Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-19
BUDDHISM SYMBOL
REVEALED AS CROSS.
Belgian Missionary Makes
Discovery in LamaSery,
in Eastern Mongolia.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The cross, generally associated
throughout the world with Christian
worship, was one of the magic tails
man of ancient Buddhism.
This is revealed in a collection of
wood-cut prints just received at the
headquarters of the Catholic Anthropo-
logical Conference here. which were Sc
cured by a Belgian missionary in a
lamasary in Eastern Mongolia. They
are believed to be the only specimens
of the kind yet received in the outside
world.
The missionary. Rev. r. Verbois, is
one of the few white men to have been
taken into the good graces of the "yel-
low lamaS.' For 16 years, he wrote
Rev. DR.. John NJ. Cooper. secretary of
the conference, the members of this
ancient monastic establishment were
his nearest neighbors. At first they
were extremely hostile, but eventually
these monks practically accepted the
Christian priest as one of their own
number. allowed him to wander about
the building as he pleased and even to
remove objects to his own home for
study.
Printing Has Ceased.
This monastery in ancient times, he
reports, evidently was a very progress
sive establishment. 1t now has greatly
deteriorated, parts are abandoned alto
gether and the present monks have
little curiosity concerning the culture of
their predecessors. Once there was
considerable printing shop attached to
the monastery, which was kept busy
turning out sacred pictures of the
Buddhist saints and gods and magic
formulas used by the laity to ward of
evil. Printing long since has ceased.
Father Verbois found some of the en-
graved wooden blocks used by the an
Gent printers in an abandoned corner
of the monastery and was given permis-
sion to take prints from them. When
these were submitted to the monks for
Interpretation. they were able to iden-
thy most of the pictures and could tell
the purpose of the taliSmans and for
mulaS, but knew nothing of their origin.
They were simply part of a tradition
the meaning of which had been lost.
Symbols to Drive Out Demons.
One collection of magic figures con-
tanned the emblem Of the cross, to-
gether with figures of thunderboltS.
daggers, triangles, deaths heads and
the ever present and mysterious swas
tika, perhaps the most ancient and
widespread of all human written SYM
bols. These symbols, the monks eX-
planned, were used to drive out demons
from the sick. They still hold that most
sickness is due to demonic possession.
There were also magic circles filled with
formulate and the figures of lotus pet
ais, which were carried on the person
or placed near the house door to pre-
vent demons from entering. Still others
were burned in offerings to the chief
of the demons. who was supposed to
forbid his subalterns from injuring the
person who thus honored him.
Father VerboiS could obtain no salts
faction from the monks on the origin
of the cross" figure. 1t was a Greek
cross, all four branches being of equal
length. The probability is, it was ex-
planned, that this symbol had no rela-
tionship 70 the Christian cross, but was
merely simplification of the swastika,
generally believed to be a sun symbol,
which went practically around the
world in the early days of man. This
sign, found in both the Old and New
Worlds, had the form of Greek cross,
buS to each arm was attached line
extending in a right angle to it. so that
there was a rotary effect about CEN
ter. This would have been inherited b.
the ancient lamas from very remCt
antiquity, together with much more &
the old Indo-European magic which was
taken over in Buddhism. 1t may have
been drawn occasionally in a modified
form, with the right angle lines dropped
off the arms. On the other hand, 1t
may have developed as an independent
symbol, or even have been obtained
from some ancient contact between the
Christian and Buddhist worlds, all rec
ord of which has been lost. Taken
without the traditions of Christianity
which accompanied it, the cross sign
might easily have been adopted as
powerful magic"
Evidence of Christianity.
The vague similarity between certain
practices Of Buddhism and Christianity,
1t was pointed out. has led To some
speculation on a very early Christian
influence in the development OF the
great Oriental creed 1t even has been
claimed that some one Of the apostles
may have gone to India and established
A nucleus of Christianity which. weak
in its extreme isolation, was absorbed
into Buddhism. But 1t was pointed
out, this rests on such slim shredS OF
evidence that the independent origin
of the symbols is more acceptable.
Father Verbois found that in the an
cient monastery the craft of wood en-
craving had reached high state. The
prints he obtained of gods, demons and
saints show the fine detail used by the
artists in portraying both the beautiful
and terrible. The pictures range from
one of the frightful three-eyed god,
VairaDani with serpentS in his hair, to