TIBET’S SPIRITUAL RULER

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 129, 25 February 1938, Page 3

TIBET’S SPIRITUAL RULER

A Mystic Personality WHEN THE TASHI LAMA ' VISITED INDIA Personal recollections of that littleknown figure, the Tashi Lama—the spiritual ruler of Tibet, whose death was announced recently—are contributed in the “Daily Telegraph,” London, by Sir Frederick O’Connor, who was the first white man to visit the Lama’s court. Later he acted as interpreter and guide on a State visit to India.

After the signature of the AngloTibetan treaty at Lhasa in September, 1904, and the departure of Colonel Younghusband and the mission, I remained behind at Gyantse as the first British Trade Agent in Tibet he states. One of my first duties was to pay a visit to the Tashi Lama at his headquarters at Shigatse, a.' town some 60 miles to the north of Gyantse, on the banks of the Brahmaputra river.

The Lama received me and my small party with great kindness, and at our very first interview he told me what a pleasure it was to him to renew his previous friendship with British officers. For a moment I was surprised, as I knew that no British officer or, indeed, any white man had ever visited him, but I then gathered that he was in reality speaking of himself ns personifying one of his own previous incarnations and that the British officers to whom he referred were Captain Turner and Mr. Bogle, who had been deputed by Warren Hastings to visit the Laitia’s Court in the year 1774 and 1783 respectively. Both on this occasion and on a subsequent visit to Shigatse during the following year I made great friends with the young Lama and spent many hours conversing with him alone in. bis private apartments. He was then a young man of some 22 to 23 years of age. of a gentle, simple nature, very much beloved by his entourage and, indeed, all over Tibet and among the Buddhistic communities of Asia. Living, as he had always done, a cloistered life, he knew little about the oltside world, and lie absirbed with the greatest eagerness everything I could tell him about foreign inventions and so on. and T provided him with pictures and photographs illustrating modern progress. Talk with Princess. One daj' he said that he had instructed his treasurer to find and bring him ’ the presents which had been sent to j

“him” by Warren Hastings some 130 years before. ■

A big box was produced, and on examining its contents we found many curious and valuable articles —such things, for example, as watches, porcelain, and pieces of jewellery. It was' during this visit that 1 was instructed by the Government of India to tender to the Lama an invitation to visit India during the forthcoming tour of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King George V and Queen Mary, and this invitation wes accepted. In November, 1905, we started off, and I travelled down to India with him and his suite, which consisted of some 300 persons, monks and laymen. From Darjeeling our first objective was Rawal Pindi, where a big review was being held in honour of their Royal Highnesses. On arrival there of . our special train 1 received a message that their Royal Highnesses would like the Lama to visit them in their tent that same afternoon. They shook hands with the Luma and seated him on a chair between them. Whilst I acted as interpreter they conversed with him tor over half an iiour, asking him about his home, his family, his life in the monastery and so on.

The Lama, who, by the way. had never before spoken to any woman except his mother, created an excellent impression by his gentle voice and quiet, courtly manners. Lord Kitchener also received and conversed with him. Buddha’s Tree. Thence we imide a pilgrimage to various holy places sacred to Buddhism ending witli Boddh Gaya, the very spot where Buddha “obtained enlightenment,” Here the Lama held a service sitting under the very same tree (so tradition says) where his great predecessor, of whom he was believed to be the earthly personification, sat and meditated some 2400 years before.

It was a very impressive and moving scene, and memorable to those who had the good fortune to witness It. After

the service the Lama gave his blessing to all those present, including myself and my staff.

Parties and the Races.

From here we went to Calcutta, where the Lama was accommodated, appropriately enough, in Hastings House. After a day or two's rest he paid a formal visit of state to the Prince of Wales in Government House, and was received by his Royal Highness with full and due ceremony and talked with him ; and on the following day the Prince paid his return visit to the Lama. Similar official visits also were exchanged with the Viceroy, Lord Minto. Besides these State functions we arranged for less formal kinds of amusement—garden parties, a day at the races and so on —all of which the Lama appreciated and enjoyed very much. Early in January he left •Calcutta to return to Tibet.

1 said good-bye to him at the railway station, , for I was returning home on leave after 11 years in India and on the frontier; we had by this time become firm friends, and we parted with mutual sorrow and regret. I have never seen him since.

His subsequent career has not been a happy one. Stormy and difficult years followed. The Chinese endeavoured to re-assert their authority in Tibet. The Dalai Lama returned from China, tied to India, and returned to Lhasa a second time. Disagreements arose between the two great Lamas, and these culminated in |he Tashi, in his turn, taking flight and making his way via Mongolia to China. Lifo-in Exile. Here and on the borders he remained for the rest of his life. The question of his return was ’constantly mooted and negotiations took place regarding it, but he had enemies at Lhasa who were jealous of him and of members of his suite, and even after the passing away of the Dalai Lama no arrangement could be patched up.

He, too, has now “passed a.wa’y," far from bis home at Shigatse.