Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

This is a broad, catch-all category of works that fit best here and not elsewhere. If you haven't found it someplace else, you might want to look here.

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Thu Dec 05, 2019 8:24 am

S. [St.] Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 12/5/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Image
S. Thomas' College
Location
S. Thomas' College is located in Colombo DistrictS. Thomas' CollegeS. Thomas' College
Image
Location in Colombo District
Mount Lavinia, Colombo
Sri Lanka
Coordinates 6°50′14.64″N 79°51′54.12″E
Information
Type Private School
Motto Esto Perpetua Prodeo et Eclisias
(Be thou forever For God and For Church!)
Established 3 February 1851
Founder James Chapman (bishop)
Principal Rev. Marc Billimoria
Grades 1-13
Gender Boys
Colour(s) Dark blue and Black.
Song College Song
Affiliation Anglican
Former pupils Old Thomians
Website stcmount.edu.lk

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (STC), is a selective entry boys' private Anglican school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious schools in the country; its former pupils include four former Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka.[1]

History

Mutwal


Image
The Rt. Rev. James Chapman

S. Thomas’ College was founded by the first Bishop of Colombo, the Rt. Rev. James Chapman, D. D. It was his foremost vision to build a college and cathedral for the new Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon. Chapman's objective was to train a Christian clergy and to make children good citizens under the discipline and supervision of Christianity.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] An old boy of Eton College, Bishop Chapman founded the college on the Etonian model, and even borrowed the school motto, Esto Perpetuas from the prestigious English Public School.[9] In 1852 Bishop Chapman laid the foundation stone of the college chapel on a hill in the school grounds. The chapel became Christ Church Cathedral of the Colombo Diocese of the Church of Ceylon when it was dedicated on 21 September 1854.[10]

Mount Lavinia

Image
S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia

In 1918, the school moved away from the "dusty environs" of Mutwal, which was near the Colombo harbour, to a more picturesque location near the sea in Mount Lavinia.[8] Here, on 13 October 1923, the foundation stone for what would become The Chapel of the Transfiguration was laid by the Bishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Ernest Arthur Copleston, and the chapel was completed on 12 February 1927, when it was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Mark Carpenter-Garnier, Bishop of Colombo.[10] In 1968, well known Sri Lankan artist David Paynter completed his mural of the Transfiguration of Jesus upon the interior of the East wall of the chapel, which included a then unusual "beardless Christ".[10]

In 1951, S. Thomas' became a private fee-levying school.[8]

Administration

The College which is under the Anglican Church of Ceylon, is run by a Board of Governors which is chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, who is also known as the "Visitor of the College". The administration of the College itself is headed by a warden. Admission to the College is at the sole discretion of the warden.

Branches

• S. Thomas' College, Bandarawela
• S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa
• S. Thomas' Preparatory School

Houses

There are five houses at STC, four of which are "day houses", for those who do not live in the Boarding House. It was in the time of Warden McPherson that an organized house system was introduced, so to encourage boys to take part in extracurricular activities. In 1926, the day boys were divided first into 5 houses, namely Wood, Buck, Stone, De Saram, and Miller-Copleston. Boys were allotted in them according to the location of their residences. Wood house consisted of boys from Ratmalana, further south and from Nugegoda and Borella. Stone and Buck housed children from Mount Lavinia, the former consisting of those whose surnames starts from A to M, while the latter of the rest. Baly housed boys who lived in Wellawatte and Bambalapitiya. Children who were from Dehiwala, Slave Island & Fort were allotted in Jermyn House. This system was not found successful.

De Saram House

• Colours : Green, Black
• Motto : Strive, Achieve, Preserve

Wood House

• Colours : Sky Blue, Maroon
• Motto : Fulfillment of Prophecy

Buck House

• Colours : Sky Blue, Silver Grey,
• Motto : Mens Sana in Copore Sano (Sound in mind & body)

Stone House

• Colours : Maroon, Silver Grey
• Motto : Sauitier in modo; Fortiter in re (Gentle in manner, Brave in action)

Boarding House

• Colours: Maroon, White
• Motto: Ducimus Nos Sequnter Alli (We lead, others follow)

Sports

The most prominent sports are those classified as the "Royal-Thomian". These sports take precedence because of the importance given to the clash between S. Thomas' oldest rival, the Royal College, Colombo.

A cricket match between these colleges takes place in the first term of Lent every year. As the rains begin in Michaelmas Term, the rugby season has kicked off and the main encounter is the Royal-Thomian Rugby match. As the year ends with the term of Yuletide, the highlights are the Royal Thomian Regatta and the Boat Race for the oarsmen of the two Colleges and simultaneously the two leg Water Polo matches for the R.L. Hayman trophy.[11]

Royal-Thomian

Main article: Royal-Thomian

Image
A Thomian flag at the 129th Royal Thomian

The Royal-Thomian, is the annual cricket match between the Royal College, Colombo and S Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia is the second longest uninterrupted cricket match series in the world and, first and oldest in Sri Lanka, even older than the Ashes, having been played for more than 130 years continuously.[12] The original match was played between the Colombo Academy and S. Thomas' College, Mutwal[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] in 1879, with schoolmasters participating as well as schoolboys. From 1880 onwards, only schoolboys were allowed to play in the match. The match is played for the D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield, which was first presented in 1928. From 1979 matches were played for 3 days except in 1985 which was a 2-day match. A limited overs match (50 overs) was introduced in 1975 and is played for Mustangs Trophy.

[12]

Royal Thomian Rugby Encounter

The Royal Thomian rugby encounter held annually in the Michaelmas Term of S. Thomas. and between the two sessions of Bradby Shield Encounter of Royal since 1955. It is played for the Michael Gunaratne Trophy.

Trinity Thomian Rugby Encounter

Traditional encounter played for the R. S. de Saram Trophy.

Royal-Thomian Regatta

Main article: Royal Thomian Regatta

The Royal-Thomian Regatta (or Boat Race) is the annual rowing race between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia, having begun in 1962 the event has evolved into the Royal Thomian Regatta or The Regatta in 1966 and now is made up of 8 events which carry points and 3 exhibition events. The races are rowed over a distance of 1000 yards and take place on the Beira Lake in Colombo. The regatta takes place in the month of October and is usually held on the last Saturday of the month at the Colombo Rowing Club. The Royal Thomian Regatta is the oldest inter-mural rowing regatta in Sri Lanka.

Royal-Thomian Tennis Encounter

The Royal Thomian Tennis is the annual tennis tournament between Royal College and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia.

Dr. R.L. Hayman Trophy Royal-Thomian Water Polo matches

The Dr. R.L. Hayman Trophy is the annual 2 leg Water Polo fixture between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia. While Water Polo matches between the two schools have been held on and off through the annals of the two schools shared histories, the matches were made a permanent fixture as part of the two schools sporting calendars in 1992 as the Dr.R.L.Hayman Trophy Royal-Thomian Water Polo matches. The event was initially played in two legs much like the Bradby Shield in home and away pools. However, while it is still a two leg event, for the past several years it has been held at the Sugathadasa Stadium Swimming Pool allowing for much larger participation and making it the best patronised Water Polo matches in Sri Lanka and Asia.

Wardens of S. Thomas' College

1. The Rev. Cyril William Wood D.D. 1851 - 1853
2. The Rev. Joseph Baly M.A. 1854 - 1860
3. The Rev. George Bennet 1863 - 1866
4. The Rev. James Bacon B.D. 1871 - 1877
5. The Rev. Edward Miller M.A. 1878 - 1891
6. The Rev. Philip Read M.A. Lit.Hum. 1892 - 1895
7. The Rev. W. Armstrong Buck M.A. 1896 - 1901
8. The Rev. William Arthur Stone M.A. 1901-1924
9. The Ven. Kenneth C. McPherson M.A. 1925-1931 (Archdeacon Emeritus of Bombay)
10. The Rev. Canon Reginald Stewart de Saram M.A. O.B.E. 1932-1958 (The First Ceylonese & Old Boy Warden)
11. Mr. Charles Henry Lambert Davidson M.A. Dip in Ed. 1959-1965 (The First Lay Warden)
12. The Rev. Anton John Chandiah Selvaratnam B.A. B.D. Dip. in Ed. 1965-1970
13. Mr. Samuel James Anandanayagam B.Sc. 1970-1977
14. Mr. Michael Llewelyn Christopher Ilangakoon M.Sc. 1977-1982
15. Mr. Wilfred Michael Neville de Alwis B.A. L.L.B. L.L.M. 1983-1998
16. Dr. David Arjunan Ponniah B.Sc. M.Eng. PhD. MBA. CEng. MICE. 2001-2008
17. The Rev. John Charles Puddefoot M.A. (Oxon) B.D 2009 - 2011
18. Prof. Indra De Soysa 2012-2014
19. Rev. Marc Billimoria 2014-

Sub-wardens of S.Thomas' College

1. The Rev. G. Bennet B.D. (Lambeth) 1870-1871
2. The Rev. T.F. Faulkner B.A. F.S.A. (Cantab) 1872-1879
3. The Rev. P. Gethen M.A. (Cantab) 1888-1892
4. The Rev. G.A.H. Arndt B.A. (Calcutta) 1892- 1908
5. The Rev. J. Parker M.A. (Oxon) 1908-1910
6. The Rev. O.J.C. Bevan M.A. (Cantab) 1911-1917
7. The Rev. Canon P.L. Jansz M.A. (Oxon) 1917-1919
8. The Rev. G.M. Withers M.A. (Oxon) 1919-1926
9. The Rev. R. S. de Saram B.A. (Oxon) 1926-1932
10. Dr. R.L. Hayman D.Phil. M.A. (Oxon) 1935-1957 (The Longest Serving Sub-Warden)
11. Mr. C.H.L. Davidson M.A. (Lond.) Dip-in-Ed. 1957-1958
12. Mr. F.J. Senaratne 1959-1962
13. Mr. S.J. Anandanayagam B.Sc. (Lond.) 1962-1966
14. Mr. F. Jayasinghe B.A. (Lond.) 1968-1971
15. Mr. E.St.P. Gunawardene B.A. Dip-in-Ed. 1972-1977
16. Dr.D.Salitha Siva
17. Mr. O.A. Abeynaike 1977-1981
18. Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha D.Phil. (Oxon) 1981-1982
19. The Rev. D.K. de Chickera B.Th. (Cey) M.Sc. (Oxon) 1983-1989
20. Mr. D.A.Pakianathan M.Sc. (Lond.) Dip-in-Ed 1991- 2002
21. Mr. H D Perera L.L.B 2002 - 2011
22. The Rev. Marc Billimoria 2011-2014
23. Mr. Asanka. Perera 2016-

Old Thomians

Main article: List of St. Thomas' College alumni

Past students of S. Thomas' are referred to as Old Thomians. STC educated the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.[24]

See also

• List of schools in Sri Lanka
• Big Match
• Battle of the Blues

References

1. "The Saravanamuttu Prize at S. Thomas College, Daily News". Archived from the original on 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
2. Reminiscences of a teacher Archived 2005-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
3. Hundred and twenty fifth anniversary : St. James Church, Mutwal Archived 2004-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
4. Romancing Gurutalawa
5. The Cathedral of the Diocese of Colombo Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
6. "The Sunday Times News Section". http://www.sundaytimes.lk.
7. "The Sunday Leader Online". http://www.thesundayleader.lk.
8. http://www.stcmount.edu.lk/index.php/co ... story.html
9. "The Arms and Motto - Eton College". http://www.etoncollege.com.
10. http://www.stcmount.edu.lk/index.php/about-chapel.html
11. "Thomian win Dr. R. L. Hayman Trophy19th Royal - Thomian water-polo annual encounter". stc62group.org. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
12. "134 unbroken years: The historical Royal-Thomian encounter (2013) :: The largest library of cricket videos". cricketcrowd.com.
13. "The Island". http://www.island.lk.
14. "Funday Times". http://www.sundaytimes.lk.
15. "Battle of the Blues".
16. S. Thomas' College
17. "sports04". http://www.island.lk.
18. "A Tribute to C.E.L. ("Kalla") De Silva on his 100th Birth Anniversary".
19. "Ranjan Madugalle, A fine Cricketing Ambassador".
20. So, Royal really lost 1885 match to S. Thomas' Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
21. "The College History". Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
22. "OBA History". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
23. "The Royal – Thomian - 130 Years on". http://www.sundaytimes.lk.
24. Another first by St Thomas' - "Blind student Ishan Jaleel first to row", The Sunday Observer

External links

• Official website of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
• [1]
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:39 am

Sarat Chandra Das
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 12/5/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.




During the 19th century the Government of India employed various types of local people to obtain information about Tibet. The most important of these were the pandits (trained surveyors, native to the Indian Himalayas, who travelled in various disguises to clandestinely map Tibet), and the school teacher Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Das CIE. (1849-1917).[2]

The pandits' main duty was to gather geographical data, and they were extremely successful in this task. But whereas they travelled among the lower social classes in Tibet, Chandra Das's mission was to contact powerful figures in Tibetan society in order to collect political information. Just as Political officers were directed to 'cultivate the friendship of the local Ruling Chiefs', Das was under instructions to 'cultivate the friendship of influential persons'.[3]

Chandra Das, a Tibetan speaking Bengali, was the first headmaster of the Bhotia [Bhutia] Boarding School in Darjeeling, which was opened in 1874 specifically to train Bhotia and Sikkimese intermediaries in preparation for the opening of Tibet to the British. In 1891 the Bhotia school merged with the Darjeeling school to become Darjeeling High School.[4]

Das became the first of many intermediaries from the school when he was given a nominal government post as a school inspector, freeing him to travel to Tibet. He was accompanied by Rai Bahadur Urgyen Gyatso, a Sikkimese lama from an aristocratic family, who had been employed as a teacher at the Bhotia School after serving on the staff of the Rajah of Sikkim. Urgyen Gyatso made a number of journeys to Tibet under British auspices, alone, or accompanying Chandra Das. Unlike the pandits, the two schoolteachers continued to be employed as Tibetan specialists after their return to India. [5]

When the Tibetan Government later discovered that Chandra Das had visited Lhasa, and correctly assumed that he had been spying for the British, the strength of their reaction underlined the Lhasa Government's determination to preserve Tibet's isolation. The Panchen Lama's Prime Minister, Kyabying Sengchen Tulku, an incarnate lama from Dongtse Monastery who had been Das's principal sponsor, was executed, and the Dongtse ruling family, the Palhes, close associates of Sengchen Tulku, were severely punished.[6]

The last re-incarnate Lama bearing this title [Re-embodied Lama in western Tibet, Sen-c'en-Rin-po-ch'e], and the tutor of the Tashi Grand Lama, was beheaded about 1886 for harbouring surreptitiously Sarat C. Das, who is regarded as an English spy; and although the bodies of his predecessors were considered divine and are preserved in golden domes at Tashi-lhunpo, his headless trunk was thrown ignominiously into a river to the S.W. of Lhasa, near the fort where he had been imprisoned. On account of his violent death, and under such circumstances, this re-incarnation is said to have ceased. From the glimpse got of him in Sarat's narrative and in his great popularity, he seems to have been a most amiable man.

-- The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism, by Laurence Austine Waddell

The ruin thus brought about by the Babu's visit extended also to the unfortunate Lama's relatives, the governor of Gyantsé (the Phal Dahpön) and his wife (Lha-cham), whom he had persuaded to befriend Sarat C. Das. These two were cast into prison for life, and their estates confiscated, and several of their servants were barbarously mutilated, their hands and feet were cut off and their eyes gouged out, and they were then left to die a lingering death in agony, so bitterly cruel was the resentment of the Lamas against all who assisted the Babu in this attempt to spy into their sacred city.

-- Laurence Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries: With a Record of the Expedition of 1903-1904, Cosimo, Inc., 2007, 740 pages, p. 79


The decision to force the Tibetans to open diplomatic relations with British India meant that a new type of intermediary was required, one who was accustomed to dealing with the Lhasa aristocracy. Such people were particularly difficult to locate in such an isolationist society as Tibet, where the ruling class appeared to present a united front against high-level foreign contact. Increasing Western contact with Tibet in the late 19th century had produced a small body of men with experience in guiding European travellers there, but these guides, such as caravan leader Mahmood Isa, were mostly members of the Central Asian trading class, and they had little social status. [7]

Individuals of low social status had neither the contacts, nor the prestige and social skills, necessary to approach and influence the Tibetan ruling class. However the punishment inflicted on the aristocratic Palhe family had alienated them from the Lhasa ruling classes, creating an opportunity for the British to exploit their estrangement, as well as to reward the assistance they had given the British agents.

Kusho Palhese, (later Dewan Bahadur Palhese) exiled scion of the Palhe family, came to Kalimpong when Bell was seeking a suitable Tibetan instructor, and he became Bell's personal assistant. Bell's notebooks reveal the enormous contribution Palhese made to his understanding of Tibet, and Bell was, by the standards of the time, generous in his praise of the Tibetan's contribution to his work. The two men became close friends, and Bell brought Palhese to Britain in the 1920s to assist his research. Palhese's association with the British enabled him to restore the family estates, although Bell's account attributes his primary motivation to more personal factors.[8]

The punishment of the Palhe family also provided O'Connor with his principal assistant, a Buriat monk, Sherab Gyatso (later Rai Sahib Sherab Gyatso; d.1909), known as Shabdrung Lama. He had been a personal attendant of Sengchen Tulku when the lama was executed for assisting Chandra Das. Imprisoned and tortured along with his master, Shabdrung Lama escaped to Darjeeling. There he was given employment as a teacher at the Bhotia school, and as a British agent gathering information from Tibetans in Darjeeling bazaar, before being employed by O'Connor as his personal secretary on the Younghusband Mission. [9]

-- Tibet and the British Raj, 1904-47: The Influence of the Indian Political Department Officers, by Alexander McKay


The usual lessons in the Tibetan grammar and Buddhism over, the suspicious monk, who posed for a learned scholar, suddenly addressed me, saying that having been in India, I must have seen Sarat Chandra Das, who explored Tibet. I replied that I did not know him, even by name. There were three hundred millions of people in India, and however famous a man might be, he must always be unknown to some. There was a great difference between India and[224] Tibet, and I asked to hear something about the man the monk referred to. The monk then narrated how Sarat Chandra Das, twenty-three years ago, had cheated the Tibetan authorities with a passport; how he had robbed Tibet of her Buddhism, with which he had returned to India; how on the discovery of the affair, the greatest scholar and sage in Tibet, Sengchen Dorjechan, had been executed, not to mention many other priests and laymen who were put to death and many others whose property was confiscated.

After this the monk added that as Sarat Chandra Das was a renowned personage in India, it was impossible for me not to be acquainted with him. Probably I pretended not to know him. These words were spoken in a most unpleasant manner, but I put him off with a smile, saying that I had never seen the face of the Queen of England, who was so renowned, and that such a big country as India made such investigations hopeless. The stories about Sarat Chandra Das are quite well known in Tibet, even children being familiar with them; but there are few who know him by his real name, for he goes by the appellation of the ‘school bābū’ (school-master). The story of the Tibetans who smuggled a foreigner into Tibet and were killed, and of those who concealed the fact from the Government and forfeited their property, are tales that Tibetan parents everywhere tell to their children.

Owing to the discovery of the adventures of Sarat Chandra Das, all the Tibetans have become as suspicious as detectives, and exercise the greatest vigilance towards foreigners. I was fully acquainted with these facts, so that I too exercised great caution even in dropping a single word, however innocent and empty that word might be. But the Tibetans were very cunning questioners; and the monk was one of the most cunning. When I tried to laugh away his questions, he put other queries on every imaginable point. Other Tibetans who were[225] equally suspicious joined him in harassing me. I felt for the moment just as though I were besieged by an overwhelming force of the enemy.


-- Three Years in Tibet, by Shramana Ekai Kawaguchi


Image
Sarat Chandra Das
শরৎচন্দ্র দাস
Born: 1849, Chittagong, Bengal, British India
Died: 1917
Nationality: British India
Occupation: Explorer, Scholar

Sarat Chandra Das (Bengali: শরৎচন্দ্র দাস) (1849–1917) was an Indian scholar of Tibetan language and culture most noted for his two journeys to Tibet in 1879 and in 1881–1882.

Biography

Born in Chittagong, eastern Bengal to a Bengali Hindu Vaidya-Brahmin family, Sarat Chandra Dash attended Presidency College, as a student of the University of Calcutta. In 1874 he was appointed headmaster of the Bhutia Boarding School at Darjeeling. In 1878, a Tibetan teacher, Lama Ugyen Gyatso arranged a passport for Sarat Chandra to go the monastery at Tashilhunpo. In June 1879, Das and Ugyen-gyatso left Darjeeling for the first of two journeys to Tibet. They remained in Tibet for six months, returning to Darjeeling with a large collection of Tibetan and Sanskrit texts which would become the basis for his later scholarship. Sarat Chandra spent 1880 in Darjeeling poring over the information he had obtained. In November 1881, Sarat Chandra and Ugyen-gyatso returned to Tibet, where they explored the Yarlung Valley, returning to India in January 1883.[1] Along with Satish Chandra Vidyabhusan, he prepared Tibetan-English dictionary.[2]

Officers such as Bell and Gould, who wrote Tibetan dictionaries, helped define the Tibetan language in European understanding, just as the British defined the Tibetan border with India. They imposed a linguistic standard which complemented other contemporary definitions, of Tibet's territory, leadership and so on, which were required if Tibet was to be within European definitions of a modern nation state. The Tibetans' separate language was, and is, an important part of their claim to a separate identity, and hence separate state, from the Chinese. Thus the cadre's language studies helped to bring out Tibet's separate status, enhancing the political aims of the British and their Tibetan allies.

The effect of this classification of identity was to impose conformity to European definitions as a pre-condition for acceptance of elements as 'Tibetan'. The power of definition was appropriated by European authority. For example, Tibetans were seen by the British as reliant on astrological calculations as to the most auspicious date on which to carry out significant activities. Yet when the Dalai Lama was to visit Calcutta, Bell noted that 'not until I reminded them of the necessity of doing so did the Dalai Lama and party remember to enquire as to auspicious dates’.[4]


-- Tibet and the British Raj, 1904-47: The Influence of the Indian Political Department Officers, by Alexander McKay


For a time, he worked as a spy for the British, accompanying Colman Macaulay on his 1884 expedition to Tibet[3] to gather information on the Tibetans, Russians and Chinese. After he left Tibet, the reasons for his visit were discovered and many of the Tibetans who had befriended him suffered severe reprisals.[4]

For the latter part of his life, Das settled in Darjeeling. He named his house "Lhasa Villa" and played host to many notable guests including Sir Charles Alfred Bell and Ekai Kawaguchi. Johnson stated that, in 1885 and 1887 Das met with Henry Steel Olcott, co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society.[5]

Publications

• Contributions on the religion, history &c., of Tibet: Rise and progress of Jin or Buddhism in China. Publisher: s.n. (1882).
• Narrative of a journey to Lhasa in 1881-82. Publisher: s.n. (1885).
• Narrative of a journey round Lake Yamdo (Palti), and in Lhokha, Yarlung, and Sakya, in 1882. publisher: s.n (1887).
• Avadānakalpalatā: a collection of legendary stories about the Bodhisattvas. Asiatic Society (1890).
• The doctrine of transmigration. Buddhist Text Society (1893).
• Indian Pandits in the Land of Snow. Originally published at the end of the 19th century. Reprint: Rupa (2006).ISBN 978-8129108951.
• Sarat Chandra Das, Graham Sandberg & Augustus William Heyde A Tibetan-English dictionary, with Sanskrit synonyms. 1st Edition - Calcutta, 1902. Reprint: Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1989 and Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1991, 1995 and 2000.
• Journey To Lhasa & Central Tibet. 1st Edition: John Murray (England) (1902). Reprint: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (2007). ISBN 978-0-548-22652-0. Republished as: Lhasa and Central Tibet, Cosmo (Publications, India); New edition (2003). ISBN 978-81-7020-435-0.
• An introduction to the grammar of the Tibetan language;: With the texts of Situ sum-tag, Dag-je sal-wai melong, and Situi shal lung. Darjeeling Branch Press, 1915. Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1972 and 1983.
• Autobiography: Narratives of the incidents of my early life. Reprint: Indian studies: past & present (1969).


References

1. Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet, Das, Sarat Chandra, pp xi–xiii, Paljor Publications, New Delhi, 2001
2. Padmanabh S. Jaini. "Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies". Retrieved 2 May 2018.
3. Arora, Vibha (2008). "Routing the Commodities of Empire through Sikkim (1817-1906)". Commodities of Empire: Working Paper No.9 (PDF). Open University. p. 12. ISSN 1756-0098.
4. Laurence Austine Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries: With a Record of the Expedition of 1903-1904, Cosimo, Inc., 2007, 740 pages, p. 79: "The ruin thus brought about by the Babu's visit extended also to the unfortunate Lama's relatives, the governor of Gyantsé (the Phal Dahpön) and his wife (Lha-cham), whom he had persuaded to befriend Sarat C. Das. These two were cast into prison for life, and their estates confiscated, and several of their servants were barbarously mutilated, their hands and feet were cut off and their eyes gouged out, and they were then left to die a lingering death in agony, so bitterly cruel was the resentment of the Lamas against all who assisted the Babu in this attempt to spy into their sacred city."
5. The Masters Revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge, Johnson, Paul K., p 191-192, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1994

External links

• Subramanian, Samanth (16 March 2016). "The Indian Spy Who Fell for Tibet". The New York Times.
• Map of Tashilhunpo in 1902, Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection
• Grand Temple at Lhasa in 1902, Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection
• Fort of Shigatse in 1902, Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection

*************************

The Scholar-Spy Who Saw Tibet's Densatil Monastery in All Its Glory
by Asia Society
April 11th, 2014

Image
A historic photograph of the Densatil Monastery taken by an anonymous photographer at an unknown date. Image courtesy of David Holler.

"There's Nirvana to be glimpsed in much of the art here," is how The New Yorker recently described Asia Society Museum's exhibition Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, on view in New York City through May 18. Co-curated by Olaf Czaja and Adriana Proser, Asia Society Museum's John H. Foster Senior Curator for Traditional Asian Art, the exhibition explores the history, iconography, and extraordinary artistic production associated with the central Tibetan Buddhist monastery called Densatil until its destruction during China's Cultural Revolution (1966—1978).

Below, Adriana Proser introduces one of the two foreign observers whose descriptions of the Densatil Monastery became a critical resource for later generations of art historians and scholars of Tibetan Buddhism. A fuller version of this chapter in the Densatil story appears in the official Golden Visions of Densatil exhibition catalogue.

Image
Sarat Chandra Das

Sarat Chandra Das (1849–1917) was born in eastern Bengal and began to learn the Tibetan language during his appointment as headmaster of Bhutia Boarding School in Darjeeling. He first traveled to Tibet with the school's Tibetan language teacher, lama Ugyen-gyatso, and studied there for six months in 1879. He made a second visit in 1881, also accompanied by Ugyen-gyatso, and stayed for another 14 months.

Das became a prolific Tibetan scholar, but his exploits in Tibet were not limited to academic study. He also played a role in what became known as the Great Game, the imperial struggle between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia for supremacy in regions from the Caucasus to China. Tibet was one of the places the British wished to explore and chart, in the hopes of preventing the Russians from finding alternate access to India that avoided the difficult Khyber Pass route. Disguised as an explorer, Das aided the British in this covert mission. Along with his descriptive notations about the places where he traveled, he included what might serve as strategic details about geography, distances, and altitudes.

While making his way through central Tibet, Das noted the following about Densatil Monastery:

At the village of Jong we began the ascent of the steep hill on whose summit is the old lamasery of Densa-til, the principal building nestled amidst frowning crags, on which grow here and there a few firs and juniper trees.…Of all the monasteries in Tibet, this is perhaps the richest in religious treasures, and the Government of Lhasa takes particular care of it. Among the curious objects placed before the images of the gods in the principal temple, I saw some bowls filled with various kinds of seed and some fossils, among which some grains of barley.

— From Sarat Chandra Das, Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet. Edited by William Woodville Rockhill. Published by J. Murray, London, 1902.


*************************

The Indian Spy Who Fell for Tibet: Sent by Britain to carry out a secret survey, Sarat Chandra Das became enchanted instead.
by Samanth Subramanian
New York Times
March 16, 2016

Image
Portrait by Martine Johanna

If it hadn’t been for a bout of malaria, Sarat Chandra Das might never have become a spy. As a civil engineer, he might have worked in Calcutta forever. But in 1874, upon recovering from his illness, he was offered a position as headmaster of the Bhutia Boarding School in Darjeeling. The mountain air would do him good, he thought, so he accepted. This was how, at 25, Das came to run a school for spies, training agents to work along the India-Tibet border, growing so besotted with Tibet himself that he made two surreptitious journeys to the kingdom.

In the European imagination, Tibet and its capital, Lhasa, were a fantasy, a fabled paradise of spirituality locked away from the world. In the late 1700s, Tibet began denying entry to Westerners, its government — under pressure from China — reluctant to play the games of imperial geopolitics. For Britain, Tibet’s inward turn was ill timed, disrupting its plans to dominate Central Asia. In desperation, as the scholar Derek Waller found, the British cultivated ‘‘pundits,’’ Indians who had helped map the subcontinent and were now dispatched, in disguise, into Tibet, equipped with compasses and 100-bead rosaries to discreetly count their steps.

Among the pundits, Das stood out, a scholar who offered his services as a spy in order to pursue his academic interests. It was as if James Bond volunteered to hunt down Blofeld, booking his own flights and hotels, all to improve his Japanese. Das persuaded his assistant, a lama named Ugyen Gyatso, to visit the Tashilhunpo monastery, in south-central Tibet, and talk him up as a theology student. The monastery’s prime minister was keen to learn Hindi, so Ugyen Gyatso, promising that Das was a fine tutor, wangled a passport for him. Presented with this document, Indian officials, now enthusiastic, gave Das indefinite leave and a crash course in spycraft. During his first trip, to Tashilhunpo in 1879, he studied Tibetan customs and so impressed the prime minister that he was invited back. In November 1881, Das returned, the vision of Lhasa glimmering before him.


The two reports Das wrote about his second, 14-month journey were kept confidential until the 1890s and then published, with severe redactions, in small print runs. In 1902, they were compiled into a book, ‘‘Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet.’’ The opening pages are tough going, brimming with place names: ‘‘On ascending about 3,000 feet above the Kalai valley, we enjoyed distant views of Pema-yangtse, Yantang, Hi, Sakyang, and other villages.’’ Still, all this was valuable information. In those days, so little was known that even the most quotidian details — the appearance of houses, the location of a pasture — shone with significance.

The first month wasn’t easy. The Himalayas are punishing in early winter. ‘‘How exhausted we were with the fatigue of the day’s journey, how overcome by the rarefication of the air, the intensity of the cold, and how completely prostrated by hunger and thirst, is not easy to describe,’’ Das writes. Das’s guide is frequently drunk. Suspicions must be allayed everywhere. One village council permits his party to pass only after testing Das’s knowledge of Buddhism; even so, someone hollers, ‘‘That Hindu will surely die in the snows.’’ But Das makes it to Tashilhunpo, where he remains for five months, absorbing the news. China is flexing its muscle. Tibetans who rebuff a Chinese official’s attempts at extortion receive ‘‘four hundred blows with the bamboo.’’

Just before summer, Das departs for Lhasa, attired as a monk in dark goggles. For a while, he travels with a princess but falls so ill midway that she leaves him behind. Smallpox has seized Tibet, but Das finds only quacks to treat his fever. One night, he writes, ‘‘I felt so weak and ill that . . . I called my companions to my side and wrote my will.’’ Food is scarce, the hamlets of the Tibetan steppe are poor and miserable. Finally, one May evening, Das and his company trudge around a hill, and Lhasa reveals itself: ‘‘It was a superb sight, the like of which I have never seen. On our left was Potala’’ — the legendary palace — ‘‘with its lofty buildings and gilt roofs; before us, surrounded by a green meadow, lay the town with its tower-like, whitewashed houses and Chinese buildings with roofs of blue glazed tiles. Long festoons of inscribed and painted rags hung from one building to another, waving in the breeze.’’

We expect paroxysms of wonder from Das in Lhasa; instead, he turns all business, recording every conceivable detail: the dimensions of lintels, the tallow stirred into tea, the offerings at temples. He slips into Potala, joining pilgrims who have finagled an audience with the Dalai Lama, ‘‘a child of eight with a bright and fair complexion and rosy cheeks.’’ Lhasa is both squalid and grand, the filthy lanes of the inner city close by the magnificent 1,200-year-old Jokhang Temple and the majestic nine-storied Potala. One fat chapter in ‘‘Journey’’ explains Tibet’s political and religious hierarchies, the judiciary and the structure of taxation. This is Das pleasing his sponsors, singing for the supper he has already consumed.

In the end, Das lingers in Lhasa for only two weeks and returns, via Tashilhunpo, to Darjeeling. In a sense, though, he never leaves Tibet. He names his house Lhasa Villa, and he spends the remainder of his life translating Tibetan texts, compiling a Tibetan-English dictionary, thinking incessantly about the land he left behind.

The epilogue mars the tale. After the nature of Das’s trip was discovered, the Chinese persecuted anyone who assisted him. Tashilhunpo’s prime minister was murdered, his body thrown into a river. In 1903-4, a British expedition finally broke into Lhasa, and soldiers freed a former official, imprisoned for 20 years for helping Das. The old man, The North China Herald reported, blinked ‘‘at the unaccountable light like a blind man whose sight had been miraculously restored.’’ The analogy is impossible to miss: Tibet, too, had been released from China’s iron fist into the light. But much of this was ephemeral. Half a century later, China snatched Tibet back into its orbit; the Dalai Lama fled into exile. Only Das’s beloved Lhasa endures, the gleaming white walls of Potala still draped over their outcrop of rock like fresh snow upon a mountaintop.

Samanth Subramanian is the author of ‘‘The Divided Island: Life, Death and the Sri Lankan War.’’
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Fri Dec 06, 2019 5:11 am

Bhutia Boarding School, Darjeeling [Bhotia Boarding School] [Darjeeling High School] [Darjeeling School]
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 12/5/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


The Indians, moreover, were probably not wholly naive about Gyalo's clandestine activities over the previous years. Gossip, after all, flowed freely in the Tibetan refugee community. In addition, the Indians had a prime window into activities in Darjeeling beginning in late 1956, when Gyalo hired an Indian (a former Morse operator and government employee who had served at India's consulate in Lhasa) to give English lessons to six Tibetans he was preening as future translators and assistants. Only a fool or an innocent would believe that this tutor kept what he saw and heard from his former bosses. [5]

-- The CIA's Secret War in Tibet, by Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison


Image
Staff and students of the Bhutia Boarding School, Darjeeling, 1888. Private collection. Sarat Chandra Das is standing, third from the left, and Ugyen Gyatso is seated in the back row, fifth from the right.

The Bhutia Boarding School in Darjeeling is a school founded in 1874. Its first director was Sarat Chandra Das and Professor of Tibetan Ugyen Gyatso, a monk of Tibeto-Sikkimese origin. It was opened by order of the Lieutenant Governor of British Bengal, Sir George Campbell. Its purpose was to provide education to young Tibetans and Sikkimese boys resident in Sikkim or the Darjeeling area. However, according to Derek Wallers, it aimed to train interpreters, geographers and explorers [who] may be useful in the event of an opening of Tibet to the English.[1] Students learnt English, Tibetan and topography. In 1879, Sarat Chandra Das, sometimes disguised as a Tibetan lama, sometimes as a merchant from Nepal and Ugyen Gyatso made several trips to Tibet as secret agents of British India services in order to establish and collect cards.[2]

The opening coincided with the school's educational initiatives [similar to those created by] William Macfarlane, a Scottish missionary in the region [and John Anderson Graham]. If there was no link between these two initiatives, there was also no tension between them, sharing the same goals and methods with mutual benefit.[3]

In 1891, the boarding school merged with the Darjeeling Zilla School to form the Darjeeling High School.[4]


[Former Students of?] Bhutia Boarding School

Kazi Dawa Samdup
David Macdonald, (1870-1962)[5]

The Government of India wanted a local officer at Yatung for financial reasons. While this meant that the Trade Agent there would have less status than a British officer, this factor would, if Bell was correct, be balanced by his greater ability to cultivate the friendship of local officials, which was of paramount importance to his role (an issue that is discussed in Chapter Four). In the event, the officer chosen signified a compromise. He was an Anglo-Sikkimese, David Macdonald, a local government employee who had served on the Younghusband Mission. While not from an aristocratic family, he was intelligent and got on extremely well with Tibetans, and even the Chinese.

Macdonald was uniquely well qualified, and thoroughly conversant with British concepts of prestige. As he later recalled 'There was the prestige and pomp of the empire to be maintained and this meant one reflected the glory.' In contrast, when the Lhasa Mission was headed by a local officer of Tibetan origin in the 1940s, it was felt that 'the want of a Political Officer [i.e. a British officer] in charge of the Mission was felt by our friends'. [33]

Questions of manpower and economy, allied to the need to reward local supporters, meant that local employees had to be given positions of authority, but they were generally kept away from the key positions in which policy decisions were made. MacDonald was the only local officer given a Political post in Tibet until the late 1930s, and he was originally appointed to Yatung, which had little or no influence on policy formation.

Ultimately, although the British had to use local employees, they felt that, with the exception of an exceptional individual such as Macdonald, their prestige could only be fully represented by British officers. Local officers had not been trained to command at British public schools, and thus could not be expected to understand and maintain public school codes of behaviour. In consequence, if a local officer failed to maintain the required status and standards of behaviour, his failure was blamed on his race or class, whereas if a British officer failed, it was the individual who was blamed: 'A man who does not play the game at the outposts is a traitor to our order.'[34]....

One Anglo-Indian was chosen for a Political post in Tibet, David MacDonald, the son of a Scottish tea planter, who became an important figure on the frontier. Although his father had left India when MacDonald was five years old, the boy was well provided for, receiving the then generous sum of twenty rupees a month in trust. His Sikkimese mother, Aphu Drolma, entered him in the Bhotia Boarding School, from where he entered local government service, before joining the Younghusband Mission.[33] While MacDonald began regular Tibetan service as a Trade Agent, not an intermediary, unlike the other two local officers classified here as Tibet cadre (Norbhu Dhondup and Pemba Tsering) he shared a similar background to the intermediaries, and his career may be more appropriately considered in this section.

MacDonald had a truly multi-cultural background. Raised as a Buddhist with the name of Dorji MacDonald, he converted to Christianity and adopted the name David under the influence of his wife, the Anglo-Nepalese, Alice Curtis. These various influences gave him command of all of the principal languages of the region, Tibetan, Nepali, Hindi, Lepcha and English, and insight into both Buddhist and Christian religious cultures. MacDonald had the character and skills needed to attract the patronage of British officers, a necessary quality for an ambitious individual of his background. He assisted both Charles Bell and Colonel Waddell, Chief Medical Officer on the Younghusband Mission and early scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, to learn Tibetan, and their support gained him Political employ.[34]

Bell's patronage was crucial; MacDonald was held in high regard by Bell, and owed his position to Bell's support. When his patron left, MacDonald lost influence. His efforts to support his son John, and his son-in-law Frank Perry, in various employment schemes on the frontier brought him into conflict with Bailey, the new Political Officer Sikkim, and his final years in Tibet were difficult ones. In retirement however, he ensured the family security by turning his Kalimpong home into a successful hotel, which still exists today. [35]....

I have previously examined the Political Officers' attempts to gain access to Lhasa during the period 1910-20, when, after a change of policy by Whitehall, their efforts culminated in Charles Bell being permitted to take up a long-standing invitation from the Dalai Lama to visit Lhasa. [17]

The genesis of this invitation lay in the assistance given to the Dalai Lama by David Macdonald at Yatung in 1910. Macdonald had been specifically instructed that while he could shelter the Dalai Lama in the Trade Agency, he was to maintain neutrality in the Chinese-Tibetan conflict. But as the Tibetan leader fled south from the pursuing Chinese forces, Macdonald not only offered the Dalai Lama and his followers sanctuary in the Trade Agency, but deployed the Agency escort to protect him. [18]

Macdonald's interpretation of his orders attracted no censure from government. There can be little doubt that his actions were tacitly approved of by his immediate superior, the Political Officer Charles Bell, who was soon to benefit from the goodwill gained by Macdonald's action. Bell later described MacDonald's assistance to the Dalai Lama as being 'perhaps the chief reason why the British name stands high in Tibet.'[19]

During the Dalai Lama's period of exile, Bell succeeded in cultivating the personal friendship of the Tibetan leader and a number of his court followers. In practice, Bell was able to give the Tibetans very little concrete assistance, for Whitehall, and even many in the Government of India, considered the Dalai Lama was no longer an important political force. The Secretary of State, Lord Morley, for example, described the Dalai Lama as 'a pestilent animal... [who] should be left to stew in his own juice'.[20]

Even when the Dalai Lama returned to rule Tibet in 1912, Whitehall objected to any gestures of support being given to him. Bell and the Tibet cadre, however, offered what support they could. Bell instructed Basil Gould to escort the Dalai Lama as he passed Gyantse, and Macdonald played host to the Dalai Lama in Yatung for five days. Macdonald naturally gained great prestige from this with the local Tibetan community.[21]

-- Tibet and the British Raj, 1904-47: The Influence of the Indian Political Department Officers, by Alexander McKay


[Former Students of?] Darjeeling High School

Norbu Dhondup [Rai Bahadur], (1884-1944)[5]
• Pemba Tsering, (1905-1954)[5]
Ekai Kawaguchi
Karma Sumdhon Paul (alias Karma Babu). He later became director of the school.

Karma Sumdhon Paul (alias Karma Babu) worked as a translator and assistant for various British colonial officials in both India -- he accompanied the Sixth Panchen Lama's Indian pilgrimage in 1905-6 -- and Tibet. He was also employed by a number of other Europeans, including missionaries, before meeting and working for the Dutch orientalist John van Manen [1877-1943] at the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Karma Babu went on to become Tibetan lecturer at Calcutta University in 1924 and later published an English translation of the story of Drime Kunden (Dri-med Kun-Idan) from the Tibetan; see Richardus (1998:73-159) and Evans-Wentz (1954:89-91).

-- The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India, by Toni Huber


References

1. Derek Wallers, The Pundits, Lexington University of Kentucky Press, 1990, p. 193
2. Donald S. Lopez Fascination tibétaine: du bouddhisme, de l'Occident et de quelques mythes, p. 256
3. Alex McKay, Their Footprints Remain Biomedical Beginnings Across the Indo-Tibetan Frontier, p. 71
4. H. Louis Fader, Called from obscurity: the life and times of a true son of Tibet, 2004, "It may be of further interest to note that this British High School at Darjeeling (better known as Darjeeling High School) had as its antecedent two schools which in 1891 merged to become the DHS. These were the Bhotia Boarding School (that from its very inception in 1874 had as its Headmaster the renowned Babu and Pundit mentioned earlier, Sarat Chandra Das) and the Darjeeling School."
5. Alex McKay, Tibet and the British Raj: the frontier cadre, 1904-1947, p. 226
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Fri Dec 06, 2019 8:20 am

The Holy Spy [Ugyen Gyatso] [Excerpt], from Spying for the Raj: The Pundits and the Mapping of the Himalaya
by Jules Stewart
2006

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Chapter 7: The Holy Spy

With Chandra Das's cover effectively blown, the duty of carrying on exploration work in Tibet fell to his natural successor, Ugyen Gyatso. The jolly lama entered the Survey's secret files as agent UG and was sent to join Colonel H.C.B. Tanner's workshop to be trained in the finer points of undercover surveying. This entailed learning to use a few simple and easily concealed instruments, before the lama could be sent to Tibet 'on special duty'. Ugyen Gyatso had obviously picked up some basic skills during the months spent on the trail with his travelling companion, Chandra Das. After a week's basic training, Tanner was satisfied with the monk's ability to use a prismatic compass and determine his altitude by the hypsometer. Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich, a Survey officer who had been attached to the Russo-Afghan Border Commission, mentions in his report on Ugyen Gyatso's journey that the lama had been briefed on the methods of collecting specimens for the Calcutta Botanical Society. Whether this was a genuine spin-off from the surveying assignment or a cover-up activity is anybody's guess. Holdich adds, tantalisingly, that the monk had also been 'fully instructed by Mr Macaulay, the Secretary to the Bengal Government, as to the information which it was desirable to collect'. For a government that was desperate to gain topographical knowledge of a country into which it would soon dispatch an invasion force, the British showed themselves astonishingly parsimonious when it came to outfitting their spies. As was the case with Chandra Das's expeditions, Ugyen Gyatso's third voyage to Tibet was to be a labour of love. 'He [the lama] made his own arrangement for the purchase of cloth, needles, tobacco, &c., to be carried as merchandise, and took care to be well provided with medicines and funds for his journey.'1

In the midst of one of the torrential cloudbursts that relentlessly lash Darjeeling in the monsoon season, on 9 June 1883 Ugyen Gyatso gathered his travel kitbag, along with his wife and brother-in-law, and started off on the first leg of his journey to Tibet. As he strolled up the town's cobbled streets through the Main promenade, he stopped to inform 'certain inquisitive neighbours' that he was travelling on a visit to his home at Yangong in Sikkim, three days' march to the north. The Pundit lama and his family did indeed stop at the Yangong monastery, where he picked up a party of coolies to shoulder their loads for the demanding trek that lay ahead across the mountains. Ugyen Gyatso, or, one should say, the Survey, could not have picked a worse time to start off on a journey through this part of India. Hardly a day passes without the monsoon hitting Bengal and its northern neighbour Sikkim with an unbelievable fury, unleashing massive landslides onto the roads and sweeping away bridges across the swollen rivers. The latter almost proved to be the lama's undoing. A few hours from Yangong, he and his party were first forced to spend a morning constructing a flimsy bamboo bridge across the River Rungum, and several marches ahead they needed to employ three full days in repairing what was left of the slatted bridge over the Teesta, which roared in full flood a few inches below their terrified footsteps. So thankful was Ugyen Gyatso for his safe crossing of these torrents that, upon reaching the hamlet of Ringim, in north Sikkim, he purchased a pig, half of which he gave to his Lepcha coolies, and the other half of which he dried and carried with him as a gift for the people of Lachung, one of the last villages below the high passes into Tibet, which he reached in a few days' time.

Lachung lies along one of the main trade routes for yak caravans passing between Darjeeling and Tibet. The Lhasa government had therefore stationed an official in the village to keep a watchful eye on travellers entering the Land of Snow. It took the Pundit several days of stubborn negotiations to convince the Tibetan agent that he was but an innocent pilgrim desirous of prostrating himself before the holy shrines of Buddhism. In this he met with success, thanks, in Ugyen Gyatso's opinion, to the presence of his wife, for one could hardly conceive of a spy taking his spouse along on an espionage mission. 'The presence of his wife in his camp', writes Holdich, 'seemed to have a reassuring effect -- it was a sort of guarantee that he was a bona fide pilgrim.' 2

By early July preparations had been finalised for the crossing into Tibet. Yaks and ponies had been hired for transporting the party 's baggage on the week-long slog through rain-soaked grassland and deep mud to the 18,100-foot Donkhya La Pass. There is a widely held belief that anyone endowed with a pair of Tibetan lungs enjoys a kind of genetic immunity to altitude sickness. The fact is that Sherpas, Bhotias and other people of Tibetan stock are as vulnerable to the effects of oxygen starvation as any European, Ugyen Gyatso being no exception to this biological reality. The lama was hit by a crippling bout of altitude sickness on the summit of the pass, suffering from the usual symptoms of shortness of breath. spasms of nausea and migraine. Nevertheless, this is where his masters at the Survey had instructed him to begin his surveying work, so, steeling himself to the task, the Pundit assembled his various pieces of equipment and set about taking the relevant bearings of the River Teesta, a dark thread snaking its way across the grey rocky landscape thousands of feet below.

Two months out of Darjeeling, Ugyen Gyatso found himself standing on the summit of Pongong La, the 16,500-foot pass, where, at the distant head of the valley, he could make out the silhouette of the bustling Tibetan commercial and administrative centre of Gyantse. The Pundit received word through the grapevine that several Sikkimese traders, personal acquaintances of his from Darjeeling, were conducting their business affairs in Gyangtse. It would have been too risky to take a chance on being recognised deep within Tibetan territory, so Ugyen Gyatso and his party set up camp in a secluded spot on the south bank of the river to wait for the all-clear signal before hustling his little caravan into the city. Three days later, the Pundit entered the gates of Gyantse, where his clandestine survey work in and around the city was to prove extremely valuable to the British forces of the Younghusband expedition, who advanced on Gyantse with the aid of reliable maps in the first stage of the 1903 Tibet invasion, a campaign that garnered official support from almost all quarters, from King Edward VII to the Government of India and The Times of London.

Early August found the Pundit and his companions travelling across a far more agreeable landscape of farming villages, gardens and barley fields, lying roughly along the course of the swift-flowing Nyang Chhu river. They were now in rain shadow territory and little troubled by the torrential deluge of the summer monsoon. Ugyen Gyatso's reports to Survey headquarters on Tibetan village and religious life left few doubts in the minds of British officialdom as to the uncivilised nature of these alien tribes north of the great Himalayan divide. At Shalu monastery, a famous centre of Tantric practices, Ugyen Gyatso describes a magic rite in which an anchorite is introduced into a cave large enough for one man, where he remains for twelve years engaged in deep meditation on certain esoteric mysteries. At the end of this period, the hermit signals his readiness to return to civilisation by blowing on a trumpet made from a human thigh bone. The mystic emerges through a small hole in the ground, cross-legged in the Buddha lotus posture. He is then subjected to various tests, such as sitting on a heap of barley without displacing a single grain, to determine if he has indeed acquired esoteric powers. If the aspirant passes the test, he becomes a guru lama; if not, he is simply left to take up the routine of his previous worldly existence. Reports like this, and others depicting the oddities of Tibetan customs, were greeted with derision by Survey officers. 'Such grotesque superstitions point to a more degraded condition of the national religion of Tibet in the heart of the country than the admirers of the Light of Asia would care to credit.’3

The Pundit was now wending his way toward familiar terrain, with Shigatse and its sprawling monastery complex of Tashilunpo in his sights, 50 miles north-west of Gyantse. It must be remembered that Ugyen Gyatso, surveyor, explorer, botanist, was also a Buddhist monk ordained at Pemayangtse, one of the holiest lamaseries in the Tibetan religious hierarchy. His quest for spiritual attainment was fired by the sacred site of Shigatse, and he spent a good deal of his time visiting the city's most venerated shrines. On one of these occasions a high lama persuaded him to take a vow to repeat certain forms of prayer to the god Idam 3,000 times a day. Albeit having the best of intentions, the Pundit found this performance 'quite incompatible with his secular duties', that is, his surveying tasks, so he revisited the lama and begged to be released from his oath. To his relief, Ugyen Gyatso was let off with 1,000 incantations a day and 'as many more as he could manage'.

Sleep and Dream in the Vedas

Among the paradoxes of life, one of the greatest is the paradox of sleep: human beings cannot live without sleep; it renews life, but in sleep, vitality, activity, and all that is characteristic of life, diminish and fade away as in death. Reat notes that in the Vedas, the derivatives of the verb root Vjiv (life) not only meant life as opposed to death, but activity as opposed to sleep. The vital faculties are all associated with wakefulness and activity.24 The Vedic mind was preoccupied with augmenting life, strength, and vitality; sleep was regarded as a dangerous phenomenon associated with evils such as death and destruction. The following passage gives a good idea of the general Vedic view of the nature of sleep:

We know thy place of birth (janitra), O sleep; thou art son of seizure (grahi),25 agent of Yama (the Lord of Death); ender art thou, death art thou; so, O sleep, do we comprehend thee here; do thou, O sleep, protect us from evil dreaming. 2. We know thy place of birth, O sleep; thou art son of perdition … 3 … son of ill-success … 4. … son of extermination … 5. … son of calamity … 6. We know thy place of birth, O sleep; thou art son of the wives (sisters) of the gods, agent of Yama; ender art thou, death art thou; so, O sleep, do we comprehend thee here; do thou, O sleep, protect us from evil-dreaming.26


Here Sleep is regarded as a powerful deity associated with death and destruction. Sleep is called upon to protect one from evil dreams as well as to bring the forces of destruction and calamity upon one's enemies. The following passage uses words associated with the nature of sleep to curse the enemy:

[W]ith ill-success I pierce him; with extermination I pierce him; with calamity I pierce him; with seizure I pierce him; with darkness I pierce him.

Now (idam) do I wipe off evil-dreaming on him of such-and-such lineage,27 son of such-and-such a mother.28


-- Dreamworlds of Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism: The Third Place, by Angela Sumegi


The blithesome, rotund lama seemed to have a knack for blundering into awkward situations - evoking an image of a Peter Ustinov character swathed in a crimson robe. Yet there was nothing frivolous about the information of commercial and military value that he contrived to gather on his journey across Tibet, at a critical time in British India's relations with its northern neighbour. From Shigatse, whose height the Pundit fixed at 12,350 feet above sea level, he set a course eastward along the southern bank of the Tsangpo, following Chandra Das's route toward the great lake complex of Yamdo Tso. Ugyen Gyatso discovered that the river is navigable by ferry service for 50 miles east of Shigatse. Below this point begin the lesser-known reaches of the Tibetan waterway, where it takes a bend southward and becomes 'rough and rapid ', quite impracticable for the hide-built coracles of the country. After a difficult crossing of the Tsangpo, depicted in his report as 'a black, turbid flood', the Pundit and his wife marched ahead to the system of lakes that he spent several days exploring and surveying in great detail -- in spite of the frequent rain and thick mists that enveloped the nearby mountains. The terrain in this region was more reminiscent of the drizzly Sikkim he had left behind than of the arid Tibetan plateau.

The Pundit ran into 'serious difficulty' a few days after completing his survey of the Yamdrock Tso network of lakes. Ugyen Gyatso had climbed a rocky eminence near the small village of Lha-khang to admire the rugged grandeur of the surrounding countryside. On his return to the house in which he had been offered lodgings, he found his wife and brother-in-law in a state of great distress. In their sleeping quarters stood several burly Tibetans whose scowling faces left little to the imagination of an undercover surveyor. The men had been sent by the local Jongpen, or district official, to examine the Pundit's belongings. Ugyen Gyatso's wife had concealed most of the surveying instruments, but there was enough evidence around to convince the Tibetans that they had captured a high-ranking spy. The Tibetan officials were in no mood for excuses. The Pundit, his wife and brother-in-law were arrested and kept in confinement for several days, until they were summoned before two Jongpens, one a lay official and the other a priest, who were to decide how to deal with the interloper. The Pundit could expect little mercy from his judges, who were clearly not amused by the pile of instruments, maps, botanical specimens and books before them. The decision was immediate and chilling: this was a most grievous case, warranting the involvement of the central government in Lhasa, to where all these artefacts were to be sent as evidence of a clear breach of the orders that had recently been issued, strictly forbidding anyone to draw up maps of the country. Ugyen Gyatso knew that he had to act swiftly or risk the same fate that had been dealt to other explorers found guilty of spying, namely a public beheading. Whatever funds he had on his person were judiciously slipped to his host and a few of the junior officials, who were thus persuaded to intercede on his behalf. Some of the bribe money undoubtedly found its way into the Jongpens' pockets, for during the ensuing cross-examination their hearts suddenly softened. The Pundit was let off with a stem warning and, what is more astonishing, with the return of all his property, except for his notebook, which the Tibetans took pains to destroy, lest they were to find themselves compromised by it later falling into the hands of higher officials. Ugyen Gyatso was forced to give an undertaking not to set foot in Lhasa or mention a word to anyone about his detention in Lha-khang. The day after his release, the Pundit stole out of the vilIage at daybreak and casually resumed his surveying work of the Tsanpo valley, while setting a course northward on the road to Lhasa.

The stone-covered expanses along this stage of the journey were infested with robbers 'with blackened faces' who preyed upon small, unarmed parties travelling to Lhasa. Ugyen Gyatso came across a lonely hut, called a jikkyop, standing forlorn in the middle of the plain, where he took shelter for the night. It was like stepping back several centuries in time, for the hut was kept by a 'half-savage old couple' whose bare survival seemed to depend on providing passing travellers with animal dung for fuel, in exchange for food. The Pundit, who had spent many a night shivering in caves or in open fields, was repulsed by this wretched place, which he hurriedly abandoned the following morning. The closer Ugyen Gyatso drew to the villages and vast monastery complexes on the approach to Lhasa, the more care he needed to take with his pilgrim guise in order to avoid being unmasked. At one point, the party crossed paths with a royal procession led by the Regent of Tibet -- the temporal ruler as opposed to the spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama -- who was on a periodic tour of his domains. This proved very inconvenient for Ugyen Gyatso, as he was unable to restrain himself from engaging in cheerful banter with the royal retainers about his adventures on the road. As the chatter rambled on, a few of the king's bodyguards began to take a keener interest in the Pundit's travels, suspecting a possible hidden motive behind his journey to Lhasa. Ugyen Gyatso only escaped being handed over to the authorities at the last minute by dispensing liberal bribes to his inquisitive companions.

On 9 October, four months to the day after his departure from Darjeeling, the Pundit surmounted a low pass, from which the lights of the holy city of Lhasa could be spotted in the distance. He took the precaution of crossing the Ki Chhu river, which he measured as 500 paces across, by moonlight, in a ferry piloted by several hopelessly drunk boatmen. The Pundit refers in passing to being almost 'torn to pieces' by savage Tibetan mastiffs when he alighted on the north bank of the river. Ugyen Gyatso had been forewarned about these ferocious beasts and took pains to supply himself with a sack stuffed with bones and scraps of meat 'with which he beguiled the dogs as they disputed his way'. By two o'clock in the morning the Pundit, not to mention his long-suffering wife, sat down under a tree to catch their breath, unsuspecting of the tribulations that lay ahead. His first task was to devise a plan to conceal his instruments and notes. Lhasa was no place to risk having these incriminating instruments exposed to the authorities, who were unlikely to be bought off so easily as a provincial Jongpen. He hit upon the idea of sealing all his surveying equipment and records in a bag, which he would leave in the care of a fellow monk at the nearby Daphung monastery, a short walk along the road to Lhasa. With this problem resolved, the Pundit settled in for a few hours' rest, only to be abruptly roused from his sleep at dawn by a group of angry villagers, who told him that the tree under which he had chosen to bed down was a place of holy veneration, and that he had only to lay a finger on a twig to be guilty of offending the guardian deities. To make matters worse, he found out that he was lucky still to be drawing breath, for this was also a meeting spot for local robbers and freebooters of every stripe, who took advantage of the neighbourhood's seclusion to plan their evil doings.

When Ugyen Gyatso reached Daphung, a short distance south of Lhasa, he explained his predicament to his friend over a cup of buttered tea. The Pundit's possessions were duly secreted behind locked doors and he went out to have a look around the great city and find a place for his party to spend the night. His first encounter was with a Chinese army sergeant who kept a tidy guesthouse near the monastery. This seemed an ideal place to spend the night. Most importantly, there was no danger of his Chinese landlord demanding to examine his baggage, as might easily have been the case in a Tibetan household. Once again, Ugyen Gyatso's proclivity for loose chatter nearly brought about his demise. Relaxing by the fire, the Pundit happened to make some indiscreet enquiries about the status of the Nepalese Resident in Lhasa, an unfortunate subject to bring up at a time when relations between Tibet and Nepal were strained to breaking point. His Chinese host's mood suddenly turned sullen. Just why, he wanted to know, was this alleged religious pilgrim taking such an avid interest in the country's political affairs? The conversation quickly turned into a cross-examination, and, fearing that he had let a spy into his midst, the Chinese officer let loose a torrent of abuse and unceremoniously turned the Pundit and his party out of his house.

Ugyen Gyatso, with his wife and brother-in-law in tow, spent the rest of the day roaming the streets of Lhasa in search of new lodgings. He eventually came across some long-lost Nepalese friends living in town, who could put him up in a spare room, in which the Pundit gratefully dropped his bags for a night's well-earned rest. However, his fame had gone before him, and it was not long before the police, who had been tipped off by the Chinese sergeant, came knocking at the door, demanding to have a look at his baggage. They left no stone unturned in their search, but fortunately failed to find any possessions of an incriminating nature, all of them having been safely stashed away at Daphung monastery. In view of the prevailing tensions between the authorities and the local Nepalese community, the Pundit's new hosts were equally indisposed to having a suspect, talkative monk from Sikkim under their roof. But they had a plan that might help him out of his predicament: Ugyen Gyatso's monastery, Pemayangtse, had a close historical kinship with the Buddhist red-hat sect of Nepal. A discreet message sent across town procured the Pundit an invitation from the Resident himself, who was only too happy to welcome a pilgrim from Pemayangtse into his house, a four-storey building that stood close to the home of his Chinese counterpart. The Nepalese Resident found the garrulous monk from Sikkim an engaging house guest, to the extent that Ugyen Gyatso's position in Lhasa was 'secured', meaning he could move freely about the city to carry out the real duties that had brought him to the Tibetan capital.

One week after arriving in Lhasa the Pundit commenced his survey of the Tibetan capital, using as his cover, quite literally, an umbrella under which he concealed the equipment that had been retrieved from its hiding place in Daphung monastery. He seemed to thrive in this environment of high intrigue, for he knew that to sit under an umbrella in full public view of Lhasa's paranoid officialdom was an open flirtation with danger. Yet he was also aware that he was engaged in trail-blazing work that, on his return, was certain to earn him the kudos of the exalted Survey of India. So for two days on end, thinking himself beyond reach of recognition, Ugyen Gyatso walked, observed and measured, painstakingly putting into practice the skills learnt in Darjeeling, so that he was able to calculate, for example, that it took exactly 9,500 paces to do a full circuit of the city.

The Pundit also found it necessary to discourage his wife from forming too close a friendship with the Resident's spouse, although, after the months of swashbuckling along the road to Lhasa, the poor woman must have been bored to distraction, spending her days confined within the four walls of the Residency. The fear was that the lama's wife might carelessly reveal the truth behind her husband's fondness for strolling about town under his umbrella. At the same time, Ugyen Gyatso took advantage of every spare moment to pump the Resident for information about the Tibetan government, its structure, its leadership and how it exercised its powers, most of which served to confirm the information that had been gathered by Chandra Das on his expedition to Lhasa.

The Pundit's luck ran out less than a week into his fieldwork. Within the pantheon of Tibetan liturgy there is a ceremony called the sky burial, in which a corpse is borne by ragapas, literally 'carriers of the dead', to a spot, usually a hilltop, where the body is dismembered by these men and fed to vultures that hover restlessly overhead, waiting to pounce on their gruesome meal. The ragapas are outcasts from society, the Tibetan equivalent of Indian untouchables, who have in most cases been branded pariahs because of past criminal offences. ‘They are only permitted to live in houses or huts made of horns, no matter what their present wealth or former position may have been. These ragapas appear to be the pests of Lhasa. Hardened by crime, and deadened by their occupation to all sense of humanity, they band together in a turbulent and unruly crowd, and endeavour to extort blackmail from all strangers and travellers.'4 It was Ugyen Gyatso's misfortune to have fallen foul of these wretched creatures, who prowled the streets like pariah dogs. The reason behind the ragapas' attack was never made clear, but the lama's eccentric appearance was undoubtedly enough to set their teeth gnashing. The upshot was that one morning a band of these snarling ragapas surrounded Ugyen Gyatso while at his work and proceeded to chase him into one of the city's central squares. They hurled abuse at the terrified lama, and then began chorusing the words he least wanted to hear: 'British spy! British spy!' It was something other than sheer chance that had led them to denounce what was really happening beneath that umbrella. To his alarm, one of this gang turned out to be a native of Darjeeling who claimed to recognise the Pundit. His plight was now alarming enough for Ugyen Gyatso to send in haste for his Nepalese friends. They came rushing to the scene, along with a friendly Tibetan official. The way out of this predicament was quite straightforward: once again the Pundit was obliged to dig into his pocket to buy his tormentors' silence, at least long enough to allow him to make a safe getaway from Lhasa.

Ugyen Gyatso's main dilemma was that by now, having liberally dispensed bribes to all and sundry to buy his way out of trouble, his funds were starting to run dangerously low. This, however, did not present an insurmountable problem for the resourceful Pundit. He first needed to purchase ponies and saddles for the long journey home. Fortunately, the wife of one of the Nepalese residents in Lhasa happened to be visiting Darjeeling at that time, so by pleading his case to these acquaintances he succeeded in issuing what he called a 'promissory note' for 125 rupees, sufficient to start him on his voyage in comfort.

Ugyen Gyatso had hardly stirred from his house for days, fearful of being spotted by one of the ragapas or, even worse, the Chinese officials who by now had collected enough circumstantial evidence to order the lama's arrest on suspicion of spying. At dawn on 19 October he gathered his belongings and slipped out of Lhasa, not failing to take his final observations -- always under cover of his umbrella -- even before he was clear of town. Nearly a month later Ugyen Gyatso closed his extensive survey while crossing the Cho La Pass, moving southward over well-trodden ground toward Pemayangtse monastery. Once at his spiritual home, the Pundit entertained his brother lamas with the remainder of the funds he had obtained from Darjeeling, while leaving a small sum on deposit for one monk to turn the monastery's huge mani or prayer-wheel day and night. He received the blessings of the head lama of Pemayangtse, and not a moment too soon as it turned out, for when he reached Darjeeling a month later he was told that the old monk had died almost immediately after Ugyen Gyatso's departure.

Holdich, summing up the achievements of this remarkable Pundit's six-month odyssey, hailed it as 'one of the best records of Tibetan travels that has yet been achieved by any agent of the Survey of India'.5 In a later report, published in 1889, on the work of the Pundits, the Surveyor General of India, Colonel H.R. Thuillier, lavished praise on the plucky monk from Pemayangtse, whom he credited for filling in a crucial gap of the Great Trigonometrical Survey's North-East Trans-Frontier map single-handed, on a mission that took him only slightly longer than six months. Thuillier waxed enthusiastic about Ugyen Gyatso's work at Yamdrok Tso lake, 'the curious double peninsula which he [the Pundit] has completely mapped'. Ugyen Gyatso was also the first to map the upper course of the River Lhobrak that flows eastward to meet the Manas in Assam. He surveyed and mapped areas of north-east Tibet 'over country till then absolutely unknown to us'. Thuillier concludes: 'The valuable geographical information which he has thus collected is interspersed with references to the social and religious customs of the Tibetans, which will doubtless prove very acceptable to the general reader.’6

The Pundit Ugyen Gyatso retired from active service with the Survey of India to spend his post-exploration years as Sub-Inspector of Schools in Darjeeling. On certain occasions, as one of the monks on the monastery's roll, he travelled through the valleys of his native Sikkim to attend high religious ceremonies at Pemayangtse. From time to time he would be coaxed into emerging from his retirement, when the Survey officers had need of his expertise in a liaison role to help guide their work in trans-Himalayan exploration. Ugyen Gyatso was called upon to translate the exploits of a Mongolian monk, Serap Gyatso (no relation), who turned up in Darjeeling with a tale of his travels through the lower Tsangpo valley undertaken nearly thirty years before. The monk's narrative was confined chiefly to a list of names of monasteries, sacred places and villages, with an occasional digression into history and descriptions of wild beasts, throwing little light on the geography of the Tsangpo, according to Ugyen Gyatso's account. The Mongolian lama's account was drawn from memory and, as the Survey report states, must be accepted with caution. His recollection proved surprisingly accurate, as was later confirmed in a debriefing by the explorer Kinrup, although the information he brought back proved to be of minor value to the Survey's objectives of the day. 'Nevertheless, from the information, such as it is, combined with the account of K.P. [the explorer Kintup] ... Colonel Tanner was able to compile a sketch map of the course of the Lower Tsangpo and thus furnish the first contribution to the geography of that unknown tract. '7 Every scrap of information was of value to the Survey's data-gathering mission regarding the people and terrain that lay between British India and that uncharted land beyond the Himalaya, where lurked the Russian enemy. If nothing else, Serap Gyatso's findings helped 'in cross-checking many of the routes of which the authorities in the Survey Department had only heard'.8
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Sat Dec 07, 2019 8:43 am

Part 1 of 2

Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India, Volume 4
edited by Sarat Chandra Das, C.I.E.,
Vol. IV. 1896 Part I.
Calcutta
Printed at the Baptist Mission Press
Publishers: Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Messrs. Luzac & Co., opposite British Museum, London.
Continental Agents: Messrs. Otto Harrassowitz, Karl Hiersemann, M. Spirgatis, Liepzig.
Published at the Buddhist Text Society
86/2 Jaun Bazar Street, Calcutta.
Annual Subscription: In the Far East and America, 2-1/2 $; in India and Ceylon, 5 Rupees; in Europe, 8 shillings.

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Image

Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India
(1893 & 1895-1896, Calcutta)

The Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India was a quarterly journal printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, in 1893 and from 1895 to 1896 (Vol. 1, No. 1 & Vol. 3 to Vol. 4). It was edited by Sarat Chandra Das. The journal continued the →

Image
Journal and Text of the Buddhist Text Society of India
(1893-1894, Calcutta)

The Journal and Text of the Buddhist Text Society of India was a quarterly journal printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, from 1893 to 1894 (Vol. 1, No. 2 to Vol. 2, No. 4). It was edited by Sarat Chandra Das. The journal continued the → Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893) and was continued by the the → Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1895-1896), the → Journal of the Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society (1897-1901), the → Journal of the Buddhist Text and Research Society (1904-1905), and → Research and Review (1908-1909).

Journal and Text of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893) and was continued by the →

Image
Journal of the Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society
(1897-1901, Calcutta)

The Journal of the Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society was a quarterly journal printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, from 1897 to 1901 (Vol. 5 to Vol. 7, No. 2). It was edited by Sarat Chandra Das. The journal continued the → Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893, 1895-1896) and the → Journal and Text of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893-1894). It was continued by the → Journal of the Buddhist Text and Research Society (1904-1905) and → Research and Review (1908-1909).

Journal of the Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society (1897-1901), the →

Image
Journal of the Buddhist Text and Research Society
(1904-1906, Calcutta)

Continuing the → Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893, 1895-1896), the → Journal and Text of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893-1894), and the → Journal of the Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society (1897-1901), the Journal of the Buddhist Text and Research Society was published from 1904 to 1906 (Vol. 7, No. 3 to No. 4). It was continued by → Research and Review (1908-1909).

Journal of the Buddhist Text and Research Society (1904-1905), and →

Image
Research and Review
(1908-1909, Calcutta)

Research and Review: Journal of the Indian Research Society was a quarterly journal published in Calcutta at the Baptist Mission Press. The journal was published in 1908 and 1909 (Vol. 1, No. 1 to No. 3). Research and Review continued the Journal of the Buddhist Text Society (1893, 1895-1896), the → Journal and Text of the Buddhist Text Society of India (1893-1894) the → Journal of the Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society (1897-1901), and the Journal of the Buddhist Text & Research Society (1904-1905).

Research and Review (1908-1909).

-- The Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India, by Ideas of India


Image
Dharma Cakra at Mrigadav Varanasi

Table of Contents:

Proceedings.

The Burmese Ramazat

Journal

1. A brief survey of the Doctrines of Salvation
2. The Story of Virudhaka
3. The Madhyamika Aphorisms, Ch. II.
4. Buddhism in India
5. A Translation of three Buddhist Tracts of Korea
(1) Precepts for young students
(2) Prayers and Chants
(3) Precepts for the Cultivation of the Heart
Appendix I. The Lepcha people and their notions of Heaven and Hell
Appendix II. The History of Sikkim
Appendix III. Kachari Folk-Tales

Proceedings.

The Quarterly General Meeting of the Buddhist Text Society of India was convened in the Hall of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science on the 1st February, 1896.

In the absence of Sir Alfred Croft, the President, Dr. Mahendra Lal Sarcar, the Vice-President, took the chair.

Amongst others, the following gentlemen were present: --

Dr. Hubbe Schleiden of Germany.
Professor A. Foucher of the University of Paris.
Col. H.S. Olcott.
Rev. K.S. MacDonald, M.A., D.D.
The Hon’ble Dr. Mahendra Lal Sarcar, M.D., C.I.E.
Rev. A Tomory, M.A.
Dr. R.K. Sen, M.D.
Rai Sarat Chandra Das Bahadur, C.I.E.
Babu Radha Charan Das.
Mr. R.D. Mehta.
Mr. H. Dharmapala.
Sri. Shiva Prasanna Bhattacharyya.
Mr. Caddy.
Sri Bholanath Chakravarti.
Sri Dinanath Ganguli.

The Honorary Secretary then announced a donation of Rs. 25 from Sri Radha Charan Das Zemindar of Balasore, for which he received the thanks of the meeting.

After this, the present made to the Society of books and pamphlets by different public bodies was announced, and the donors received thanks for the same.

The Meeting then confirmed the appointment of the following Corporate Members made by the Council:

Prince Henri D’Orleans.
Professor Foucher.
Sri Radha Charan Das.

Professor A. Foucher then exhibited photographs of Buddhist deities, taken by him from old Palm-lead manuscripts of Nepal, with some remarks. The Meeting thanked the professor for the trouble he took in placing the photographs before the members.

Sri Dinanath Ganguli then read the notes on the exorcism of spirits in Korea communicated by Dr. Landis.

Sri Dinanath Ganguli made the following remarks in connection with these notes:

In this country, the popular belief is that, those who commit suicide become ghosts and occupy trees. It is necessary to propitiate them with offerings of food as is done in Korea, but the method is different. Here the children or relations of the deceased offer rice and vegetables to the manes at Gaya: and when this is done, the ghosts quit the trees being set free from the ghostly state. The trees occupied by the ghosts then fall down, and this indicates that the ghosts have received salvation.

There is also another belief among the people that, those who are vindictive whilst in body, continue to be so after death. These spirits trouble their neighbours when alive, and they cease not to do so after death. This shows the necessity of our leading peaceful lives, so that, we may pass our days comfortably, and, after our death, do not molest our neighbours and others; but, on the contrary, become ministering angels to them.

After this, Col. Olcott made some remarks with reference to the notes on the exorcism of spirits in Korea.

Dr. R.K. Sen then read a note on the “origin of the Maurayas of Magadha and of Chanakya.” The note was a very interesting one, and the Doctor was thanked for it.

After this, Col. Olcott exhibited a picture of sleeping Buddha on a grain of rice; and Mr. Caddy placed before the meeting some photographs of Buddhist architecture by Greek Buddhism, one being of Cakya Muni before he became Buddha. With regard to these photographs, Rai Sarat Chandra Das Bahadur made a few remarks, and said that, the architecture explained the probability that Sambhala the head quarter of the Mahayana Buddhism was the Capital of the Bactrian Greeks who were Buddhists, and that it was in the Swat Valley.

The Burmese Rama Zat.
Translated by Cri Ishwar Chandra Gupta.


[x]

Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India.
A Brief Survey of the Doctrines of Salvation.
By Prof. Satic Chandra Vidyabhushan, M.A.


[x]

The Story of Virudhaka, from the Avadana Kalpalata
by Babu Lachmi Narayan Sinha, M.A., B.L.


[x]

The Madhyamika Aphorisms. Chapter II. Doctrine of Passing and Staying.
by Prof. Satic Ch. Vidyabhusan, M.A.


[x]

Buddhism in India.
by Professor Satischandra Vidyabhushana, M.A.


[x]

A Translation of Three Buddhist Tracts From Korea.
by E.G. Landis, M.D., M.R.A.S.


[x]

Appendix I. The Lepcha People and Their Notions of Heaven and Hell
by Cri Kali Kumar Das.


[x]

Appendix II. History of Sikkim.
by the Honourable H.H. Risley, C.S., C.I.E.


[x]

Appendix III. Kachari Folk-Tales.
by J.D. Anderson, Esq., I.C.S.


[x]

A Note on the Ancient Geography of Asia, Compiled From Valmiki-Ramayana.
by Nobin Chandra Das, M.A.

Of the Bengal Provincial Service, (formerly Law-Lecturer of the Chittagong College), Translator of Raghuvamsa of Kali Dasa and “Miracles of Buddha.”

Hail Valmiki, sweet ko’il on Poesy’s spray,
Who sang Ram in ever-melodious lay!


Hare Press: Calcutta.
1896
Printed and Published by R. Dutt.
Hare Press:
46, Bechu Chatterjee’s Street
Dedicated to Ralph T.H. Griffith Esqr. M.A., C.I.E., Formerly Principal of the Benares College and Director of Public Instruction, N.W.P. and Oudh, whose earnest and sympathetic labours, in the field of ancient Sanskrit literature have placed within each reach of English-speaking people.
The Vast Treasures of the Vedas and the Ramayana,
By his humble admirer,
Nobin Chandra Das
Krishnaghar
17 February 1896.

Table of Contents:

1. Preface
2. General scope of the work
3. Rama’s journey to Mithila
4. Descent of the Ganges from the Himalayas
5. Bharat’s journey from Giri-vraja to Ajodhya
6. Rama’s route from Ajodhya to Lanka
7. The kingdom of Kishkindhya.
8. The world as known in Ramayanic time
I. The army of the East
II. The army of the South
III. The army of the West
IV. The army of the North.
Appendix I. The Ramayana as a history
Appendix II. Dharmaranya.
Appendix III. Prachi or Prachina (Eastern country) and Dravida
Appendix IV. Sapta Sindhu
Appendix V. Alluvial formations by the action of rivers
Index.

[x]

Other Works by the Same Author.
Raghu Vamsa.
(In Bengali Verse.)
Complete in 3 Parts, Price Rs. 2

[x]

Babu Chandra Nath Bose, M.A., Bengali Translator to Government, writes:

[x]

***

A Special General Meeting of the Buddhist Text Society of India,
Held at the Town Hall, Darjeeling
On the 4th November, 1896.


Distinguished Visitors and Members.

The Hon’ble Sir A. Mackenzie, K.C.S.I., Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal
Lady Mackenzie
The Hon’ble Sir Griffith Evans, Barrister-At-Law; Member of the Supreme Council.
Sir Alfred Croft, K.C.I.E., M.A., President.
The Hon’ble M. Finucane, M.A., I.C.S., Secretary to the Government of Bengal
Dr. C.A. Martin, M.A.,, LL.D., Offg. Director of Public Instruction.
Mr. A. Pedler, F.R.S., President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
The Revd. Rylands Brown.

The Hon’ble Mr. M. Finucane, C.S., M.A. in the chair. The proceedings were opened by the Honorary Secretary, Rai Sarat Chandra Das, C.I.E., Bahadur, introducing a deputation of three Lamas, the Venerable Lama Sherab Gya-tsho, Rai Bahadur Lama Ugyen Gya-tsho and Sikyong Tulku, the Avatar Prince of Sikkim. Lama Sherab read a farewell address in Tibetan to Sir Alfred Croft. The Honorary Secretary read an English translation of the same, the text of which is as follows:

Gentlemen, We have come to-day to express our satisfaction at the restoration to health of Sir Alfred Croft, the President of this Society. We were unhappy before on account of his illness. We rejoice now.

We understand he is about to proceed home. We hope he will long enjoy the fruit of his good Karma, and a true Lama as he has been throughout his life, our fervent prayer is that he may be reborn in the world of Bliss called Sukavata (De-wa-chan), about which the saints of old have sung:

The Venerable Lama Sherab next raised a low chant, his colleagues joining him in chorus. This was a Tibetan hymn from the Dharani (charm) called the “Undying Drum-sound.” At the conclusion of the chant, Mr. W.B. Livingstone rose and said that he had been requested to read an English translation of the hymn, but on perusing it he had found that it contained a most compromising confession of the inner tents of the Buddhist religion, and he could not do so without first recording his profession of unswerving faith as a Christian. He then read the translation:

Far to the west lies De-wa-chan,
That happy land of Buddhist bliss;
Where reigns the saintly sovereign,
Amitabha, of Light-boundless.

Who e’er His name in faith implores,
On rebirth gains that blessed land;
His dying eyes shall see the Lord—
The Teacher and his priestly band.

No women there, nor fleshly birth;
But from a diamond lotus flower
Bursts blooming forth the new born soul.


In the glorious company of
Amitabha our needs are few,
But food and drink and raiment rare
And alms-bowl all appear when wished.

The Buddhas of the quarters ten,
Unite in praise of De-wa-chan;
Our prayer hence will e’er be this,
“To be born in that paradise.”


The Chairman said that as a formal address to a public official was prohibited by law, the address of the Lamas had taken the above form.

Mr. Livingstone then went on to address the meeting, saying that there was no doubt of the good done by great travelers and the benefits conferred upon civilization by such explorers as Rai Sarat Chandra Das, Bahadur, was incalculable. After giving several illustrations of the benefits of travel in the promotion of knowledge, the speaker proceeded to dwell upon the Rai Bahadur’s explorations and researches in a very complimentary strain, and likened that gentleman to Dr. Livingstone.

The Honourable Sir Griffith Evans, K.C.I.E., in moving a resolution to record the good wishes of the Lamas and also the regret of the meeting at the retirement of the President of the Society, said he would not attempt to make a speech after the eloquent speaker whom they had just heard. He referred to the enlightened Lamas who were present and said that he rejoiced that the British Government was now able to prove to such enlightened men that in their desire to open intercourse with Tibet they were actuated by no desire to disturb the country and its rulers, but only prompted by a wish to promote trade and also by an intellectual desire to learn as much as possible of Northern or Tibetan Buddhism. He referred to Sir Alfred Croft whose good qualities were known to all present, most of whom were his personal friends. He had done great work in India as they all know, during his tenure of the post of Director of Public Instruction, which he had held for 20 years. He it was who first realized the possibility of penetrating into Tibet in order to get access to Buddhist records. There had been no intercourse with that exclusive country for nearly a century before Sir Alfred Croft’s time. Not since the Governorship of Warren Hastings who indeed had succeeded for a time in opening up communication, but he was an exceptional man and one who pretty generally succeeded in getting his own way. In the present day the credit was due to Sir Alfred Croft and was one of the many good things which the public owed to him. He realized the possibility of training some of our Indian subjects, instructing them in the Tibetan language and sending them over the border. Government allotted funds for the purpose and the result was that Rai Sarat Chandra Das, Bahadur, devoted himself to the work. He was the only man who had succeeded in so mastering the Tibetan language that he would be welcomed by the Tibetans themselves. His perfect knowledge of the language was his passport, and he had succeeded in going where no one but himself could pass. In the course of his travels he had to cross stupendous mountain ranges on levels of eternal snow. He had shewn himself gifted with the greatest physical endurance. He could speak from his own personal knowledge as the Rai Bahadur’s power of endurance as he had been in his company to the borders of Tibet in 1881 during a journey involving much fatigue and exposure. The Rai Bahadur had a delight in hardship and adventure which was quite European. It was due to his capacity for overcoming difficulties as well as his great learning that he had been able to penetrate where he had been and return to give the result of his explorations. And it was due to Sir Alfred Croft that the opportunity had been offered him of displaying his powers in so worthy a cause.

The Hon’ble Mr. Finucane in putting Sir. Griffith Evans’ resolution to the meeting said: It needs no words from me to commend this resolution to this assembly. Sir Alfred Croft’s presence and the rules of Government preclude me from making any lengthened complimentary remarks, but I think I may say without trenching on forbidden ground that as the public and Sir Alfred Croft’s numerous friends were deeply grieved and distressed on hearing of his illness so they are now, in a corresponding degree, rejoiced at his restoration to health. Allusion has been made to his approaching relinquishment of the Presidentship of this Society. On this point I will only say that when Sir Alfred relinquishes this and other similar offices which he has adorned, the public, native and European, will lose a friend who has conferred upon them great benefits; and his many friends will lose a highly cultured gentleman and charming companion. As to the loss to Government by his retirement this is not the occasion, nor am I authorized to speak upon the subject.

Sir Alfred Croft said he would make but a few remarks. All three Lamas present were personal friends of his own. The Lama Sherab was a man of great learning who had come from the remotest borders of Mongolia. He passed through Darjeeling sixteen years ago on his way to Nepal. Lama Sherab’s fame as a scholar had preceded him; and he had the satisfaction of securing the service of the Lama’s great learning for the promotion of Tibetan study. He also alluded in high terms to the services of Lama Ugyen Gya-tsho. The Avatar Lama was another friend whom he had known for a year and found him a young man of much ability. In that short space he had learned to read and write Hindi. He could also understand English, and had begun to speak it.

Sir Alfred Croft further remarked that his position as President of the Buddhist Text Society was a peculiar one, for he regretted to say that he was entirely ignorant of Buddhist Texts. But to the great knowledge which Rai Sarat Chandra Das, Bahadur, had acquired the world was much indebted. It was to his researches that the Tibetan books now before the world were due. The books issued from and now being printed in the Government Press at Darjeeling, were of European interest. He referred to the recent article in the Academy on the subject of Buddhist texts and said that such articles had been rendered possible by the explorations and researches of the Rai Bahadur. It was a source of great satisfaction to the speaker that he had been able to help this work from the beginning. No such society as the Buddhist Text Society was possible, without Buddhist books and therefore to Rai Sarat Chandra Das, Bahadur, was due its success. The object in sending Sarat Chandra to Tibet had fully succeeded. He had been able to interest the rulers and the Lamas, in his work, and he had brought back a yak load of Buddhist books of the utmost value. The result of this exploration had been manifested in two ways. Rai Sarat Chandra’s researches had resulted in a large number of papers on the religious, philosophy and history of Tibet, many of which had been published in the proceedings of the Asiatic Society; and the Tibetan books now being published would be of the utmost value to the learned world of Europe. Finally, Sir Alfred Croft observed that his connexion with the Buddhist Text Society had been a source of much interest and gratification to him, and he should always look on the proceedings of this day with satisfaction and pride.

Rai Sarat Chandra Das, Bahadur, C.I.E., then gave a short lecture on the Lake which he had named Yamdo Croft, in honour of Sir Alfred Croft. He spoke as follows, often referring to maps which he handed round to His Honor and Lady Mackenzie and others present:

I will now trace the history of the name of the great lake of Tibet called Palti in our English maps, and show justification for connecting its real name Yamdo with the good name of Sir Alfred Croft.

In 1730, Orazio Della Penna, a Capuchin missionary, visited the great lake of Tibet and described it as follows: “The easternmost place is called Kambala, which is the name of a great mountain, on the slopes of which are many places, and in the plain at the foot to the south is a great lake called Iandro, which is eighteen days’ journey round, according to those who have made the circuit, but within are some hilly islands. The same lake has no outlet that I know of, and during a day and a half’s march round it, I can vouch that I saw none; while as regards the remaining portion, I have the authority of those who have made its circuit.” The lake indeed has no outlet.

In 1735 D’Anville, a Jesuit missionary, conducted the survey of the whole of Tibet under the orders of emperor Kanghi. He trained up some Lamas to do the work of survey and with their help prepared the first map of Tibet. Unfortunately the art of plotting map was then little known, in consequence of which D’Anville’s map was badly done.

In it the lake was called Peiti. This name was derived from Pede, the name of a small town with a fort situated on the margin of the lake.

In 1762, Georgi, in his Alphetum Tibetanum, first mentioned the name Palte, which was evidently derived from Pal-de the written form of the name Pede.

Klaproth, who obtained some account of the lake from Tibetan travelers visiting Peking, designated it by the name Phal-dhi Yum-tsho, i.e., turquoise lake of Pal-de town.

The Chinese name of the lake is Paite (another form of Peite) or Pai-che, t in Chinese, being convertible to ch. Colonel Montgomery’s explorer who visited the lake in 1874, brought the name Yamdo-Chho, i.e., the lake of Yamdo, which is the same as Landro of Della Penna. The real name of the lake is Yamdo, written Ya-hbrog which phonetically, becomes Yamdo, (ya) means up or high, and hbrog pronounced as (do) means herdman’s encampment; Yamdo-chho meaning the lake of the highland herdsman’s encampment. There is a second lake called Dumo chho the devil’s lake which is 14,300 ft. above the sea level within the mountainous peninsula inside the great lake called Donang or Doranang. Do or Dora means an enclosed field used for pasture, i.e., croft. Hence the name Yamdo-Croft was literally suitable for that very interesting lake of Tibet. The speaker knew not another lake which was so wonderful to exist on the surface of the globe 13,800 feet above the sea level and holding another lake on its breast inside its hilly croft which was a thousand and three hundred feet higher than itself. The hilly peninsula of Donang is dotted with villages, monasteries, and cultivated fields. It is largely used as pasture land for yaks, sheep and goat of the lake country of Yamdo.

The Chairman said: From the history of the lake just traced it appeared that the lake has passed through a vicissitude of names. He hoped this last name so deservedly given would endure.

The Honorary Secretary announced the names of the following gentlemen who were appointed corporate members by the Council of the Society:

Mr. J.D. Anderson, C.S.
Cri Nobin Chandra Das, M.A., B.L.

He also said that E. Landis, M.D., of Chemalpo in Corea, was appointed a corresponding member.

The publications of the Society that were placed on the table consisted of two texts of the Northern School, called Samadhi Raj and Madhyamika Vritti, and one of the Southern School called Visuddhi Magga, and also Journal, Part I, Vol. IV of the current year. The last contained two very interesting papers, one by Dr. E. Landis on Corean Buddhism, and the other by Mr. J.D. Anderson, C.S., sometime Deputy Commissioner of Darrang, on the Folk-tales of Kachar.

The Honorary Secretary then exhibited a drawing of the Fort of Shiga-tse and addressed the meeting on the Monasteries and Temples of Tibet, handing over to the members a printed list of the Monasteries and Temples of Tibet, which covered twelve closely printed folio pages.

He exhibited a large drawing of the grand monastery of Tashi-lh-unpo which was prepared with the help of a Tibetan artist. It contained five to six hundred houses, with the court of the Tashi Lama, the grand Hall of Congregation, and the five Mausoleums with their roofs gilt with gold built for the memory of the five illustrious grand Lamas. He pointed out the Mausoleums of the Tashi Lama to whose court Warren Hastings had sent George Bogle and Captain Samuel Turner. Captain Turner had brought home a sketch of the Mausoleums and published it in 1800, A.D. The lecturer exhibited it and said that 4,800 monks daily congregated in the grand Hall and chanted the glories of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas three times in the day in the manner Lama Sherab and his colleagues had chanted in chorus the hymn in the presence of the meeting. These buildings of the grand Monastery were all terrace roofed three to four storeys high. The Mausoleums were lofty structures like the wings of the Calcutta High Court. He also shewed another building called Kugopeh, which was nine storeys high, each of which was ten to twelve feet high.

The lecturer went on saying:

Tibet abounds in monasteries and temples. No other Buddhist country in Asia, whether in the past or in the present time, could be compared with modern Tibet in the number of her Buddhist priests and monasteries. During my residence in Tibet, I obtained a list of some of the well known monasteries, compiled by Sumpa Khanpo. The number of monasteries in the provinces of U, and Tsang in 1725 A.D. was 325, and under the hierarchy of the Dalai Lama in Tibet was 1,026, with a monk population of 491,242. I was told by the spiritual minister of the Tashi Lama that the number of monasteries since the time of Sumpa had increased not less than three-fold, and the number of monks had doubled. So, the number of monks in the monasteries of Tibet at the present day might, according to him, be estimated at a million. According to my estimate which is based partly on Tibetan official documents and partly on records left by eminent Tibetan writers, Tibet has a population of six million, though the country is nearly equal in extent to Russia, its population is no larger than that of London. The proportion of its monks to the entire population was therefore 1 to 6. If one half of the population be females, then the proportion of the monks to the male population would be 1 to 3. This appeared to me too large a proportion for the monks. I, therefore, thought it safe to state that the monk population was half a million to make the proportion 1 to 6, as it is generally held by some of the most well-informed men of Tibet. Though the number of the monasteries is so large the number of nunneries is disproportionately small. It is doubtful if there are even a hundred convents in whole Tibet. We find that the first class monasteries which have state endowments for their support, contain an average of 1,000 monks in each; but in the larger convents the average number of nuns does not exceed 20. It may be asked what may be the reason for this remarkable disproportion in the two classes of institutions. The custom of polyandry which prevails in Tibet would rather suggest an increase of the nunneries with a corresponding increase in their population. But in fact the very reverse is the case. It has been a puzzle to European scholars who have taken interest in the matter of the institutions of Tibet, to account for the number and occupation of the women who remain unmarried. If it is true that all the brothers in a family club together in matrimony with one wife, then what becomes of the majority of the female population who remain unmarried? During my residence as well as in my travels in Tibet, I paid some attention to this subject.

When in the evening I approached the Lama’s tent, I heard noises inside which suggested a fearful quarrel at its height. On entering, I saw that a wonderful metamorphosis had come over the erstwhile beauty. Her face was burning red and undergoing the most disagreeable contortions I had ever seen, as she went on calling her husband names and otherwise insulting him in the vilest language imaginable. It was all about “another woman” and also about the husband’s partiality for his own relatives. A man of quiet disposition as the Lama was, he heroically maintained his self-composure and silence until she dared to call him “beast,” when he rose and feigned to beat her. He probably did so because he was irritated at my appearance on the scene just at that juncture. But that was a blundering move on his part, for the moment he raised his fist, the now thoroughly maddened termagant threw herself at his feet, and, with eyes shut, shouted, shrieked and howled, daring him to kill and eat her! What could I do? I played the part of a peace-maker, and it was lucky that I succeeded in the office. I got the woman to go to bed on the one hand, and persuaded the Lama to spend the night with the Ladak trader, to whose tent I accompanied him. And so the last night I spent with my kind host brought me a rude awakening, which caused me to shed tears of deep sympathy, not necessarily for Alchu Tulku only, but for all my brethren of the Order, whose moral[103] weakness had betrayed them into breaking their vows of celibacy, and who in consequence were forced to go through scenes as I have described.

-- Three Years in Tibet, by Shramana Ekai Kawaguchi


The “tantric female sacrifice”

But are we really justified in speaking of a “tantric female sacrifice”? We shall attempt to find an answer to this difficult question. Fundamentally, the Buddhist tantric distinguishes three types of sacrifice: the outer, the inner and the secret. The “outer sacrifice” consists of the offering to a divinity, the Buddhas, or the guru, of food, incense, butter lamps, perfume, and so on. For instance in the so-called “mandala sacrifice” the whole universe can be presented to the teacher, in the form of a miniature model, whilst the pupil says the following. “I sacrifice all the components of the universe in their totality to you, O noble, kind, and holy lama!” (Bleichsteiner, 1937, p. 192)

In the “inner sacrifice” the pupil (Sadhaka) gives his guru, usually in a symbolic act, his five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch), his states of consciousness, and his feelings, or he offers himself as an individual up to be sacrificed. Whatever the master demands of him will be done — even if the sadhaka must cut the flesh from his own limbs, like the tantric adept Naropa.

Behind the “secret sacrifice” hides, finally, a particular ritual event which attracts our especial interest, since it is here that the location of the “tantric female sacrifice” is to be suspected. It concerns — as can be read in a modern commentary upon the Kalachakra Tantra — “the spiritual sacrifice of a dakini to the lama” (Henss, 1985, p. 56). Such symbolic sacrifices of goddesses are all but stereotypical of tantric ceremonies. “The exquisite bejeweled woman ... is offered to the Buddhas” (Gäng, 1988, p. 151), as the Guhyasamaja Tantra puts it. Often eight, sometimes sixteen, occasionally countless “wisdom girls” are offered up in “the holy most secret of offerings” (quoted by Beyer, 1978, p. 162)

The sacrifice of samsara:

A sacrifice of the feminine need not be first sought in Tantrism, however; rather it may be found in the logic of the entire Buddhist doctrine. Woman per se– as Buddha Shakyamuni repeatedly emphasized in many of his statements — functions as the first and greatest cause of illusion (maya), but likewise as the force which generates the phenomenal world (samsara). It is the fundamental goal of every Buddhist to overcome this deceptive samsara. This world of appearances experienced as feminine, presents him with his greatest challenge. “A woman”, Nancy Auer Falk writes, “was the veritable image of becoming and of all the forces of blind growth and productivity which Buddhism knew as Samsara. As such she too was the enemy — not only on a personal level, as an individual source of temptation, but also on a cosmic level” (Gross, 1993, p. 48). In this misogynist logic, it is only after the ritual destruction of the feminine that the illusory world (maya) can be surmounted and transcended.

Is it for this reason that maya (illusion), the mother of the historical Buddha, had to die directly after giving birth? In her early death we can recognize the original event which stands at the beginning of the fundamentally misogynist attitude of all Buddhist schools. Maya both conceived and gave birth to the Sublime One in a supernatural manner. It was not a sexual act but an elephant which, in a dream, occasioned the conception, and Buddha Shakyamuni did not leave his mother’s body through the birth canal, but rather through her hip. But these transfeminine birth myths were not enough for the tellers of legends. Maya as earthly mother had, on the path to enlightenment of a religion which seeks to free humanity from the endless chain of reincarnation, to be proclaimed an “illusion” (maya) and destroyed. She receives no higher accolade in the school of Buddha, since the woman — as mother and as lover — is the curse which fetters us to our illusory existence.

Already in Mahayana Buddhism, the naked corpse of a woman was considered as the most provocative and effective meditation object an initiand could use to free himself from the net of Samsara. Inscribed in the iconography of her body were all the vanities of this world. For this reason, he who sank bowed over a decaying female body could achieve enlightenment in his current life. To increase the intensity of the macabre observation, it was usual in several Indian monastic orders to dismember the corpse. Ears, nose, hands, feet, and breasts were chopped off and the disfigured trunk became the object of contemplation. “In Buddhist context, the spectacle of the mutilated woman serves to display the power of the Buddha, the king of the Truth (Dharma) over Mara, the lord of the Realm of Desire.”, writes Elizabeth Wilson in a discussion of such practices, “By erasing the sexual messages conveyed by the bodies of attractive women through the horrific spectacle of mutilation, the superior power of the king of Dharma is made manifest to the citizens of the realm of desire.” (Wilson, 1995, p. 80).

In Vajrayana, the Shunyata doctrine (among others) of the nonexistence of all being, is employed to conduct a symbolic sacrifice of the feminine principle. Only once this has evaporated into a “nothing” can the world and we humans be rescued from the curse of maya (illusion). This may also be a reason why the “emptiness” (shunyata), which actually by definition cannot possess any characteristics, is hypostasized as feminine in the tantras. This becomes especially clear in the Hevajra Tantra. In staging of the ritual we encounter at the outset a real yogini (karma mudra) or at least an imagined goddess (inana mudra), whom the yogi transforms in the course of events into a “nothing” using magic techniques. By the end the tantric master has completely robbed her of her independent existence, that is, to put it bluntly, she no longer exists. “She is the Yogini without a Self” (Farrow and Menon, 1992, pp. 218–219). Thus her name, Nairatmya, literally means ‘one who has no self, that is, non-substantial’ (Farrow and Menon, 1992, p. 219). The same concept is at work when, in another tantra, the “ultimate dakini” is visualized as a “zero-point” and experienced as “indivisible pleasure and emptiness” (Dowman, 1985, p. 74). Chögyam Trungpa sings of the highest “lady without being” in the following verses:

Always present, you do not exist ...
Without body, shapeless, divinity of the true.
-- Trungpa, 1990, p. 40


Only her bodilessness, her existential sacrifice and her dissolution into nothing allow the karma mudra to transmute into the maha mudra and gynergy to be distilled out of the yogini in order to construct the feminine ego of the adept with this “stuff”. “Relinquishing her form [as] a woman, she would assume that of her Lord” the Hevajra Tantra establishes at another point (Snellgrove, 1959, p. 91).

The maha mudra has, it is said, an “empty body” (Dalai Lama I, 1985, p. 170). What can be understood by this contradictory metaphor? In his commentary on the Kalachakra Tantra, Ngawang Dhargyey describes how the “empty body” can only be produced through the destruction of all the “material” elements of a physical, natural “body of appearance”. In contrast to such, “their bodies are composed simply of energy and consciousness” (Dhargyey, 1985, p. 131). The physical world, sensuality, matter and nature — considered feminine in not just Buddhism — thus become pure spirit in an irreconcilable opposition. But they are not completely destroyed in the process of their violent spiritualization, but rather “sublated” in the Hegelian sense, namely “negated” and “conserved” at the same time; they are — to make use of one of the favorite terms of the Buddhist evolutionary theorist, Ken Wilber — “integrated”. This guarantees that the creative feminine energies are not lost following the material “dissolution” of their bearers, and instead are available solely to the yogi as a precious elixir. A sacrifice of the feminine as an autonomous principle must therefore be regarded as the sine qua non for the universal power of the tantric master. These days this feminine sacrifice may only be performed entirely in the imagination. But this need not have always been the case.

“Eating” the gynergy:

But Vajrayana is concerned with more than the performance of a cosmic drama in which the feminine and its qualities are destroyed for metaphysical reasons. The tantric recognizes a majority of the feminine properties as extremely powerful. He therefore has not the slightest intention of destroying them as such. In contrast, he wishes to make the feminine forces his own. What he wants to destroy is solely the physical and mental bearer of gynergy — the real woman. For this reason, the “tantric female sacrifice” is of a different character to the cosmogonic sacrifice of the feminine of early Buddhism. It is based upon the ancient paradigm in which the energies of a creature are transferred to its killer. The maker of the sacrifice wants to absorb the vital substance of the offering, in many cases by consuming it after it has been slaughtered. Through this he not only “integrates” the qualities of the killed, but also believes he may outwit death, by feeding upon the body and soul of the sacrificial victim.

In this connection the observation that world wide the sacred sacrifice is contextually linked with food and eating, is of some interest. It is necessary to kill plants and animals in order to nourish oneself. The things killed are subsequently consumed and thus appear as a necessary condition for the maintenance and propagation of life. Eating increases strength, therefore it was important to literally incorporate the enemy. In cannibalism, the eater integrates the energies of those he has slaughtered. Since ancient humans made no basic distinction between physical, mental or spiritual processes, the same logic applied to the “eating” of nonbodily forces. One also ate souls, or prana, or the élan vital.

In the Vedas, this general “devouring logic” led to the conception that the gods nourished themselves from the life fluids of ritually slaughtered humans, just as mortals consume the bodies of animals for energy and nourishment. Thus, a critical-rational section of the Upanishads advises against such human sacrifices, since they do not advance individual enlightenment, but rather benefit only the blood-hungry supernatural beings.

Life and death imply one another in this logic, the one being a condition for the other. The whole circle of life was therefore a huge sacrificial feast, consisting of the mutual theft and absorption of energies, a great cosmic dog-eat-dog. Although early Buddhism gave vent to keen criticism of the Vedic rites, especially the slaughter of people and animals, the ancient sacrificial mindset resurfaces in tantric ritual life. The “devouring logic” of the Vedas also controls the Tantrayana. Incidentally, the word tantra is first found in the context of the Vedic sacrificial gnosis, where it means ‘sacrificial framework’ (Smith, 1989, p. 128).

Sacred cannibalism was always communion, holy union with the Spirit and the souls of the dead. It becomes Eucharistic communion when the sacrifice is a slaughtered god, whose followers eat of him at a supper. God and man are first one when the man or woman has eaten of the holy body and drunk the holy blood of his or her god. The same applies in the relation to the goddess. The tantric yogi unites with her not just in the sexual act, but above all through consuming her holy gynergy, the magical force of maya. Sometimes, as we shall see, he therefore drinks his partner’s menstrual blood. Only when the feminine blood also pulses in his own veins will he be complete, an androgyne, a lord of both sexes.

To gain the “gynergy” for himself, the yogi must “kill” the possessor of the vital feminine substances and then “incorporate” her. Such an act of violence does not necessarily imply the real murder of his mudra, it can also be performed symbolically. But a real ritual murder of a woman is by like measure not precluded, and it is not surprising that occasional references can be found in the Vajrayana texts which blatantly and unscrupulously demand the actual killing of a woman. In a commentary on the Hevajra Tantra, at a point where a lower-caste wisdom consort (dombi) is being addressed, states bluntly, “I kill you, O Dombi, I take your life!” (Snellgrove, 1987, vol. 1, p. 159).


-- The Shadow of the Dalai Lama: Sexuality, Magic and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism, by Victor and Victoria Trimondi


The People's Republic of China and its predecessors have a history of female infanticide spanning 2000 years.[1]

-- Female infanticide in China, by Wikipedia


As the way to wealth, fame and official power is open to those who enter monasteries to study religion and literature, and also to pass a life of celibacy, people find it humiliating to remain in their homes to lead a worldly life. They run to monasteries in large numbers, but such of them are permitted to remain in them as can commit to memory the largest number of pages of the sacred books. So, many come back to their homes unsuccessful and discomfited by failures. These generally not liking to return to their homes betake themselves to trade and to service in distant places.

Marriage is considered as a very difficult and troublesome institution in Tibet. It only takes place in families which possess wealth. The eldest brother in a family marries; the bed of the married-wife is shared by the rest of the brothers who are addressed and treated by her as so many junior husbands. Although the Tibetans are not subject to jealousy in the proportion that other nations are where polygamy prevails, yet the junior husbands generally do not find it convenient to share the conjugal comforts with their eldest brother; so they leave their home and property in disgust. They often take separate wives relinquishing thereby claims to their ancestral property. According to the laws of Tibet, the eldest brother who has the right to marry inherits the ancestral property. The other brothers can only enjoy the same as long as they live with him in the same house and with his wife. I was present at a Tibetan marriage, the father of the bride in giving her away to the bridegroom, addressing his father said: Henceforth my daughter becomes the wife of your sons, both born and unborn. She will be theirs conjointly.

In consequence of tedious ceremonies and long terms of waiting before getting the bride, and also troublesome conditions imposed on the candidate for her hand, marriage seldom takes place in Tibet. The majority of men and women remain unmarried, and as the fair sex share both the agricultural and pastoral industries with the opposite sex, the women in Tibet are generally of easy morals. In a corresponding degree the men are also immoral in spite of all their religion and high morality inculcated so elaborately in Buddhist sacred books.

The President then concluded the proceedings of the meeting by thanking the lecturer for his interesting address.

***

Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India

A Record of a Vision of Avalokitecvara.1
Translated by E.B. Landis, M.D., M.R.A.S.


[x]

The Madhyamika Aphorisms. Chap. III. The Examination of the Senses.
By Cri Satica Candra Vidyabhusana, M.A.


[x]

The Philosophy of Prajnaparamita
by Prof. Satica Chandra Vidyabhusana, M.A.


[x]

The Philosopher Dinnaga – A Contemporary of the Poet Kalidasa
by Prof. Satica Chandra Vidyabhusana, M.A.


[x]

The Story of Sundari and Nanda.

[x]

The Story of Kiratarjuniya,
As Narrated in the Mahabharata and Also in the Poem Kiratarjuniyam of Bharabi


[x]

Appendix I. The Limbu or the Kirati People of Eastern Nepal and Sikkim.
by Cri Kalikumar Das


[x]

Sundarinandabadanum

[x]

Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society.

The Buddhist Text Society was established in August, 1893. Since then it has occupied itself in making researches into the religious and social literature of the ancient Indian Buddhists found in original Sanskrit works, as also in Pali, Tibetan, Burmese, Siamese, Chinese, Coreau and Japanese literature.

Its object is to furnish materials for a history of Indo-Aryan thoughts on Buddhism, as also, of a history and geography of ancient India and all Buddhist countries. This is does through its Journal (in English) and Texts (in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Pali.)

The Society has, within the short period of its existence, attracted the attention of the oriental scholars of the West, and the work done by it has been favourably noticed by the Press both in India and in foreign countries. The Government of Bengal also have given encouragement to it. In March, 1897, its scope was enlarged by the addition of Anthropology to it.

The Texts, which used to be included in the Journal, are now published separately. The amount of subscription to the Journal in four parts in India, Ceylon and Burma is Rs. 5, and to the Texts in 4 parts is Rs. 4. The Texts for the current year will deal with the following subjects – Suvarna Prabha, Madhyamika Vritti, and Samadhi Raja in Sanskrit and Vicuddhi Magga, and Dhammapada in Pali. The latter, i.e. the Buddhist Text Series, will be given at half rates to all corporate members, Buddhist monks and Tol Pandits and to poor libraries.

The Society consists of 3 classes of members, vis.: -- I. Corporate Members. They are entitled to all the publications of the Society including the Buddhist Text Series, free of charge. They pay a subscription of Rs. 7 per annum (5 Rs. for the Journal and 2 Rs. for the Texts). II. Honorary Members. They are entitled to the Journals and Texts of the Society without payment of subscription. Persons eminent for their learning in the Castras, in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, Corean, Burmese or in Siamese literature are nominated as such. III. Corresponding Members. They contribute to the Journal and Texts of the Society which they get gratis.

CONSTITUTION IN 1897.

Council:

The Hon’ble H. H. Risley, M.A., I.C.S., C.I.E., President
G. A Grierson, Esq., Ph.D., I.C.S., C.I.E., Vice President
Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar, M.D., C.I.E., Vice President
Cri Narendra Nath Sen., Vice-President
The Hon’ble Justice Gurudas Banerjea, M.A., D.L.
Dr. R. K. Sen, M.D.
Cri Nirodh Nath Mukhopadhyaya
Vidyaratna Nrisimha Chandra Mukhopadhyaya, M.A., B.L.
S. J. Padshah, Esq.
Cri Civaprasanna Battacharya, B.L.
Prof. Satis Chandra Acharya Vidyabhusana, M.A.
Rai Cri Sarat Chandra Das, Bhadur, C.I.E., Secretary
Cri Dina Nath Ganguly, Joint Secretary.
Pandit Sarat Chandra Sastri, Pandit to the Society.

Publications of the Buddhist Text Society of India.

In English.


Indian Pandits in the land of snow containing an account of the missionary work done by the Buddhist sages of old in Tibet, China, Korea, Mongolia, Yarkhand and Kabul; by Cri Carat Candra Das, C.I.E. Prince 1 Re.

The Miracles of Buddha being a translation in English verse from Ksemendra’s Kalpalata (recovered from Tibet) by Cri Nobin Candra Das, M.A., B.L. Price 1 Re.

Geography of India of Valmiki’s time with copious notes and index illustrated by a large Map, by Cri Nobin Candra Das, M.A., B.L. Price 1 Re.

Raghuvamca of Kalidasa translated in Bengali verse by Cri Nobin Candra Das, M.A., B.L. complete in three parts. Price 3 Rs.

Atmatattvaprakaca – a treatise in Bengali prose on the existence, immortality, transmigration and emancipation of the soul, -- based on the Nyaya School of Indian Philosophy, by Prof. Satica Candra Vidyabhusana, M.A. Price 6 As.

Life of Chaitanya, by Cri Dina Nath Ganguli. Price 1 Re.

In Devanagari.

Bhakticatakam by Rama Candra Kavibharati of Gour, of the thirteenth century, (recovered from the Simhalese) with commentary in Sanskrit by Rev. Seelakhanda Thera (with or without translation in English). Price 1 Re.

Bodhicaryyavatara in two parts by Acarya Canti Prabha – a work of a considerable antiquity recovered from Tibet; it elucidates the doctrines of the Mahayana or the Northern School of Buddhism. Price 1 Re.

Madhyamika Vritti – The Philosophy of the Mahayana School containing the aphorisms of Nagarjuna with the commentary of Acaryya Candra Kirti, recovered from Nepal, complete in four parts. Price 3 Rs.

Vicuddhimagga – The celebrated work of Buddha Ghosa in Pali printed in Devanagari with a commentary by Rev. Seelakhanda Thera complete in two parts. Price 2 Rs.

Dhammapada – The standard scripture of the Southern school of Buddhism in Pali written in Devanagari characters with a commentary by Rev. Seelakhanda Thera. Price 1 Re.

Samadhiraja – One of the earliest Buddhist scriptures written in Sanskrit and Gatha languages, complete in three parts edited by Pandit Carat Candra Castri, complete in two parts. Price 2 Rs.

Ratnamala – a Buddhist story depicting Hinduism and Buddhism in the early centuries of Christ. Price 1 Re.

Candra Vyakarana – A Sanskrit Grammar of a remote antiquity, recovered by Tibet, in the press. Price 1 Re.

Suvarnaprabha – A Buddhist Scripture of the Northern School in Sanskrit and Gatha, recovered from Tibet. In the press. Price 1 Re.

Journals of the Society – Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India – Royal 8vo. Edited by Cri Carat Candra Das., C.I.E.; the yearly subscription for four parts is Rs. 5, up to this time four volumes have been issued. [Twenty per cent. Commission will be allowed to Agents.]

Apply to the Manager – Cri Satica Candra Vidyabhusana, M.A.
Buddhist Text Society of India,
86/2 Jaun Bazar Street,
Calcutta.

Gentlemen desirous of becoming Corporate Members of the Society are requested to address the Honorary Secretary.

***

Proceedings of a Special General Meeting of the Buddhist Text Society of India, Held at the Town Hall, Darjeeling, on the 23rd June 1896.

Note on the Ancient Geography of India,
by Sri Nobin Chandra Das, M.A.,
Has Been Issued as a Supplementary Paper to This Publication.
Darjeeling: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press, 1896.
Sir Alfred Croft, K.C.I.E., M.A. President in the Chair.

Distinguished visitors.

The Hon’ble Sir A. Mackenzie, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal
Lady Mackenzie
The Hon’ble C.W. Bolton, C.S.
The Hon’ble H.H. Risley, C.S., M.A., C.I.E.
Mr. D. R. Lyall, C.S.
Lieut. Col. Hunt
Revd. C.H. Moore
Revd. Mr. Turnbull

1. The Honorary Secretary, after announcing the presentations, exhibited his map of Tibet and a curious Burmese picture of the war between the gods and the demons.

2. (a) Mr. Polhill Turner read a short note on the Origin of Man, compiled from the legendary history of Tibet by the Honorary Secretary.

(b) Sri Sarat Chandra Das read a short note on the “Lakes and Rivers of Tibet.”

3. Mr. R.T. Greer, C.S., exhibited an old conch shell with curious marks on it, and “the enchanted dagger” of the Tibetan Lamas; he also described the latter.

4. Revd. G.H. Rouse, M.A., read a brief account of the Lepcha people and of their notions of Heaven and Hell, communicated by Sri Kali Kumar Das, tutor to the second son of the Maharaja of Sikkim.

5. The Honorary Secretary read a short note on a Sanskrit Buddhist charm, (sent for explanation by Mr. W.H. Rouse, M.A., of Cambridge), illustrating its use by means of a picture of the Buddhist Ensign or Banner of Victory.

The President, in opening the business of the evening, gave a resume of the proceedings of the last special general meeting, and euologised the Honorary Secretary, whose services the Government of India had lately recognized by conferring on him the title of Rai Bahadur, and had rewarded in a still more substantial form by giving him a Jagir in his own district. The list of newly elected members, read out by the President, showed the names of Prince Henri d’Orleans and the High priest of Bangkok, a brother of the King of Siam.

Rai Sarat Chandra Das, in announcing the presentations, said that among the publications received during last few months the most important was “A Note on the Geography of Asia” according to the “Valmiki Ramayana” by his brother Sri Nobin Chandra Das, M.A., B.I., an officer of the Provincial Executive Service of Bengal. Nobin Chandra, by a careful study of the Original Sanskrit Text of the Ramayana, has come to the conclusion that Valmiki, the author of the great epic, was a veracious writer who described the events and occurrences, and the places known in his time in a faithful manner, and delineated the character of Rama and Sita properly. Divested of poetry and legend, the Ramayana is a store-house of historical events and deeds; it was possible to prepare a map of the places mentioned in the epic. Nobin Chandra has, in consultation with Mr. R.T. Griffiths C.I.E., M.A., the renowned translator of the Ramayana in English, prepared a map, to illustrate the Geography he has compiled. He has presented the work to this Society, with a request that it may be published by us. He has borne the cost of printing the work together with the map. The Honorary Secretary was asked to convey the cordial thanks of the Society to Sri Nobin Chandra Das for the gift. The work was declared to be a valuable addition to the Geographical literature of Ancient India.
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Mon Dec 09, 2019 8:45 am

Part 2 of 2

The Honorary Secretary exhibited his map of Tibet, and gave an account of his travels in 1879, 1881 and 1882 in that country. Lake Palti, which had hitherto been known as a ring of water, he discovered, as one of its native names indicated, to be scorpion-shaped. Many other spots in the neighborhood were explored for the first time by him. But Sir A. Croft (then Mr. Croft), to make assurance doubly sure, had all his sketches and discoveries tested by Lama (now Rai Bahadur) Ugyen Gya-tsho, whom he sent out in 1883. In dwelling on the encouragement and help which the Secretary received from the Director of Public Instruction, and but for which he could never have undertaken his travels, he asked the permission of the meeting to connect one of his chief discoveries with the name of Sir A. Croft, after whom he proposed to call it. Lake Palti, he said, was a misnomer. Nowhere in Tibet was the name Palti known. This most interesting lake of Tibet was known in that country under the names of Yamdo-tsho, Yamdo yum-tsho, Yamdo dig-tsho, meaning the lake of highland shepherds, the turquoise lake, the scorpion lake, and so on. The Department of the Survey of India called it Yamdo Palti. As Palti was a misnomer, he saw no reason why a wrong name should be kept up, and the mistake perpetuated by coupling the name Yamdo with Palti. With the permission of the meeting, he would venture to call the lake by the name Yamdo-Croft. There was a precedent for him to adopt such a course. Livingstone connected the name of Nyanza with the names of Albert and Victoria – the Royal patrons of the Geographical Society of England. The two great lakes of Africa which he discovered are called Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza. The highest mountain in the world was called after the name of Sir G. Everest – under whose direction that mountain was discovered. The proposal was received with cheers. He would only add that in thus honouring a gentleman, who so fully deserved to be honoured, he had only honoured himself.

A curious Burmese picture of the war between the gods and the demons was then shown and explained by the Secretary. The proceedings were closed by the exhibition and explanation of a Sanskrit Buddhist Charma and its use by the educational pictures of the Buddhist Ensign or Banner of Victory, one of which was presented to Lady Mackenzie and another to the Rev. Dr. G.H. Rouse.

The Origin of Mankind. Compiled From the Legendary History of Tibet.
by Sri Sarat Chandra Das.

In the legendary history of Tibet, it is mentioned that in some remote period, Tibet that is now inhabited, was filled with water. [x] (Chho. 147). Then there were no human beings in this world, which comprised five great countries, viz: India, China, Hor (including Kabul, Persia and Turkistan), Mongolia and Tibet.

(1) India was the abode of the Devas or gods, who spoke Sanskrit, which is still called Deva bhasha or the language of the gods.

(2) China was inhabited by the Nagas, or serpent demi-gods. The fearful Dragon ruled over the Nagas. The Emperor of China still worships the dragon and uses the dragon-flag.

(3) Hor was peopled by the Asuras, (Asura literally meaning not-god, i.e., demons). They waged war on the Devas of India; their kind always troubled Indra, the ruler of the Devas.

(4) Mongolia was inhabited by the Svin-po, or cannibal-demons who subsisted on all kinds of flesh, but not on grain.

(5) Tibet was occupied by the monkey-race. [x] (Chho. 148).

In the beginning of the present kalpa (age), when the water of the great flood subsided from the valleys, being drained by the great rivers that flowed towards the oceans, there grew trees on the fields, and groves were formed filled with birds and other animals. [x] (Chho. 148). One on a time, a fair looking Srin-mo (a female demon) from Mongolia came to Tibet and visited the garden of Che-thang. At that time, a monkey, in whom was manifest the spirit of Chen-re-zig – the all-seeing god – happened to reside there. The Srin-mo being charmed with the holy character of the monkey, begged him to accept her as his wife. He hesitated. She said: [x] “I am born of the race of Srin-po by my Karma. Impelled by desire I love thee.” At last, she told him that if he really refused her proposal, she would kill herself in his presence.

The saintly monkey, out of compassion for her, prayed to Chen-re-zig, the great omniscient God, to help him in this difficulty. Soon after, a voice from Heaven was heard, which said, “Son, accept her prayer; she is your wife, the spirit of Tara is in her.” Obedient to the command of Heaven, he made her his wife and conducted her to his residence in the mountain cave, situated at the foot of the snowy mountain of Yarla Shambu. The Srin-mo gave birth to six sons, who in look, voice, colour, shape, action and behavior were widely dissimilar from each other and also from their parents.* [*These six sons represented the six classes of beings of the Buddhist Cosmogony *Gyal-Rab and Chho).] The colour of their faces was red on account of their mother being a Srin-mo. They possessed the tail and hair of their monkey father.

When these children became troublesome to the saintly monkey, he sent them with their mother to the garden of Che-thang, which abounded in walnuts, apricots, and other fruits. There the sons of the devout monkey passed their days happily in the company of their monkey cousins and produced a numerous progeny. In course of time, all the fruits of the garden became exhausted, and when there was nothing left for their subsistence, they with their mother went to the cave where the patriarch monkey was residing, absorbed in deep meditation. They cried, “O father! We are hungry, what shall we eat? Give us food?” The monkey patriarch, unable to bear the sight of their distress, again invoked Chen-re-zig, the all-merciful God, for help. Immediately, there fell from above quantities of grain of six kinds, viz., barley, wheat, buckwheat, oats, rice, Indian corn; and a voice from Heaven said, “Son! Give these to your children – let them eat as much as they can and sow the remainder in the ground; from these will grow plants which will bear like fruits and on them your children will live.” His children did accordingly; and in course of time, in consequence of eating the grain, their tails and hair grew shorter and shorter, till the former totally disappeared. Being the descendants of the six dissimilar sons of the patriarch monkey, they became the ancestors of the six races of mankind.

Such was the origin of mankind. In course of time, when this world became filled with the human race, the Devas, unable to keep company with them, retired to the gardens situated on the top of Sumeru. The Demons of Hor occupied the regions situated at the foot of that mountain. The cannibal Srin-po of Mongolia took shelter in the islands of the great Ocean. The snake-demi-gods of China hid themselves in the rivers and under the ground. The monkeys of Tibet fled to the forests of Himalaya. Mankind, having originated from the monkey and from a Srin-mo of Mongolia who subsisted on meat alone, live on a combination of animal and vegetable food. Being descended from the monkey, the people of Tibet cheerfully confess their monkey origin, and glory in the fact that of all the nations of the world they alone bear a close resemblance to their first-parents. Tibet, the highest country in the world, they say, is the father land of mankind, and Che-thang – the top-plain – was the first place on Earth where the patriarch resided after his descent from Heaven.

***

A Short Description of the Phur-Pa, or the “Enchanted Dagger”
by Sri Sarat Chandra Das.

In the Sanskrit language, the Phur-pa is called Kila, [x]. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is described as of two kinds: metaphysical and ordinary. All intellectual accomplishments are compared with the Phur-pa. Knowledge dissipates Avidya, (ignorance), so it is said figuratively that the Phur-pa of knowledge destroys ignorance, which is typified as the arch-enemy of humanity. Avidya, is the prime cause of sin and sin is the cause of suffering. In the same manner the Phur-pa of love stabs at anger. The Phur-pa of impermance strikes at attachment and passionate desires. The Phur-pa, of wise discrimination i.e., the power of distinguishing the right from wrong, good from bad, &c., liberates one from misery.

The ordinary Phur-pa is of four kinds. They are used for the acquirement of the four kinds of worldly objects Viz: (1) peace [x], (2) abundance [x], (3) power [x] and (4) fearfulness [x].

1. The phur-pa that typifies peace is generally made of silver or white sandal wood, and is about 4 inches long. The top of its handle is a saint’s head and its lower part is dressed as a knob of twisted noose. The point of the dagger is blunt and rounded to show that its effect is mild and cannot pain any body. When it is consecrated, it acquires the power of driving out evil spirits and diseases from one’s body. It is not intended for mischief to any body. It is considered to be a mystic healer.

2. The Phur-pa that symbolizes copiousness is generally made of gold or of the fragrant juniper. Its handle is similar to that of No. 1, only, that in the place of the saint’s head, there is the head of the goddess of plenty looking down with a smile, expressive of contentment and prosperity. The dagger point terminates on a square. On the top of the dagger handle i.e., on the crown of the god’s head, there is a gem generally a coral or a ruby, placed as an ornament. If this Phur-pa is consecrated, it becomes possessed of wonderful powers. Its touch gives longevity, fame, prosperity, wealth, &c., to the devotee. Its dagger is generally made 8 inches long.

3. The Phur-pa typifying power is made of copper or red sandal wood. Its handle is made of the shape of a knob, surmounted with four fearful heads with wide-opened and gasping mouths, possessing the expression of unquenchable thirst. The dagger point of the Phur-pa terminates in a sharp semi-circular curve. It is generally made 12 inches long. The top of the Phur-pa is made of the size and shape of a small lotus bud. When consecrated, it acquires wonderful efficacy. By means of it, one’s enemies are brought under one’s power without fighting or without the use of weapons. It is invaluable to lovers as a sure instrument to overpower the object of his or her love. It is also supposed to have the power of bringing learning and luck to one who receives its touch with faith.

4. The last is the Tag-poi Phurpa, in Sanskrit, called the Rudra-Kila. It is made of steel, bronze or meteoric stone. The handle of the dagger, made of brass, is a crocodile’s head, surmounted by a cross, formed of two thunderbolts called the Na-tshog-dorje. On the top point of this cross, is fixed three terrific crowned heads, typifying the looks of the Lord of Death in three ages: past, present and the future. He is determined to kill those who transgress against the Dharma i.e., the Law. The cross of thunderbolts is intended to fix down the enemy so that he may not get up again. The three blades of the dagger corresponding to the three faces are intended to stab the enemy instantaneously by its touch. The crocodile’s yawning mouth drinks the blood and eats the flesh of the slain devil. The thunderbolt which projects from the centre of the crown of the three terrific heads is intended to draw out the life-breath of the enemy. When consecrated, this dagger becomes enchanted. In the hands of the necromancer, it throbs, bounds up, burns and flashes. Sometimes, a kind of ringing sound comes out of it, indicating its wonderful powers. By its touch, even rocks break asunder. It is generally kept concealed, being covered with a black or dark-blue silk scarf.

The Phur-pa that has just been exhibited by Mr. Greer is of this last kind, and according to the belief of the Lamas, will become enchanted, when it has been properly consecrated.
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Mon Dec 09, 2019 11:02 pm

Mohotiwatta Gunananda
by Theosophy Wiki
Accessed: 12/19/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Mohotiwatta Gunananda (d. January 21, 1890) was Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka who is known for his oratory in debating the merits of Buddhism with Christian missionaries. He and Venerable H. Sri Sumangala participated in the Panadurawadaya, three days of debates that took place at Panadura in 1873. Gunananda built the Temple Mutwalward.

Involvement with Theosophical Society

After Theosophical Society founders H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel Henry Olcott heard about the debates, they wrote to Gunananda and Sumangala, who invited them to visit in Ceylon. Gunananda became an early member of the TS and remained such until his death. His membership certificate is serial number 116 of 1877.[1] He translated a portion of Isis Unveiled to Sinhalese.

Additional resources

"Gunananda, Mohotiwatta" in Theosopedia.

Notes

1. C. V. Agarwal, The Buddhist and Theosophical Movements (Sarnath, Varanasi: Maha Bodhi Society of India, 2001), 16.
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Mon Dec 09, 2019 11:04 pm

Council of Christians and Jews
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 12/9/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) is a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom. It is composed of Christians and Jews working together to counter anti-semitism and other forms of intolerance in Britain. Their patron is Queen Elizabeth II.

The CCJ was founded, in 1942, by Chief Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz and Archbishop William Temple during a time of all-out warfare and Nazi persecution of Jews. In late 1954, and reflecting the theology of the era, the Vatican instructed the head of English Catholics to resign from the CCJ due to its perceived indifferentism, with Catholics not returning until the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council.[1]

Background

Prior to the foundation of the Council of Christians and Jews a number of initiatives had already taken place. The London Society for the Study of Religions,founded in 1904, included Jews in its membership.[2] In 1924 the Presbyterian Church of England General Assembly agreed to form a sub committee to discuss the lack of understanding between Jews and Christians. The committee wished to abandon proselytising and instead promote cooperative methods of action.[3]

In 1925 Herbert Lowe, a Jewish Cambridge scholar, addressed the General Assembly for the first time.

"The love of God and love of man are the foundations of our faith and of yours. We have a vast heritage in common...We recognise that we are put on earth to serve each other...When we consider the framework on which our creeds are built the wonder is not that our views of life are similar, but that we should have been so long in discovering the similarity, the wonder is that centuries of ignorance and hatred should have intervened between us..I am convinced that our partnership in the fight against oppression and injustice and race-hatred can be successful, and our efforts can never be blessed until we learn to respect the standpoint of each other."[4]


In 1924 the Social Service Committee of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue convened a meeting for Jews and Christians to confer together on the basis of their common ideals and with mutual respect for differences of belief'. From this developed the Society of Jews and Christians in 1927 that provided a platform for a number of notable speakers.[5] The inter war years was marked by a reappraisal by Christian scholars of Jewish religion. In 1930 James Parkes published 'The Jew and his neighbour', setting out the causes of anti-Semitism and its Christian roots.[6] Parkes would later be placed on Hitler's list of those he wanted killed.[7]

With the rise of Nazi anti-Semitism a few Christians did speak out. In 1934 The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland noted the 'age-long sufferings of the Jewish people' and that during 'the present outbreaks of anti-Semitic fanaticism', declared its 'heart-felt sympathy for the Jewish people' and deplored their present treatment as being 'abhorrent'.[8]

A Youth Council on Jewish-Christian Relations was formed in 1934 that included several Christian organisations and by 1940 also included Jewish groups. By the middle of the decade various groups made up of Jews and Christians were involved in giving aid to Jewish refugees from Germany, whose number rose sharply after Kristallnacht. The Refugee Children's Movement took care to ensure that whenever a Jewish child was placed in a Christian home the child would not be subject to proselytisation and that contact was established with the nearest Rabbi.[9]

Anglican, Free church and Roman Catholic Churches came together in 1938 to form a Christian Council for Refugees following the passing of the Nuremberg Decrees.[10] The council's secretary was W. W. Simpson, a Methodist minister, who would dedicate his life to the improvement of Christian-Jewish relations. His 1939 pamphlet 'The Christian and the Jewish Problem' recognised the part of Christianity in Jewish suffering, involving factors such deicide, the Crusades, the ghettos, the Inquisition and their influence on present day persecution.[11]

Formation

Out of the diverse groups that marked Jewish-Christian dialogue and aid during the 1930s a proposal was circulated with a view to forming an organization built on a national network. The Archbishop of York, William Temple, invited leaders of various communities to discuss these proposals in 1941. Temple outlined the mission of what was to become the Council of Christians and Jews. The Council would work against all forms of discrimination and promote the 'fundamental ethical teachings which are common to Judaism and Christianity' The Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hertz, agreed with this approach and highlighted the central point as being 'the danger to civilisation involved in antisemitism, as well as the steps that might be taken by Christians, working in consultation with Jews, to prevent its spread in this country', noting also how Pius XI had recently affirmed that 'Anti-semitism is a movement in which we Christians can have no part whatsoever. Spiritually we are Semites'.[12] Hertz made it clear that Jews and Christians would be responsible for their own religious teaching without mutual interference.[13]

At a meeting chaired by William Temple, now the nominated Archbishop of Canterbury, on 20 March 1942 the formation of the Council of Christians and Jews was agreed. The aims of the council were specified as:

(a) To check and combat religious and racial intolerance.

(b) To promote mutual understanding and goodwill between Christians and Jews in all sections of the community, especially in connection with problems arising from conditions created by the war.

(c) To promote fellowship between Christian and Jewish youth organisations in educational and cultural activities.

(d) To foster co-operation of Christians and Jews in study and service directed to post-war reconstruction.[14]

The initial membership of the CCJ was composed of leaders of Christian and Jewish organisations. The Roman Catholic prelate, Cardinal Hinsley, agreed to be a Joint President subject to the condition that any statements be approved by him prior to publication. The formation of the CCJ was announced on radio and in the press on 1 October 1942.[15]

Early years

The CCJ was formed at a time of Nazi persecution of Jews but the full scale of the extermination process, and the response of organisations such as the CCJ, was to an extent governed by the amount of factual information then available in the public domain.[16] In 1942 deputations were sent to the Foreign Office and Anthony Eden regarding the accounts then emerging about the Nazi extermination process, followed by a letter published in The Times on 5 December speaking of a 'horror beyond what imagination can grasp...burning indignation at this atrocity, to which the records of barbarous ages scarcely provide a parallel.” The letter criticised the delays in officialdom, branding their excuses as having an 'air of irrelevance', and called for the prosecution of those involved in the extermination process after the war.[17] Temple, at the behest of the CCJ, made a broadcast to the Hungarian people using the BBC World Service and appealed:

"do your utmost to save from persecution, it may be from massacre, those who are now threatened as a result of German occupation...Help them to hide from their tormentors, help them, if possible, to escape. Do all you can to prevent the extermination of people whose only fault is the race from which they are born or the independence of their minds and constancy of their convictions".[18]


Some political voices raised concerns that such protestations could make things worse for the Jews but by early 1943 it had already become clear that nothing could be worse than what the Jews were currently suffering.[19] Archbishop Temple addressed the House of Lords in March 1943 in which he referenced the massacre of Jews taking place, urging all means of action and condemned the procrastination of officialdom. He concluded: "We at this moment have upon us a tremendous responsibility. We stand at the bar of history, of humanity, and of God."[20]

In November 1943 the Council issued the first of its "Occasional Reviews" which contained a statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the "Basis of Co-operation between Jews and Christians." and a response by the Chief Rabbi on the Jewish attitude to the Five Peace Points of Pope Pius XII.[21]

In June 1944 the Council published a declaration affirming that "the moral law must govern world order " followed by six related principles.The Council said: "The significance of the afocument lies in the fact that it is the first statement of its kind to be published in this country with the approval of the heads of the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish communities and on behalf of a representative hody of Christians end Jews." It was also announced that Catholic Archbishop Griffin had become a Joint President of the Council in succession to the late Cardinal Hinsley.[22]

At 1944 annual general meeting of the Council Bishop Mathews described anti-Semitism as a type of "category dislikes": "Dislike by category is always evil. always unjustified, whether the category is the Jewish people, the negroes in the United States, or the Roman Catholics or any other body. I have an example fairly close home in the feeling of widespread indignation rooted in the population of Northern Ireland with regard to Roman Catholics. The first thing to be said about such dislike by category is that though it is evil in itself it attacks wide sections of the population. It becomes a mass instinct added to local patriotsm."[23]

In November 1944 the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster gave an address to the Council of Christians and Jews:

I should like to tell you, something of what the present Holy Father and the Vatican authorities have done to alleviate the suffering and the persecution of the Jews in many lands. There are thousands of Jews who owe their lives to the speedy intervention of the Pope when they were on the point of being massacred. Towards the end of June I was asked by the World Jewish Congress to support their appeal to the Holy Father to intervene on behalf of Hungarian Jews and it may interest you to hear the reply I received from the late Cardinal Secretary of State: "reference your telegram July 3 I beg to assure Your Excellency Holy See even through Papal Nunciature Budapest has left nothing undone and is still doing everything possible to alleviate sorrowful plight all those who are suffering on account of nationality or race."


The Archbishop proposed points for future cooperation:

Firstly by a common pledge to observe the laws of God and to fulfil Our duties to Him and to our fellow-men. Secondly. by urging the recognition on the part of all States, of the liberties and rights of man and by a clear acknowledgment of man's personal dignity, irrespective of race, creed Or Colour. Thirdly, by a deepening of the mutual understanding between Christians and Jews of our respective ideals and difficulties. And fourthly, by a solemn promise to protect effectively those who may be oppressed or persecuted for race. nationality, or creed.[24]


Braybook (1991) notes that "Much is said of the silence of the Churches, which was often all too evident" but he picks out Temple, and the leaders of the various Churches who supported him, as an outspoken critic on this issue. The World Jewish Congress spoke of him as "the champion of the Jews".[25]

At a meeting of the CCJ held on the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht in 1988 Dr. Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledged that the roots of these events lay in the preceding centuries of Christian anti-Semitism:

'Without centuries of Christian anti-Semitism, Hitlers passionate hatred would never have been so passionately echoed....The travesty of Kristallnacht and all that followed is that so much was perpetrated in Christ's name. To glorify the Third Reich, the Christian faith was betrayed. We cannot say, "We did not know", We did - and stood by.. And even today there are many Christians who fail to see it as self evident and why this blindness? Because for centuries Christians have held Jews collectively responsible for the death of Jesus. On Good Friday Jews have, in times past, cowered behind locked doors for fear of a Christian mob seeking 'revenge' for deicide. Without the poisoning of Christian minds through the centuries, the holocaust is unthinkable'.[26]


International Council of Christians and Jews

During the blitz of 1942 some British Christians and Jews met with members of the American National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ) who were visiting London. It was agreed that after the war an international conference should be held for all the bodies who were active in the field of Christian-Jewish relationships.[27] The American group had not been formed to counterattacks on Jews, as was the case in London, but rather through anti-Catholicism agitation stirred up by the Ku Klux Klan at the time when Catholic Al Smith was standing for president. Jewish and Protestant leaders in the United States reacted and this led Catholics to join them in solidarity.[28]

The conference was held in Oxford in 1946 and over one hundred delegates from fifteen countries attended.[29] A public meeting held on the eve of the conference included as guest speakers the Archbishop of Canterbury, Reinhold Niebuhr, R. A. Butler and Rabbi Leo Baeck, a survivor of Theresienstadt concentration camp.[30] Various commissions were set up, a resolution was sent to the Paris Peace Conference, an agreement reached to hold an emergency conference dealing with anti-Semitism in Europe, and that a committee should research the possibility of forming an International Council of Christians and Jews which would bring together all the various national bodies.[31] Jacques Maritain was elected to serve as co-Chairman with Dr. MacCracken of U.S.A. and the Marquess of Reading on the board of the proposed International Council of Christians and Jews.[32]

An emergency conference took place in Seelisberg Switzerland in 1947. "The Ten Points of Seelisberg" agreed at the conference became a reference for many future statements by various Churches regarding new approaches to Judaism.[33]

The Ten Points of Seelisberg

Pere de Lopinit who had worked in Italian camps in which Jews had been interred during the war took the document back to the Vatican and a form of nihil obstat was received. Cardinal Griffiths was dismissive of the plan but in time the ten points may have been a formative influence in the declaration on religious liberty of Vatican II (Nostra aetate)[35] The plan for an International Council of Christians and Jews did not come to fruition until 1974 due to differences regarding how it should be implemented .[36]

British, French German and Swiss representatives agreed a constitution for the proposed International Council in 1948 but the American NCCJ didn't as it felt that the use of "Christian" in the organisations title would be a barrier to some people through the use of the word by some European political parties in their titles. Everett Clinchy of the NCCJ now directed his efforts into the "World Brotherhood" and the plans for an International Council for Christians and Jews were stalled.[37] Enthusiasm for an international organization was also limited through fears of religious indifferentism from a Roman Catholic perspective and a lack of sympathy to interfaith understanding in the prevailing Protestant theological climate.[38] In the early 1950s a directive was sent to all national Catholic hierarchies from the Vatican warning against involvement in the International Council of Christians and Jews for fear that it was tending towards religious indifferentism - see following section. Cardinal Griffin asked if it also applied to the British Council and two years later the Vatican advised that it did and all Catholic members were told to withdraw. It did not happen anywhere else and William Simpson was of the opinion that if Cardinal Griffiths had not asked the question there would have been no trouble.[39]

An International Consultative Committee of Organizations for Christian-Jewish Cooperation was finally established, without NCCJ participation, in January 1962 at a meeting in Frankfurt.[40] They held a conference in 1966 which issued a critique of the Vatican II Declaration Nostra aetate, the WCC's New Delhi statement on Christian-Jewish relations and a definition of dialogue:

The dialogue is essentially a dialogue between persons, an attitude to life and not a mere technique. It is a relationship which has been found in experience to be capable of deepening the spiritual life of all the participants alike, for each is given in dialogue full opportunity to express his position in all freedom. It has proved and enrichment of their faith in God to committed Jews and Christians, and has dispelled many misunderstandings of each about the faith and practice of the other. We believe that it is not only consistent with our several loyalties to Church and Synagogue, but that it also increases interreligious harmony as we face together the problems and needs of our changing world.[41]


In 1974 the NCCJ did join and at their suggestion the name of the organisation was changed to the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ).[42] In 1975 the ICCJ met in Hamburg and such conferences developed into an annual event focussed on certain themes such as "When Religion is Used as a Weapon ...The Use and Misuse of Religion in Defence of National and Fundamental Values" (1991)[43] The first international youth conference was hosted by the CCJ in Wales in 1977.[44]

Relations with the Roman Catholic Church

See also Pope Pius XII and Judaism

During the pontificate of Pope Pius XII "a heavy blow fell on the Council" when in November 1954 Cardinal Griffin announced that the Roman Catholic Church would be withdrawing from the CCJ following an instruction received from the Vatican indicating that the educational work being done by the council could result in religious indifferentism. Leading Roman Catholics resigned from the CCJ in the aftermath.[45] The Catholic Herald reported in December 1954:

It has now been publicly announced that the Holy See has instructed Catholics to relinquish their membership of the Council of Christians and Jews. Cardinal Griffin, one of the presidents. Lord Perth, a joint treasurer. and Lord Pekenham resigned some time ago. Discussions have been going on for a considerable time "in the hope" says The Times, "of finding a way to restore the united outlook on those matters of common concern for which the council have stood since they were set up in 1942. The council's aim was to combat religious and racial intolerance. promote understanding and good will between Christians and Jews and to foster co-operation.[46]


The popular press was highly critical of this development with headlines such as "The Pope bans Queen's Council" and criticising Roman Catholic intolerance.[47] The Catholic periodical "The Tablet" expressed the view that the public resignations ought to have been avoided, further discussions held, and that the Vatican should have made the reasons for the withdrawal explicit.[48] The reasons for the withdrawal were never clearly explained, however Roman Catholic theologian Jacques Maritain had previously warned the CCJ that Rome was suspicious of any cooperative ventures between Jews, Protestants and Catholics.[49] A Church source commented: "From the Roman Catholic side there was no failure to appreciate the aims and objects to promote which this council exists, but the Vatican was not satisfied with some of the ways and means adopted by the council in pursuit of those aims."[50]

During the pontificate of Pope John XXIII Catholics were once again permitted to join the CCJ, including notable figures such as Lord Longford and Lord Perth.[51] In 1962 the Earl of Perth and two Catholic laymen served on the Council with ecclesiastical approval. In 1964 Archbishop Heenan addressed the CCJ and expressed the opinion that the original withdrawal from the Council was due to a misunderstanding in Rome.[52] The Archbishop said many people, had been "disappointed even scandalised" by the original decision and that it was "possible and even probable that the Vatican was misinformed,"[53] In June 1964 Archbishop Heenan accepted the invitation to become a joint president of the Council with the Catholic Herald commenting "By so doing, the break which has lasted ten years between the Council and the Catholic Church has been fully mended."[54] The Council's other four presidents were the Chief Rabbi, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and the Moderator of the Free Church Federal Council.[55]

The early difficulties associated with Roman Catholic membership largely disappeared in the aftermath of the issuing of Nostra aetate by the Second Vatican Council.[56] In 1980 and 1990 Pope John Paul II met delegations from the CCJ and conferred a knighthood on Sir Sigmund Sternberg who was joint treasurer of the CCJ and chairman of the International Council of Christians and Jews.[57]

Later years

The CCJ established The Robert Waley Cohen Memorial Lectureship in 1956 as a tribute to Robert Waley Cohen and his service to the Council. Annual lecturers have included Sir Isaiah Berlin (John Stuart Mill and the Ends of Life, 1959), Abba Eban (The Final Solution, 1961), Dr Michael Ramsay (The Crisis of Human Freedom, 1962), Henry Chadwick (Some Reflections on Conscience: Greek, Jewish and Christian, 1968), Gregory Baum (Christian Theology After Auchwitz, 1976)[58] In 1979 the CCJ established the annual The Sigmund Sternberg Award for individuals who had made a contribution to furthering Christian-Jewish relations.[59] Local councils were encouraged when the CCJ was formed but the relationship between local councils and the national Council was not always easy through a want of a democratic framework. This was addressed in a revised constitution in 1990.[60] By 1991 the CCJ had 47 local branches in the U.K.[61]

"Children of One God"

In 1992 Marcus Braybrooke, a former executive director of CCJ, published A History of the Council of Christians and Jews: Children of One God which has been described as "the essential locus classicus" for the history of the Councils origins and development during its first fifty years.[62] The Tablet in its review commented:

With an index, a body of footnotes, pages of photographs, several appendices and a well-researched, well-documented text, it is a valuable resource for any student. But the approach the author has chosen and his very conscientiousness are both a strength and a weakness. Some of the material makes compelling reading, but there are pages which, inevitably, are of interest primarily to the specialist.[63]


The Catholic Herald in its review commented:

To members of the council, this book will be a most helpful account of the origins and history of the movement which has held them enthralled ever since they joined it. To others it will be an eye opener, but regrettably there will be many Christians and Jews who will still not want to know in case their prejudices are disturbed. The author has written a factual account of the growth of the Council of Christians and Jews from its birth in 1941 up to the present. It is obviously meticulously researched, in great detail, and gives no all over golden picture.[64]


See also

• Christian–Jewish reconciliation
• Relations between Catholicism and Judaism

References

• "A History of the Council of Christians and Jews: Children of One God", Marcus Braybrooke, Vallentine Mitchell, 1991, ISBN 0-85303-242-4

Notes

1. "History: Council of Christians and Jews", CCJ Web site, retrieved 15 June 2009 [1] Archived 9 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
2. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 1
3. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.2
4. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 3
5. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 3
6. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p4
7. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 4
8. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.6
9. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, pp. 6-7
10. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 7
11. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.9
12. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, pp. 11-12
13. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.12
14. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.14
15. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 17
16. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 20
17. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p21
18. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 22
19. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 22
20. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 23
21. Christians and Jews AN " OCCASIONAL REVIEW", Catholic Herald, 19 November 1943, p. 5 [2]
22. "JEWS AND CHRISTIANS Issue a Significant Document", Catholic Herald, 9 June 1944, p. 6 [3]
23. Category Dislikes, Catholic Herald, 23 June 1944, p. 1
24. "Co-operation between Christians and Jews urged by Dr. Griffin", Catholic herald, 10 November 1944 [4]
25. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews,p. 23
26. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews,pp. 83, 181
27. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.118
28. "Christians and Jews(2)" Christopher Howse, The Tablet, 27 April 1985, p.8 [5]
29. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.119
30. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.119
31. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 119
32. "Praise for Work of Jesuit on Council of Jews and Christians", Catholic Herald, PAGE 6, 14TH NOVEMBER 1947 [6]
33. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.119
34. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.2
35. Christians and Jews Christopher Howse, The Tablet, 27 April 1985, p.8
36. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.120, 121
37. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews,pp. 119-120
38. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 120
39. Christians and Jews Christopher Howse, The Tablet, 27 April 1985, p.8
40. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews,pp. 120-121
41. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 121-22
42. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 122
43. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 122
44. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 123
45. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.33
46. Catholics Resign, Catholic Herald, 31 December 1954, p. 1
47. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.35
48. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.35
49. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.36
50. "Council of Christians and Jews", Catholic Herald, 18 March 1955, p.1
51. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.38
52. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.39
53. Christians and Jews, The Tablet, 14 March 1964, p. 21
54. Ten year rift is healed by Dr. Heenan, Catholic Herald, 19 June 1964, p.3 [7]
55. "The Church in the World", The Tablet, 20 June 1964, p.24]
56. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.40
57. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.41
58. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.149-150
59. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p.151
60. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 100
61. A History of the Council of Christians and Jews, p. 156
62. "Church and synagogue", The Tablet, 7 March 1992, p.18
63. Church and synagogue, The Tablet, 7 March 1992, p.18
64. A history of dialogue, Catholic Herald, 16 August 1991, p. 6

External links

• Official CCJ website
• Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Tue Dec 10, 2019 6:41 am

Laurence Waddell
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 12/9/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.




Image
Laurence Austine Waddell.

Image
British Army officers in Tibet during 1904, Laurence Waddell (center)

Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Austine Waddell,[1] CB, CIE, F.L.S., L.L.D, M.Ch., I.M.S. RAI, F.R.A.S (1854–1938) was a British explorer, Professor of Tibetan, Professor of Chemistry and Pathology, Indian Army surgeon,[2] collector in Tibet, and amateur archaeologist. Waddell also studied Sumerian and Sanskrit; he made various translations of seals and other inscriptions. His reputation as a Assyriologist gained little to no academic recognition and his books on the history of civilization have caused controversy. Some of his book publications however were popular with the public, and he is regarded by some today to have been a real-life precursor of the fictional character Indiana Jones.[3]

Life

Image
A Chinese Horse-Dragon, Reproduced in Waddell's, "The Buddhism of Tibet: Or Lamaism, with Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology ...", 1895. Unknown Chinese artist.

Image
A Tibetan Lung-Horse, Reproduced in Waddell's, "The Buddhism of Tibet: Or Lamaism, with Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology ...", 1895. Unknown Tibetan artist.

Image
A photo of Paljor Dorje Shatra, Reproduced in Waddell's "Lhasa and Its Mysteries-With a Record of the British Tibetan Expedition of 1903-1904", 1905.

Laurence Waddell was born on 29 May 1854, and was the son of Rev. Thomas Clement Waddell, a Doctor of Divinity at Glasgow University and Jean Chapman, daughter of John Chapman of Banton, Stirlingshire.[4] Laurence Waddell obtained a bachelor's degree in Medicine followed by a master's degree in both Surgery and Chemistry at Glasgow University in 1878. His first job was as a resident surgeon near the university and was also the President of Glasgow University's Medical Society.[5] In 1879 he visited Ceylon and Burma and was 'irresistibly attracted' towards Buddhism which in later years led him to study the tenets, history and art of Buddhism[6]. In 1880 Waddell joined the British Indian Army and served as a medical officer with the Indian Medical Service (I.M.S), subsequently he was stationed in India and the Far East (Tibet, China and Burma). The following year he became a Professor of Chemistry and Pathology at the Medical College of Kolkata, India. While working in India, Waddell also studied Sanskrit and edited the Indian Medical Gazette. He became Assistant Sanitary Commissioner under the government of India.[4]

After Waddell worked as a Professor of Chemistry and Pathology for 6 years, he became involved in military expeditions across Burma and Tibet.[7] Between 1885-1887 Waddell took part in the British expedition that annexed Upper Burma, which defeated Thibaw Min the last king of the Konbaung dynasty.[8] After his return from Burma Waddell was stationed in Darjeeling district, India, and was appointed Principal Medical Officer in 1888. In the 1890s Waddell, while in Patna, established that Agam Kuan was part of Ashoka's Hell.
[9] His first publications were essays and articles on medicine and zoology, most notably "The Birds of Sikkim" (1893).[10] In 1895 he obtained a doctorate in law.[11]

Image
Map of 1895 excavations by Laurence Waddell at Pataliputra.

Waddell traveled extensively in India throughout the 1890s (including Sikkim and areas on the borders of Nepal and Tibet) and wrote about the Tibetan Buddhist religious practices he observed there. Stationed with the British army in Darjeeling, Waddell learned the Tibetan language and even visited Tibet several times secretly, in disguise. He was the cultural consultant on the 1903-1904 British invasion of Tibet led by Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, and was considered alongside Sir Charles Bell as one of the foremost authorities on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Waddell studied archaeology and ethnology in-between his military assignments across India and Tibet, and his exploits in the Himalayas were published in his highly successful book Among the Himalayas (1899). Various archaeological excavations were also carried out and supervised by Waddell across India, including Pataliputra, of which he did not receive recognition of discovery until long after his death, in 1982, by the government of Bengal. His discoveries at Pataliputra were published in an official report in 1892.[4]

During the 1890s Waddell specialised in Buddhist antiquities and became a collector, between 1895-97 he published "Reports on collections of Indo-Scythian Buddhist Sculptures from the Swat Valley", in 1893 he also read a paper to the International Congress of Orientalists: "On some newly found Indo-Grecian Buddhistic Sculptures from the Swat Valley".[4] In 1895 Waddell published his book Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism, which was one of the first works published in the west on Buddhism. As a collector, Waddell had come across many Tibetan manuscripts and maps, but was disappointed to not find a single reference to a lost ancient civilization, which he had hoped to discover.

Waddell continued his military service with the Indian Medical Service. He was in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1901), including the Relief of Peking in August 1900, for which he was mentioned in despatches, received the China War Medal (1900) with clasp, and was in 1901 appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE).[12] By late 1901 he had moved to North-West Frontier Province and was present during the Mahsud-Waziri Blockade, 1901–02. He was in Malakand in 1902 and took part in the Tibet Mission to Lhasa 1903–04, for which he was again mentioned in despatches, received a medal with clasp and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). Waddell then returned to England where he briefly became Professor of Tibetan at the University College of London (1906–1908).

In 1908, Waddell began to learn Sumerian.[13] Thus in his later career he turned to studying the ancient near east, especially Sumeria and dedicated his time to deciphering or translating ancient cuneiform tablets or seals, most notably including the Scheil dynastic tablet. In 1911, Waddell published two entries in the Encyclopædia Britannica.[14] By 1917, Waddell was fully retired and first started exclusively writing on Aryans, beginning in an article published in the Asiatic Review entitled "Aryan Origin of the World's Civilization".[4] From the 1920s Waddell published several works which attempted to prove an Aryan (i.e., Indo-European) origin of the alphabet and the appearance of Indo-European myth figures in ancient Near Eastern mythologies (e.g., Hittite, Sumerian, Babylonian). The foundation of his argument is what he saw as a persistence of cult practices, religious symbols, mythological stories and figures, and god and hero names throughout Western and Near Eastern civilizations, but also based his arguments on his deciphered Sumerian and Indus-Valley seals, and other archaeological findings.

Waddell died in 1938. That same year, he had completed writing Trojan Origin of World Civilization. The book was never published.[15]

Discovery of Buddha's Birthplace

Waddell had actively travelled around British controlled India in search for Kapilavastu, the Buddha's supposed birthplace. Cunningham had previously identified Kapilavastu as the village of Bhuila in India which Waddell and other orientalists concluded to be incorrect. They were searching for the birthplace by taking into account the topographical and geographical hints left by the ancient chinese travellers, Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsiang. Waddell was first to point out the importance of the discovery of Asoka's pillar in Nigliva in 1893 and estimate Buddha's birthplace as Lumbini. He subsequently corresponded with Government of India and arranged for the exploration of the area. It was also Waddell who was appointed to conduct the exploration to recover the inscriptions, etc.; but at the last moment, when due to adverse circumstances prevented him from proceeding, and Mr. Führer was sent to carry out the exploration arranged by him, he found the Lumbini grove, etc., with their inscriptions at the very spots pointed out by him[16].

Waddell's theories

Waddell's voluminious writings after his retirement were based on an attempt to prove the Sumerians (who he identified as Aryans) as the progenitors of other ancient civilizations, such as the Indus Valley Civilization and ancient Egyptians to "the classic Greeks and Romans and Ancient Britons, to whom they [the Sumerians] passed on from hand to hand down the ages the torch of civilization".[17] He is perhaps most remembered for his controversial translations; the Scheil dynastic tablet, the Bowl of Utu and Newton Stone, as well as his British Edda.

Phoenicians

See also: Newton Stone

Waddell in Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots, and Anglo-Saxons (1924) argued for a Syro-Hittite and Phoenician colonization of the British Isles, turning to British folklore that mentions Trojans, such as the "Brutus Stone" in Totnes and Geoffrey of Monmouth; place-names that supposedly preserve the Hittite language, and inscriptions, as evidence.

According to Waddell the "unknown" script on the Newton Stone is Hitto-Phoenician. His translation is as follows:

This Sun-Cross (Swastika) was raised to Bil (or Bel, the God of Sun-Fire) by the Kassi (or Cassi-bel[-an]) of Kast of the Siluyr (sub-clan) of the "Khilani" (or Hittite-palace-dwellers), the Phoenician (named) Ikar of Cilicia, the Prwt (or Prat, that is 'Barat' or 'Brihat' or Brit-on).


Brutus of Troy, Waddell also regarded to be a real historical figure. In a chapter entitled "COMING OF THE "BRITONS" OR ARYAN BRITO-PHOENICIANS UNDER KING BRUTUS-THE-TROJAN TO ALBION ABOUT 1103, B.C", Waddell writes:

This migration of King Brutus and his Trojan and Phoenician refugees from Asia Minor and Phoenicia to establish a new homeland colony in Albion, which event the British Chronicle historical tradition places at 1103 B.C. was probably associated with, and enforced by, not merely the loss of Troy, but also by the massacring invasion of Hittite Asia Minor, Cilicia and the Syria-Phoenician coast of the Mediterranean by the Assyrian King Tiglath Pileser I. about 1107 B.C. to 1105 B.C.


Reception

Image
Book cover "Lhasa and its Mysteries" 3rd edition in 1906

Waddell's contemporaries reviewed the book very negatively. One reviewer considered the content to be "admirable fooling", but that he had "an uneasy feeling that the author really believes it".[18] It has also been pointed out that Waddell took the Historia Regum Britanniae to be literal history which is why he was almost asking to be ridiculed by historians:

"Contrary to the general opinion of historians, he [Waddell] accepts as authentic the chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and regards as historical the legend of King Brut of Troy having reached Britain with his followers about the year 1103 BC, founded London a few years later, and spread through the land Phoenician culture, religion and art [...] His views indeed are so unorthodox that he is no doubt prepared for strong criticism, and even ridicule. King Brut of Troy has long been relegated to the company of old wives' tales."[19]


Indus-Valley seals

See also: Indus script and Dravidian people

The first Indus Valley or Harappan seal was published by Alexander Cunningham in 1872.[20] It was half a century later, in 1912, when more Indus Valley seals were discovered by J. Fleet, prompting an excavation campaign under Sir John Hubert Marshall in 1921–22, resulting in the discovery of the ancient civilization at Harappa (later including Mohenjo-daro). As seals were discovered from the Indus Valley, Waddell in 1925 first attempted to decipher them and claimed they were of Sumerian origin in his Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered.

Reception

In the 1920s, Waddell's theory that the Indus-Valley seals were Sumerian had some academic support, despite criticisms; Ralph Turner considered Waddell's work to be "fantasy".[21][22][23][24] Two notable supporters of Waddell included John Marshall, the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India until 1928, and Stephen Herbert Langdon.[25] Marshall had led the main excavation campaign at Harappa and published his support for Waddell's Sumerian decipherment in 1931. Preston however in a section of her biography of Waddell entitled "Opposition to Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered" points out that support for Waddell's theory had disappeared by the early 1940s through the work of Mortimer Wheeler:

"However, a shift, which made his [Waddell's] claim appear untenable, occurred in the consensus in archaeology after Sir Mortimer Wheeler was put in charge of the Archaeological Survey of India [...] Wheeler's interpretation of the archaeological data was the guideline for scholars who appear to have ruled out the possibility that the language of the seals could be akin to Sumerian and Proto-Elamite."[26]


Sumerian language

See also: Sumerian language

The non-Semitic source of the Sumerian language was established in the late 19th century by Julius Oppert and Henry Rawlinson from which many different theories were proposed as to its origin. In his works Aryan Origin of the Alphabet and Sumer-Aryan Dictionary (1927) Waddell attempted to show the Sumerian language was of Aryan (Indo-European) root.

Reception

Waddell's Sumerian-Aryan equation did not receive any support at the time, despite having sent personal copies of his two books to Archibald Sayce.[27] Professor Langdon, who had earlier offered Waddell his support for a Sumerian or Proto-Elamite decipherment of the Indus-Valley seals, dismissed Waddell's publications on the Sumerian language itself:

"The author [Waddell] has slight knowledge of Sumerian, and commits unpardonable mistakes [...] The meanings assigned to Sumerian roots are almost entirely erroneous. One can only regret the publication of such fantastic theories, which cannot possibly do service to serious science in any sense whatsoever."[28]


Chronology

See also: Waddell's chronology

Waddell in The Makers of Civilization (1929) and Egyptian Civilization Its Sumerian Origin and Real Chronology (1930) revised conventional dates for most ancient civilizations and king lists. For example, he believed the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt began c. 2700 BC, not c. 3100 BC, arguing that Menes, was Manis-Tusu, the son of Sargon, who in turn was King Minos of Crete. For Waddell, the earliest ancient rulers or mythological kings of Sumer, Egypt, Crete and the Indus Valley civilizations were all identical Aryan personages.

Reception

To support his revised chronology, Waddell acquired and translated several artefacts including the Scheil dynastic tablet and the Bowl of Utu. Waddell was praised for his acquisition of the latter.[29] However Waddell's translations were always highly unorthodox and not taken serious. The Makers of Civilization was panned in a review by Harry L. Shapiro:

"The reader does not need to peruse this work very far to become aware of its distinct bias and unscientific method. Fortunately the 'Nordic race-mongers' have become discredited that there is little to fear from the effect of this opus on the intelligent lay public. Succinctly, Mr. Waddell believes that the beginning of all civilization dates from the Nordic [Aryan] Sumerians who were blond Nordics with blue eyes."[30]


Waddell during his own life, was deemed to be anachronistic by most scholars because of his supremacist views regarding the Aryan race:

"One of the reasons for the literary oblivion of Waddell's works on the history of civilization with an Aryan theme is [...] in relation to the fact that he did not give up the quest for the Aryans in terms of racial origins when it was abandoned in the 1870s, and it was very influential in his choice of career [...] His comparative studies and decipherment led him to a completely controversial and alternative perspective of ancient history. Furthermore, the titles that are now little known may have been sidelined due his use of the term 'Aryan' as it became associated with the rise of Nazism."[31]


Pan-Sumerism

Waddell from 1917 (having first published the article "Aryan Origin of the World's Civilization") until his death was a proponent of hyperdiffusionism ("Pan-Sumerism") arguing that many cultures and ancient civilizations, such as the Indus Valley Civilization, Minoan Crete, Phoenicia, and Dynastic Egypt, were the product of Aryan Sumerian colonists.

Grafton Elliot Smith who pioneered hyperdiffusionism (but of the Egyptians) was an influential correspondent to Waddell.[32]

Reception

R. Sawyer (1985) points out that Waddell "was of the eccentric opinion that Western, Indian and ancient Egyptian culture derived from a common Sumerian ancestry" and that his ideas were far-fetched to untenable.[33] Gabriel Moshenska of the UCL Institute of Archaeology has noted:

"Waddell's hopes of rewriting the story of civilization with the Aryan race as the first and only protagonist rapidly faded as his works and ideas remained restricted to, if well rooted in, the ultra right wing fringes of society and scholarship. J. H. Harvey, member of the pro-Nazi Imperial Fascist League and later a respected medievalist, wrote a short book The Heritage of Britain (1940) which aimed to summarise Waddell's works for a narrower audience on the fringes of the British Fascist movement (Macklin 2008). The British-Israelite W. T. F. Jarrold used Waddell's study of the Newton Stone to support a Biblical origin for the Anglo-Saxon race (1927). Today Waddell's works are read and referenced most commonly by white supremacists, esoteric scholars and conspiracy theorists such as David Icke (1999)."[34]


Collections

Waddell collected bird specimens and it was on the basis of one of them that Henry Dresser named the species Babax waddelli (the giant babax) in 1905. His collections were donated in 1894 to the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow. Some specimens are in the Manchester Museum and at the Natural History Museum at London. The University of Glasgow holds Waddell's papers and manuscript collection.

Published books

(for book descriptions see footnotes)

• The non-bacillar nature of abrus-poison : with observations on its chemical and physiological properties (1884)
• The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism, With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology and in Its Relation to Indian Buddhism (1895)[35]
• Among the Himalayas (1899)[36]
• The Tribes of the Brahmaputra valley (1901)
• Lhasa and Its Mysteries - With a Record of the British Tibetan Expedition of 1903-1904 (1905)[37]
• The "Dhāranī" cult in Buddhism: its origin, deified literature and images (1912)
• Phoenician Origin of the Britons, Scots, and Anglo-Saxons (1924, 2nd ed. 1925)
• Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered discovering Sumerians of Indus Valley as Phoenicians, Barats, Goths & famous Vedic Aryans 3100-2300 B.C. (1925)
• Sumer-Aryan Dictionary. An Etymological Lexicon of the English and other Aryan Languages Ancient and Modern and the Sumerian Origin of Egyptian and its Hieroglyphs (1927)
• Aryan-Sumerian Origin of the Alphabet (1927)
• Questionary on the Sumerian markings upon prehistoric pottery found in the Danube & associated valleys of Middle Europe (1928, small booklet)
• Makers of Civilization in Race and History (1929)
• Egyptian Civilization Its Sumerian Origin and Real Chronology (1930)
• The British Edda (1930) [38]

Sources

• Buckland, C. E. (1906). Dictionary of Indian Biography. London : S. Sonnenschein.
• Thomas, F. W. (1939). "Colonel L. A. Waddell". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 3 (3): 499–504. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00089577. JSTOR 25201976.
• Preston, C. (2009). The Rise of Man in the Gardens of Sumeria: A Biography of L.A. Waddell. Sussex Academic Press.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Waddell, Lawrence Augustine (1854–1938). [1]
• Waddell Collection at the University of Glasgow:[2] A collection of over 700 volumes dealing mainly with Assyrian and Sumerian languages, Archaeology, Asian history and folk-lore, and Buddhism. He made a notable contribution to the history of Buddhism. The printed book collection is supplemented by associated correspondence, working notes, photographs and press cuttings. Some of the books have manuscript annotations and inserts.

See also

• David MacRitchie
• Christian O'Brien
• William James Perry
• Ethel Bristowe
• Grafton Elliot Smith

References & Footnotes

1. Most sources have "Laurence Austine", such as:
 British Edda at Library of Congress
 Among the Himalayas at Library of Congress
 Among the Himalayas at Google Books
 Among the Himalayas, OCLC 191983018
At least one source has "Laurence Augustine":
 Laurence Augustine Waddell at the Manuscripts Catalogue, University of Glasgow —According to this catalogue, L. A. Waddell was born with the name "Laurence Augustine Waddell" and at some unknown later time began using "Austine" as his middle name. His books have the name "L. Austine Waddell" and Indian sources often refer to him as "Lawrence Austine Waddell."
2. "WADDELL, Lieut.-Col. Laurence Austine". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 1811.
3. Preston, Christine (2009). The Rise of Man in the Gardens of Sumeria: A Biography of L.A. Waddell. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-315-7. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
4. Thomas, 1939.
5. Preston, 2009: 25.
6. The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism, Preface to the Second Edition
7. Preston, 2009: 30.
8. Preston, 2009: 31.
9. "Agam Kuan". Directorate of Archaeology, Govt. of Bihar, official website. Retrieved 19 April 2013. Waddell on his exploration of the ruins of Pataliputra during 1890s identified Agam Kuan with the legendary hell built by Ashoka for torturing people as cited by the Chinese travellers of the 5th and 7th centuries A.D.
10. Preston, 2009: 36.
11. Waddell Archive
12. "No. 27337". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 July 1901. p. 4917.
13. Preston, 2009: 20.
14. “Lhasa” in Encyclopædia Britannica, (11th ed.), 1911. “Tibet” in Encyclopædia Britannica, (11th ed.), 1911.
15. Preston, 2009: 194.
16. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 29, Issue 3 July 1897 , pp. 644-651
17. Waddell, L. (1929). Makers of Civilization in Race & History. London: Luzac. p. 497.
18. Turner, R. L. (1925). "The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots, and Anglo-Saxons [Review]". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. 3 (4): 808–810. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00000562. JSTOR 607096.
19. Crownhart-Vaughan, E. A. P. (1925). "The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots, and Anglo-Saxons [Review]". The Geographical Journal. 65 (5): 446–447. doi:10.2307/1782555. JSTOR 1782555.
20. Cunningham, A., 1875. Archaeological Survey of India, Report for the Year 1872-73, 5: 105-8 and pl. 32-3. Calcutta: Archaeological Survey of India
21. Turner, R. L. (1926). "Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered by L. A. Waddell [Review]". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. 4 (2): 376. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00089436.
22. Charpentier, J (1925). "The Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered by L. A. Waddell [Review]". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 4 (4): 797–799. JSTOR 25220872.
23. Barton, George A (1926). "On the So-Called Sumero-Indian Seals". The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 8: 79–95. doi:10.2307/3768527. JSTOR 3768527.
24. Brown, G (1927). "The Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered by L. A. Waddell [Review]". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 47: 284–285. doi:10.2307/593279. JSTOR 593279.
25. Preston, 2009: 169.
26. Preston, 2009: 21.
27. Preston, 2009: 85.
28. Langdon, S (1927). "The Aryan Origin of the Alphabet; A Sumer-Aryan Dictionary by L. A. Waddell [Review]". The Scottish Historical Review. 25 (97): 53. JSTOR 25525780.
29. Preston, 2009: 143.
30. Shapiro, H. L. (1930). "The Makers of Civilization in Race and History". Pacific Affairs. 3 (12): 1168–1169. doi:10.2307/2750262. JSTOR 2750262.
31. Preston, 2009: 195.
32. Preston, 2009: 5, footnotes; "Waddell's thesis mirrored contemporary Grafton Elliot Smith's better-known theory of Egypt".
33. Sawyer, R (1985). "To Know the Histories: L. A. Waddell's Sumer and Akkad". Paideuma. 14 (1): 79–94.
34. The Later Works of Lieutenant-Colonel Professor Laurence Austine Waddell
35. Waddell's best-known work, and was one of the first books published in the west to offer such extensive observations of Buddhism, ranging from metaphysics to practical magic. Waddell explains the whole Tibetan pantheon, including transcriptions of hundreds of charms and mantras and detailed coverage of the doctrine of incarnation and reincarnation.
36. An engaging journal of fourteen years of travel. In Waddell's own words, "During the past fourteen years I have traversed portions of the borderlands of Sikkim nearly every year, sketching, shooting, collecting, and especially exploring the customs of the people on the frontiers of Tibet, and of Nepal. This illustrated narrative of my journeyings I hope may reflect, in some measure, the keen enjoyment of travel in these regions, may awaken further interest in a fascinating though little known land, may assist in guiding the traveler to those features that are of greatest general interest, and bring home to the reader a whiff of the bracing breezes of the Himalayas."
37. Documents the people and religion of the Tibetan capital, including British-Tibetan military clashes and peace negotiations.
38. Waddell reconstructs the Old Icelandic Poetic Edda under the notion that the text is very ancient and actually "British." His pursuit is apparent the subtitle: "The great epic poem of the ancient Britons of the exploits of King Thor, Arthur, or Adam and his knights in establishing civilization reforming Eden & capturing the Holy Grail about 3380-3350 B.C." For this he uses the language and art of Indo-European and Semitic peoples, and draws lines through mythologies connecting ancient gods and stories to those in the medieval manuscripts of the Edda.

External links

• The Later Works of Lieutenant-Colonel Professor Laurence Austine Waddell
• Works written by or about Laurence Waddell at Wikisource
• Waddell, Lieut.-Colonel Lawrence Austine in The Indian Biographical Dictionary (1915)
• Waddell Collection (University of Glasgow)
• Laurence Waddell Family Archive
• A Biography of L. A. Waddell
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

Re: Freda Bedi, by Wikipedia

Postby admin » Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:33 am

Alexander Mackenzie (civil servant)
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 12/10/19

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.


Image
Sir Alexander Mackenzie
Born: 28 June 1842, Dumfries, Scotland
Died: 10 November 1902 (aged 60), London
Occupation: civil servant

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, KCSI (28 June 1842 in Dumfries – 10 November 1902 in London) served as Chief Commissioner of the British Crown Colony of Burma from December 1890 to April 1895.[1]

Biography

Alexander Mackenzie was born on Dumfries, Scotland and moved to Birmingham with his father Reverend John R. Mackenzie and Alexanderina Mackenzie.[1] He attended King Edward's School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Upon obtaining his BA and completion of his Indian Civil Service exans, Mackenzie went to Calcutta in 1862 and later became the Lieutenant-governor of Bengal.

Alexander Mackenzie held many positions of civil service appointments in Asia:

• Home Secretary to the Government of British India 1882
• Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces 1887
• Chief Commissioner of Burma 1890
• Member of the Supreme Council of Burma 1895

After his service in Burma, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Bengal (1895–1898).
His absence and negligence during his time in office made him unpopular amongst locals, but did not result in his removal from office.

In 1891 he became a Knight in Commander of the Star of India.

Retired in 1898 due to poor health, he return to Britain and became Chairman of the India Development Company. He died on London on 10 November 1902. He was predeceased by wife Georgina Louisa Huntly Bremner (born 1838 India,[2] married 1863 and died 1892 Birmingham) and survived by second wife Mabel E. Elliot (m. 1893). His second wife married another civil servant, The Hon. Noel Farrer[3]

References

1. http://www.brebner.com/obituaries/alex_ ... e_obit.pdf
2. FIBIS East India Register Birth Announcements, April 2009.
3. ‘FARRER, Hon. Noel (Maitland)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2007 accessed 15 December 2013

External links

• Myanmar (Burma) at http://www.worldstatesmen.org
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 36125
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:21 am

PreviousNext

Return to Articles & Essays

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests