the origin of the primitive Buddhist books which are common to the Northern and Southern Buddhists before 246 b.c.
Since Tibetans accepted Buddhism only in the seventh century a.d., how comes it that they are charged with inventing Amita-Buddha? Besides which, in Tibet, Amitâbha is called Odpag-med, which shows that it is not the name but the abstract idea that was first accepted of an unknown, invisible, and Impersonal Power—taken, moreover, from the Hindu “Âdi-Buddhi,” and not from the Chinese “Amitâbha.”[726] There is a great difference between the popular Odpag-med (Amitâbha) who sits enthroned in Devachan (Sukhâvatî), according to the Mani Kambum Scriptures—the oldest historical work in Tibet, and the philosophical abstraction called Amida Buddha, the name being passed now to the earthly Buddha, Gautama.
Section XLIX. Tsong-Kha-pa.—Lohans in China.
In an article, “Reincarnation in Tibet,” everything that could be said about Tsong-Kha-pa was published.[727] It was stated that this reformer was not, as is alleged by Pârsî scholars, an incarnation of one of the celestial Dhyânis, or the five heavenly Buddhas, said to have been created by Shâkyamuni after he had risen to Nirvâna, but that he was an incarnation of Amita Buddha Himself. The records preserved in the Gon-pa, the chief Lamasery of Tda-shi-Hlumpo, show that Sang-gyas left the regions of the “Western Paradise” to incarnate Himself in Tsong-Kha-pa, in consequence of the great degradation into which His secret doctrines had fallen.
Whenever made too public, the Good Law of Cheu [magical powers] fell invariably into sorcery or “black magic.” The Dwijas, the Hoshang [Chinese monks] and the Lamas could alone be entrusted safely with the formulæ.
Until the Tsong-Kha-pa period there had been no Sang-gyas (Buddha) incarnations in Tibet.
Tsong-Kha-pa gave the signs whereby the presence of one of the twenty-five Bodhisattvas[728] or of the Celestial Buddhas (Dhyân Chohans) in a human body might be recognized, and He strictly forbade necromancy. This led to a split amongst the Lamas, and the malcontents allied themselves with the aboriginal Bhons against the reformed Lamaism. Even now they form a powerful sect, practising the most disgusting rites all over Sikkhim, Bhutan, Nepaul, and even on the borderlands of Tibet. It was worse then. With the permission of the Tda-shu or Teshu Lama,[729] some hundred Lohans (Arhats), to avert strife, [pg 410] went to settle in China in the famous monastery near Tien-t'-ai, where they soon became subjects for legendary lore, and continue to be so to this day. They had been already preceded by other Lohans,
The world-famous disciples of Tathâgata, called the “sweet-voiced” on account of their ability to chant the Mantras with magical effect.[730]