The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-01-08
NO. 10.


/ Description Of % LaAmasserY ana the Life ny
/ It's Inmates.
The young apprentices or novices,
passing through their novitiate, are
generally called Peng Giong, and
sometimes La Tchru (small Lamas).
These are generally recruited as fol-
/ ows: Should there be a son too many
N family, as the third would prove
IN poor one, or the fourth in a richer
one, he is generally packed off to the
Lamassery of the district. Not only
to disembarrass the family of surplus
son is this done, but also to gain the
favor of the Lamassery, as although
these have no civil power by right, still
they are strong enough to usurp and
exert great deal of power. Again, il
boy has shown particular sharpness
or boldness-in fact, that he is worth
having Lama or some lower ''ec-
clesiastic" walks into the parents
house unasked, as is quite permitted 70
any Thibetan to do in any Thibetan
house, and i'm the course of conversa-
tion this "ecclesiastic'' casually tells
the fortune" of the family. For the
son he wants he predicts all sorts of
ills and sickness, which can only bee
This has the desired effect, and he is
handed over to save him from the un-
happy alternative. This result has
often been led up TO by preparatory
predictions given from time to time
concerning the son. Thanks to the
above systematic fraud, there is now
about one-twelfth of the total popula-
tion of Thibet in Lamasseries. Deduct
for the women and children, and it will
be evident wha1 a ruinous proportion
Of the male adult population is wasted
in Lamasseries, perfectly unproductive
and living in great measure on the
toll of the remainderi
AS regards the interior ''monastic"
life and regulations, the members of
Lamassery (miscalled "Lamas') } roam
whittier they will, and as q rule with
no proper or moral purpose. They
ars practically subject to no discipline
whatever, nor can there be said to bc
any real rules followed, except perhaps
at three times of the year. These
periods are the fifth and ninth moon,
during each of which three days must
be spent in the Lamassery, ostensibly
in prayer, though the latter it not do
rigueur; the other period is at the new
year, when when they must pass fifteen
days in the Lamassery, also ostensibly
in prayer. The members have no COM
munism, some being very pOor-these
often acting as the servants of richer
members; others being rich, and all
living exactly as suits each individuals
tastes and means. A few of the elders
remain pretty constantly in the Lamas.
series, when, having outgrown the
pleasures and passions of youth, their
vices have left them, and they have in
consequence elected to abandon their
vicious courses. The great majority,
however, rove about at will, with nc
moral intent, as we have said
AS far as the so-called Lamas them.
selves are concerned, their religion is
farce they do not believe, save i'm Sc
far as it brings them in the good things
of this world. For that purpose they
thoroughly appreciate its value. The
people, too, already realize and make
common talk OF the immortality Of the
"Lamas' as q body, and only except
from slander few, chiefly the very old
Giving Buddhas." Nearly all large
Lamasseries have one or more of these
'living Buddhas. Nineteenth Cen
turn