The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-10-29
Death of a Great POntiff.

The Delai-Iama of Thibet died re-
Gently. We presume scarcely person
who reads these lines has any very intel
ligent idea who the Delai-Lama was, or
cares who he was, and yet he was the
spiritual and infallible head Of the La
mists, offshoots of the Buddhists who
number over 400, 900, 900 souls. There
are Lamas and there are Delai-Lamas,
and the Delai-Lamas are recognized as
incarnations of God, and worshipped as
the Deity is worshiped. Kublai-Khan,
the great conquerer of China, first es-
tablished the Lama in power and gave
him both temporal and spiritual sway,
and throne where he could sit as high
as the Emperor in temporal matters, and
good deal higher in spiritual. His
most noteworthy successor was Sonkapa,
who was Immediately conceived by his
mothers falling upon Buddhistic in
scription. BY his immaculate birth he
was endowed with many remarkable
characteristics. He had white beard,
and could talk before he was day old,
and from his hair grew tree producing
leaves which were covered with sacred
inscriptions. He died in the fifteenth
century, and although be ascended into
Heaven, his body is still preserved,
floating in the air, in monastery which
he founded. The first of the Delai-
Lamas, however, was born i'll 1899, and
the one who has just gone to meet Bud
dha was the tenth of the line. Their
lives have not always been peaceful, tor
three of these Pontiffs have suffered
death by violence at the hands of the En-
perors who were jealous of their power
over the Mongolians. Their position,
however, is an enviable one. They have
no end of palaces and temples richly
adorned with gold and silver ornaments.
They have endless ceremonies, pageants,
and music. They run prayer-wheels
which are very profitable, and make q
handsome thing out of helping the re-
lease of dying rich mems souls, which
they accomplish by the neat little surgi-
cal operation of teating the skin from the
skull and boring a hole in it. Religious
services are held for the comfort of de-
parted souls, but their effectiveness de
pends greatly upon the manner in which
the friends of the relatives come down.
The bodies of ordinary common people
are made into meat balls and fed to the
Delai- -Lamas' sacred dogs. They derive
immense tribute from mines, lands, and
focks, and manage also to exc out liv-
ing by the sale of holy textures, fumi-
cations, relics, and idols. When en-
gagged in official business, the Delai-
Lama is an object of envy to all persons
who love their ease, for on such occa-
sions he sits cross-legged. like a statue,
on five elegant cushions, arrayed in his
best attire. He is moi obliged to say
anything or notice anybody. He simply
waves his hands, which is equivalent to
blessing, and sometimes he distributes
little balls of paste or clay. As every
thing which emanates from him is con-
sidered to be omnipotent, there is great
demand for these dirt-balls, and the pro-
fits are correspondingly large. In addi-
ton to this, annual tribute is carried
every year to him by caravans. In point
of fact, there is very little to do and most
excellent pay in the position, the most
onerous duties being to sit cross legged,
look wise, and say nothing. Chicago
Tribune