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A Lāmaist Procession.[1]
VIII.
THE LĀMAIST ORDER AND PRIESTHOOD.
"Without the Lāma in front, God is not (approachable)."—Tibetan Proverb.
AS in primitive Buddhism, the monastic order or congregation of the Virtuous Ones[2] forms the third member of the Trinity, "The Three most Precious Ones" of Lāmaism. But owing to the rampant sacerdotalism of Tibet, the order is in a much higher position there than it ever attained in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism, according to the current Tibetan saying above cited.
The order is composed of Bodhisats both human and celestial. The latter occupy, of course, the highest rank, while the so-called incarnate Lāmas,[3] who are believed to be incarnated reflexes from
