The Dalai Lama

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22103, 27 May 1937, Page 6 (Supplement)

The Dalai Lama

• Tibet Is one of the most romantic tmmbfes in the world, and the s3jQb of its ruler, the Dalai Lama, has hitherto been surrounded in mntery. The character of the Jtolal Lama was recently deSerfbed by Sir Charles Bell, who aome years in Tibet as reBsawnlnliin of the Government of I%AUI and who cot to know the ißslal Lama very well during the <9«ar lie spent in Lhasa, the capital

KLSn Tibetan eyes the Dalai Lama UlßCtuaUy a god upon earth. And, tSatag a sod. and the Tibetans beiNt 1 ray religious people, they I'amice him also their ruler for all IfjMrrof State." In fact, he is theiiV fW&sDd king combined. He-never EMU! i liiiiii When he dies his spirit 13i believed to pass into the body of ||| logr u yet unborn. Of course, f Man. that boy is born it is difficult Wl find him in such a large country 1*• Tibet But mystical signs are IfWorted— perhaps he is said to jfipm been born when a thunderjtMna was raging in a clear sky; f'Pen certain marks on his body are ilHkad for: he shows signs of reIwpiismg the property of the last I {Mbd Lama, and so on. Thus he fefp recognised when very young, f aton to Lhasa: and brought up enf; Hwly by priests. Pis** Dalai Lama is, of course, an iJitaasely sacred person, and is the f jBWt secluded person in about the I moat secluded country in the Rpßrtd," writes Sir Charles. "That tewtag so, it was one of the luckiest MHDgs in my life that I was brought kMo a close companionship with | |Mi god on earth. It happened in j Ip™ way. In, 1910, the Chinese inHMed. Tibet The Dalai Lama and |Wb Ministers fled at midnight, and Bnßeeeded in reaching Darjeeling. Bpe of the summer capitals of PTOfeern India, 350 miles away. IS>pa it was my duty to look after Hni, because I was the Indian fwiuument's representative in flij ~~ Son of a Fanner BpSo for the first time I met this Hpn. He was then 35 years old, Hjjtt slightly pockmarked from an HWlck of small-pox, the son of a ■Nor ftucmer. yet the ruler of all ■gßwL Besides his subjects in BPat he was worshipped by many 111* Mongolia, in China, in Siberia, |iHg even far away to the west HHlfbi the lands of European HMPffff His shoulders were bowed, UK HE one who has daily spent hours ■NetcUgious exercises, sitting crossIfflßßed like a Buddha. His eyes ■pve dark brown and prominent

RULER OF A STRANGE COUNTRY

They were also somewhat watery, but that is regarded by Tibetans as a sign of Buddhahood. And when he spoke, his face relaxed into a sort of deprecatory smile, which made one feel friendly and want to help him. His ears were large. That, too, is a sign of Buddhahood, as you may have noticed when seeing images of Buddha. "His outer robe would be usually of thick yellow or red silk, with an undergarment of thin silk, .either yellow or white. And he wore felt boots, reaching up to a little below the knee. Among other things he was very fond of pastry puffs. These contained vegetables, cheese, and.raisins. And he drank tea every half hour throughout the day, or even oftener. Most Tibetans drink 40 or 50 cups of tea in a day, and some even more. "It was a cold February day when he reached Darjeeling, in northern India. The British residents there were walking about in thick overcoats. But to the Lama* coming from the highlands of Tibet, with the blizzard sweeping over them, Darjeeling was quite a hot place. Later on, I could understand his Ideas of haat and cold, for I stayed afterwards throughout a winter at Lhasa. I was in a bleak stone house, without a fireplace, and there were 40 degrees of frost part of the time. There were large window, spaces, but no glass in W»m, only th|n pager, and a violent wind blew by day and night either from the snow of the Himalayan mountains, or worse still, from the arctic wastes of northern Tibet. Talk and Hobbles "We had many conversations, the Dalai Lama and I. We used to sit together at a small table; I had been accustomed for many years to speak Tibetan, so we naed«f no interpreter, and he used to send all his servants away. We tamed fully and frankly, about any subject that came into our minds. Tibetans usually are secretive, but he was wonderfully frank, and often told me things that I should otherwise never have discovered. You see, the ordinary Tibetan is afraid of being taken to task by somebody in a position of authority over him for saying something he ought not to have said. But T there was nobody over the Dalai Lama. So he never minded what he said. "He was very fond of all animals, but especially of small birds. He took me through the grounds of his country house, where he kept various animals—birds, monkeys, fierce dogs, bears, and, among others, a Bengal tiger, with a magnificent coat, housed in a somewhat fragile cage. I used to wonder whether he would not break through some time, and maul a number of people! but Tibetans.are very happy-go-lucky about a thing like that." . The Dalai Lama was an autocratic ruler. Once .when his Cabinet persisted in giving him advice which he disapproved, he not only set aside the advice, but shut up the four Cabinet Ministers in a monastery where they were closely guarded, and their letters were censored. While Sir Charles was in Lhasa, the Prime Minister made use of him to convey messages whenever he wished to give umoalatable advice to the Dalai Lama, who was a through-going dictator. The secret of his power lay in his position as a religious leader. The Tibetans, being Buddhists, believe that peopleare born again In life after fife. They

also believe that the Dalai Lama can influence what each one will be in his next life. But for his help a man or woman, they think, may appear in the next life not as a human being at all, but as a donkey, a pig, or even a worm. So it can be seen what tremendous power the Dalai Lama has over them. , , . Such rulers have to work hard. During the year that Sir Charles lived in Lhasa the Dalai Lama

never went to bed until after midnight, and he was always up by 6 a.m. He had to spend four or five hours a day in religious services alone. He would read the Buddhist scriptures. He would invoke blessings on all human beings; and not only on them, but on birds, beasts, fishes, insects, and all forms of animal life, because, according to their belief, a-fly or an ant m this life may be a human being ia the next. "'"