ABSTRACT
The Grand Lamà of Thibet, as I have already said, is recognized and venerated not only by all Thibettans of Second and Third Thibet, but by Nepalese, Tartars and Chinese, and is regarded as their Chief, Master, Protector, and Pontiff. He is worshipped and sacrifices are made to him not as an ordinary man, but as Cen-ree-zij (of whom I shall speak later), incarnated and reincarnated for long centuries for their guidance and benefit. He rules not only over religious, but over temporal matters, as he is really the absolute master of all Thibet. It is true that ab antiquo he instituted a King, to attend to civil, military and criminal affairs in his Stead and in his name. Thus the King of this Thibet is not a king, but a mere administrator, who would not dare to oppose anything ordered by the Grand Lamà. The vast and magnificent palace was built on the rock of Potalà because of the tradition that in olden days when Thibet was uninhabited Cen-ree-zij lived there and appeared to the woman who had lost her way in these mountains, and whose children by the monkey eventually populated this country. A number of monks live in the palace, who officiate in the Grand Lamà’s chapel and wait upon him, and some laymen, such as ministers, officers, and superintendents of domestic and public affairs. What Father Atanasius Kircher in his “Cina Illustrata” and Luigi Moreri in his “Dizionario Istorico” (see Bibliography), say about the Grand Lamà being invisible save to a few intimate friends is not true. He continually receives visits, and is often occupied in discussing matters with the King, the nobles, the Lamàs, superiors of monasteries, sometimes with merchants, and often with pious people of both sexes, also foreigners who bring him offerings.
