saints, gods. and spirits consists chiefly in the reciting of prayers and sacred texts, and in the intonation of hymns, accompanied with a kind of musie, which is ft chaos of deafening sounds of horns, trumpets. and drums. During this worship, which takes place three times a day, the clergy. summoned by the tolling of a little hell, are seated in two or more tows. according to their rank; and on special holidays, the shrines, temples, and altars arc decorated with symbolical figures, while offer ings of tea, tlour, milk, butter, and others of a similar nature, are made by the worshipers, ani mal sacrifices or entailing injury to life being forbidden, as in the Buddhistic faith. In the ritual which the priests conduct rosaries, prayer-wheels, and prayer-flags form also a part, and symbols. charms, and amulets are employed in acts of worship or superstitious rites, while charms, spells, incantation, divination, astrology, and necromancy are also resorted to.