RELIGION IN TIBET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9997, 18 March 1910, Page 4

RELIGION IN TIBET.

The profound religious zeal which he discovered during his remarkable wanderings in Tibet, inspired Dr Sven Hedin with the deepest admiration and respect. In his fascinating book, "TraDS-Himalaav," he gives us glimpses of the observances by means of which the Tibetans mortify the flesh and chasten the spirit, and which drew from him the admonition: "We, who in our superior wisdom, smile at these exhibitions of fanaticism, ought to compare our own faith and conviction with theirs." One of the most noteworthy of their peculiar rites is the circuit of the sacred mountain, Kang-rinpoche, at Kailas, which attracts pilgrims from all parts of Tibet. Two young lamas were seen engaged on a prostration pilgrimage round the mountain. They were from Kham, and had been a year on the journey to Kailas. They were poor and ragged, and had lived on the alms of the faithful. Their procedure was to kneel upon the ground, and then lie flat, with outstretched arms. With a piece of bone a mark was scratched in the soil with the right hand, showing the line which must be touched with the toes at the next prostration. And thus they went round the whole mountain—over rocks and down precipitous passes, demanding the utmost physical endurance and strength. One of the young monks had already accomplished a round. When he had finished, in about twelve days' time, he was to betake himself to a monastery on the Tsangpo, there to be immured for the rest of his life. And he was only twenty years old. The immured monk is confined within a tiny cell, whose doorway is sealed up. There is a tiny tunnel through which food is pushed. Daylight filters feebly through this and the chimney. The, lama who is thus walled up holds no converse wifcn those outside. He spends the rest of his days in meditation. A bowl of tsamba is thrust every day into the opening, and some tea and a piece of butter every sixth day. The anchorite takes in I his provisions at night, and puts back the bowl for the next meal. When the bowl is i'jund untouched, those outside know that the immured man is unwell. If six days pass and the food is n<>i. taken, it is concluded that he is dead, and the entrance is broken open. Cases of lamas remaining thus in solitude for forty, fifty and sixty years, before being released by the hand of 'death, are cited. The recluse takes a vow to leave his cell'a corpse. The longer he lives the greater is the credit he will receive hereafter; he crouches day and night in a corner, repeating prayers or reading the holy books he has with him by the aid of a small butter lamp. Still, he may come back to the world if he choose; but no case of this being done is recorded. ('