THE SERA MONASTERY.
Some of the Abbots we met were cheery, genial souls, much as we picture to ourselves the jolly friars of olden days in England; but as spiritual leaders of a religious people, I did not find the higher Lamas impressed me any more favourably than the ordinary monks.
These impressions, which in themselves would not have much value, as my period for observation was so very limited, are borne out by the courageous Japanese traveller Kawaguchi, himself a Buddhist, and once Rector of a monastery in Japan, who lived in the Sera Monastery, and in his most valuable work, “Three Years in Tibet,” written since we were in Tibet, has given to the English public the results of his study.
For a few Lamas he had a sincere attachment. Like myself, he greatly revered the old Ti Rimpoche, who taught him Buddhism in its correct form, and “truly impressed him as a living Buddha.” He struck Kawaguchi as not only having a juster ideal of the real spirit of Buddhism than the other Lamas, but as also having greater ability, which may have been due to what I had not myself known—his father being a Chinaman. For an ex-Minister of Finance, a Lama, Kawaguchi also had great admiration, and certainly from him received unstinted kindness, even when he risked his life in showing Kawaguchi attention. The Head-Priest of Wartang he also thought very clever, and from him he received valuable information on Buddhism.
These, however, were exceptional men, and most of the Lamas were very disappointing to the Japanese. Even the good ex-Financial Minister had the defect of living with a nun. A Lama travelling companion was a “pedantic scholar” who knew nothing of the essential principles of Buddhism, and had only a vague notion of the doctrines. The Abbot of Sakya had a son, though Lamas are not allowed to marry, and Kawaguchi was “loth to remain with so dissipated a priest.” The tutor of the Tashi Lama was disappointing in his answers about “grammar.”
The doctors of the highest degrees, he said, were unquestionably theologians of great erudition, and at home in the complete cycle of Buddhist works. They had, indeed, he considered, a better knowledge of Buddhist theology than the Japanese divines. But such were few and far between, and he seems to have agreed with the observation of the Ti Rimpoche that it would “be better to have even two or three precious diamonds than a heap of stones.” The Tibetan priesthood, he thought, contained plenty of rubbish, with very few diamonds.
To account for this, he says that the main purpose of Tibetans in entering the priesthood is “only to procure the largest amount of fortune, as well as the highest possible fame.” To seek religious truth and to work for the deliverance of men was not at all what, according to this Japanese, they wished to do. They simply desired, he says, to escape from the painful struggle of life, and “enjoy lazy and comfortable days on earth as well as in heaven.” There is nothing deep that he could see in their religious life and study; service went in their eyes for nothing.
Medicine, logic, engineering, and religious philosophy were introduced into Tibet centuries ago from India; but nowadays, says Kawaguchi, there are almost no Tibetans who are proficient in even one of these subjects.
Of the morality of the Lamas Kawaguchi gives no very pleasant account. Most of these celibate priest-nobles kept women somewhere, and the lower warrior-priests really seem, he says, to be the descendants of Sodom and Gomorrah. Some of the festivals were simply bestial orgies.
These “warrior-priests” of the Sera Monastery, which is one of those I visited, are a peculiar institution. Their daily task is varied. It is to play flutes, lyres, harps, flageolets, and to beat drums; to prepare offerings for the deities; to carry yak-dung for fuel; to practise throwing stones at a target; and to act as a bodyguard. Kawaguchi made friends with them by doctoring, and found them very true to their duties, and though they might look very rough, they were more truthful than the noble and other priests, who, though trustworthy at first sight, were in reality deceitful in seeking their own benefit and happiness, and under their warm woollen garments hid a mean and crafty behaviour.