After Leaving Shergol The Signs Of Buddhism Were Universal And
Imposing, And The Same May Be Said Of The Whole Of The Inhabited Part
Of Lesser Tibet.
Colossal figures of Shakya Thubba (Buddha) are
carved on faces of rock, or in wood, stone, or gilded copper sit on
lotus thrones in endless calm near villages of votaries.
Chod-tens
from twenty to a hundred feet in height, dedicated to 'holy' men, are
scattered over elevated ground, or in imposing avenues line the
approaches to hamlets and gonpos. There are also countless manis,
dykes of stone from six to sixteen feet in width and from twenty feet
to a fourth of a mile in length, roofed with flattish stones,
inscribed by the lamas (monks) with the phrase Aum, &c., and
purchased and deposited by those who wish to obtain any special
benefit from the gods, such as a safe journey. Then there are
prayer-mills, sometimes 150 in a row, which revolve easily by being
brushed by the hand of the passer-by, larger prayer-cylinders which
are turned by pulling ropes, and others larger still by water-power.
The finest of the latter was in a temple overarching a perennial
torrent, and was said to contain 20,000 repetitions of the mystic
phrase, the fee to the worshipper for each revolution of the cylinder
being from 1d. to 1s. 4d., according to his means or urgency.
The glory and pride of Ladak and Nubra are the gonpos, of which the
illustrations give a slight idea. Their picturesqueness is
absolutely enchanting. They are vast irregular piles of fantastic
buildings, almost invariably crowning lofty isolated rocks or
mountain spurs, reached by steep, rude rock staircases, chod-tens
below and battlemented towers above, with temples, domes, bridges
over chasms, spires, and scaffolded projections gleaming with gold,
looking, as at Lamayuru, the outgrowth of the rock itself. The outer
walls are usually whitewashed, and red, yellow, and brown wooden
buildings, broad bands of red and blue on the whitewash, tridents,
prayer-mills, yaks' tails, and flags on poles give colour and
movement, while the jangle of cymbals, the ringing of bells, the
incessant beating of big drums and gongs, and the braying at
intervals of six-foot silver horns, attest the ritualistic activities
of the communities within. The gonpos contain from two up to three
hundred lamas. These are not cloistered, and their duties take them
freely among the people, with whom they are closely linked, a younger
son in every family being a monk. Every act in trade, agriculture,
and social life needs the sanction of sacerdotalism, whatever exists
of wealth is in the gonpos, which also have a monopoly of learning,
and 11,000 monks, linked with the people, yet ruling all affairs of
life and death and beyond death, are connected closely by education,
tradition, and authority with Lhassa.
Passing along faces of precipices and over waterless plateaux of
blazing red gravel - 'waste places,' truly - the journey was cheered by
the meeting of red and yellow lamas in companies, each lama twirling
his prayer-cylinder, abbots, and skushoks (the latter believed to be
incarnations of Buddha) with many retainers, or gay groups of
priestly students, intoning in harsh and high-pitched monotones, Aum
mani padne hun.
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