Author: Charles Bell
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Year: 1992
Language: English
Pages: 235
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8120810694
Description
This volume forms a sequel to the author’s Tibet-Past and Present and The People of Tibet. Like them, it is in part an historical account, in part a description of conditions in the earlier part of the twentieth century.
Sir Charles Bell traces the history of the introduction of Buddhism, of the resistance and general decay of the older magic-worship of Ponism, and of the developments which have taken place within Tibetan Buddhism itself. The latter part of the book deals more particularly with the religious organization, with life in the great monasteries, and with the religious customs and beliefs of the people.
The illustrations are from the author’s own photographs taken in Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan.
Contents
PART ONE: HOW IT CAME
A Hidden Land
The Old Faith
Gotama, The Buddha
Buddhism Comes To Tibet
Expulsion and Return
Buddhism Becomes The National Religion
Cotton-Clad Mi-La
The Yellow Hats
Buddhism Captures Mongolia
The Priest Enthroned
Christian Missionaries in Lhasa
Modern Times
PART TWO: HOW IT RULES
The Power of the Monasteries
Priests as Civil and Military Officers
A Deity as King
SOURCES
APPENDIX
INDEX