Lamaism

la'ma-ism, a religious belief of Asia. It is a mixture of Buddhism and other religions. Its adherents may be found from the Volga River eastward. It is the prevailing faith of Siberia, Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet. The spiritual head of the church, who is also monarch of Tibet, is the Dalai Lama or Ocean-wide Lama. His seat of power is the templed hill of Potala at the sacred city of Lhasa, Tibet. Buddha is held to be a great teacher of religious truth. Lamaism is chiefly a worship of saints with inferior honors to gods of heaven, earth, death and hell, and wealth, as well as demons innumerable. Public worship in the temples is conducted with music, prayer, reading, and singing. There are over 200 volumes of sacred writings wholly in the hands of the priesthood. Thus far the practice is that of Buddhism, but it is adapted to the people and their adherence is secured by concessions to the ancestral belief in withcraft and magic, and the devil worship which Buddhism was unable to drive out wholly. In addition to these exercises the priests recite choruses, cast spells, and perform incantations. The faithful wear amulets, charms, and symbols, and keep count of their prayers by rosaries and prayer wheels. The common people are oppressed, not to say devoured, by swarms of religious devotees who live in monasteries and must be maintained by offerings of food. See Lhasa; Tibet; Idolatry; Buddhism