Godless Country

Lamaism, faith of 3,000,000 Tibetans, 7,000,000 Mongols and other races in Central Asia, is a form of Buddhism, brought from India through the snow-swept passes of the Himalayas in the 7th Century. Lamaists believe in numerous divine incarnations, chief of which are--1) the Dalai Lama, temporal master of Tibet and "Buddha of Mercy," 2) His Serenity the Panchen or Tashi Lama, spiritual leader and "Buddha of Boundless Light."

For nine months plus 149 days (the period a soul spends in purgatory) after the death of a Grand Lama, priests throughout the fastnesses of Central Asia watch for eclipses, earthquakes, avalanches, cloudbursts. Where such phenomena occur, the Lama's soul may, on the appointed day, enter the body of an infant about to be born. The mother may identify her holy offspring by other portents & miracles and by seven signs which include a full set of teeth in the babe, a birthmark resembling a tiger's stripes, an ability to utter the name of Buddha. But for the incarnation there are many claimants. These are weeded to three, whose names are placed in a golden vase from which, in the presence of an assembly of priests and nobles, the proper one is drawn.

In such a manner, after the death of a Panchen Lama in 1883, was his successor chosen, one Ch'osgyi-nyima. son of a woodcutter in a remote Tibetan village. In the great monastery of Tashilhunpo for 13 years Lamas trained him in the intricacies of Lamaist ritual. At 18 this "Buddha of Boundless Light" was installed on his yellow satin throne, presumably for the rest of his days to guide the souls of Tibetans, while the Dalai Lama, an older and wilier man, conducted its temporal affairs. The ''Buddha of Mercy" proved to be more sinister than merciful. From his intrigues the Panchen Lama fled in 1924, leaving him in full sway in his fortress-palace in Lhasa until his death four years ago (TIME, Jan. 1, 1934).

Thereafter, while regents ruled Tibet, the Panchen Lama, a paunchy little god with false teeth, sought unceasingly to return to the land of his birth. Last week word reached China that, instead, His Serenity had gone to his Nirvana, aged 54. The thoroughly kindly, intelligent pontiff had died at the Tibetan border town of Jyekundo where, for days, his priestly retinue had twirled prayer wheels, chanted the mystic syllables Om Mani Padme Hum.

Whereas the Dalai Lama had been under British influence, the Panchen Lama cast his lot with China. He entertained and lived well, rode around in a bright yellow motorcar and bright yellow railroad train, and so great became his influence that the Nationalist Government thought it worthwhile to pay him $480,000 a year, give him the title of "Great Wise Priest Who Guards the Nation and Spreads Culture," in an attempt to save Manchuria and North China from Japanese influence.

Last summer, probably as a political move by anti-Chinese and anti-Panchen Lama groups, an infant Dalai Lama was reported discovered--by no means the first since the old Dalai Lama died. Though such an infant is long overdue. its authenticity had not been confirmed last week. Tibet was presumably, for the first time since anyone could recall, godless.

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