Middletown transcript., 1921-10-10
dI01Axu .1zRNE M0r z1aZT
BY J. n. DAVIES.

placed on temporary ex-
hibit in the American
Museum of Natural His
~ tory, New York city, a
remarkable Buddhist
MNN II shrine from Thibet, with
j9%F7 Thibetan carpet, prayer
IL |n~ mat, temple guardians,
l -. 0:::) altar vessels, images,
sacred banners and holy
book recitjng the praises Of Buddha.
This is probably the finest assemhlage
of Thibetln religious objects ever
brought together.
1t represents part Of the collecting
done by Alexander Scott, a British
artist whose interest in Indian and
Ihibetan archaeology dates back forty
years. For twenty-six years he made
his home in Darjeeling, India, on the
highway Of Thibet. Before Sir Francis
YounghusbAnd's expedition into Thibet,
Mr.. Scott had coaxed and won his way
into the land of mystery. Gifted as al
artist and sympathetic as q scholar,
his interest In Thibetan Buddhism, or
Lamaism, was twofold, and resulted in
personal friendships with the Lamas,
OF priests. -
One Of them, Dousand Up, was thor
oughly grounded in Thibetap religious
customs and traditions. He freely i'm
parted to Mr.. Scott detailed informa-
ton and explanations Of the many Oh
jects secured by him. This Lama took
the highly enlightened attitude of be-
ing glad to explain his religion to tho
foreigners, In order, as he said, that
they might see and understand its beau.
ties and philosophical significance. As
Dousand Up had fine mind and re-
markable command Of English, ex-
pressing himself after the manner Of a
cultivated Englishman, his assistance
has been invaluable to Mr.. Scott.
So completely was Mr.. Scott accept
ed by one Of his Thibetan Lama
friends that on one occasion, when he
remarked that an altar, which was
greatly overcrowded, could be made
much more beautiful, he was actually
invited to rearrange it according to his
own ideas. And when he had per-
formed his task to his own satisfaction,
not only did the Lamas delight in the
changes he had wrought, but they made
him gifts in token Of their apprecia-
tion.
Mr.. Scott was commissioned by the
University Museum of Philadelphia to
collect antiquities, especially sculpture
of the Indo-Bactrian and Gupta eras.
He obtained splendid series of
bronzes and other material for that
institution, which is to be used as q
basis for the, building up Of collec-
ton illustrating the culture Of Thibet
and India.
The central figure is that Of Padma
(teacher) Sambhaya, "the Lotus.
born,"-the great "guru' or saint who
800 years ago entered Thibet, at the
invitation Of the Thibetan king, and
became the first teacher of Buddhism
in Thibet. Sambhava was a Hindu
from Udyana and on his teachings were
grated the essentials Of the silva wor-
ship Of the Hindus. 1t is to his influ-
ence that the strongly Hindu charac-
ter Of the rites and mythology Of pre-.
sent-day Buddhism in Thibet is to be
traced.
The other typical character of Lama
ism Is its admixture Of demonology, q
relic Of Thibetan aboriginal "shaman-
ISM" the religion Of ghosts and local
demons. From the primitive shaman.
istic element arises the use of carved
human bones in the making Of religious
regalia and other objects. The bones
are the relics Of very holy Lamas
long dead, who are supposed to be
honored in the practice.
In all oriental religions, symbolism
predominates and the shrine of Padma
Sambhava, at the American Museum