Page:1903 Lhasa and Central Tibet by G. Ts. Tsybikoff.pdf/22

The Dalai Lamas attained their spiritual importance at the time of the Lama Gedun-Gyamtso, the superior of the Brebung monastery, who lived from 1475 to 1642. He was the superior simultaneously of the two monasteries Brebung and Sera, and during his life acquired such fame that he began to be regarded as the incarnation of his countryman, the famous organizer of the monastery of Tashilhunpo, Gedun-dru. But the custom of finding incarnates in youths begins after his death, and one officer of the castle proclaimed his son as this prophet's incarnation. This is evidently the first instance of the proclamation of an incarnate, and when he succeeded to the rights of his predecessor it was his fortune, worshiped almost from the cradle, to be invited by the Mongol, Altan-Khan, who gave him the title "Vajra-dara dalai-lama," which was sanctioned by the "Ming" Emperor of China. The significance of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, however, was at first not very great, which explains the recognition of the son of a Mongol prince as the fourth incarnate, who, it is true, was killed in the twenty-eighth year of his life in Tibet. The Mongols claim that the Tibetans killed him out of race hatred, and that they even cut him open as the Mongols kill sheep. His successor, Ag-vang lo-sang-Gyamtso, now called simply "Na-va-chenbo"—that is, the Fifth, the great—succeeded in acquiring the secular power, which at first was still only nominal. This Dalai Lama, in combination with the first "banichen," did not hesitate to invite Mongol arms to his country in order to conquer the detestable secular governors. Although they succeeded in accomplishing it, Tibetan affairs began to be interfered with either by Mongol princes, or those recognizing the superiority of the Manchu dynasty, or those who struggled for independence. After the death of the fifth Dalai Lama, for a period of forty years, the Dalai Lamas became the pretense of political intrigue of various power lovers until a series of historical events destroyed the power in Tibet of the Mongol and native princes, and until finally in the year 1751 the Dalai Lama was accorded the dominating power, in matters religious and secular. The election of the Dalai Lama, up to the year 1822, the year of the election of the tenth incarnate, was based upon the prophecies of the highest Lamas and decision of the prophets, which is equivalent to an election by influential persons. But when the tenth incarnate was elected the system of the Emperor Tsien-lung, the casting of the vote by means of the so-called "serbum," or "the golden urn," was first applied. In this system the names of three candidates, determined by the former arrangement, are written upon separate tickets and placed in the golden urn. This urn is set before the statue of Jovo-Sakyamuni, and services are held there by deputies from the monasteries, praying for a righteous election. It is then carried over to Potala, to the palace of the Dalai Lama, and