Jesus In India — Page 128
128 J e s u s i n I n d i a have stated, to the north-west, by the sources of the Oxus. Father Grueber was much struck with the extraordinary similitude he found, as well in the doctrine, as in the rituals, of the Boodhists of Lassa to those of his own Romish faith. He noticed first, that the dress of Lamas corresponded with that handed down to us in ancient paintings, as the dress of the Apostles. 2 nd. That the discipline of the monasteries, and of the different orders of Lamas or priests, bore the same resemblance to that of the Romish church. 3 rd. That the notion of an incarnation was common to both, so also the belief in paradise and purgatory. 4 th. He remarked that they made suffrages, alms, prayers, and sacrifices for the dead, like the Roman Catholics. 5 th. That they had convents, filled with monks and friars, to the number of 30,000, near Lassa, who all made the three vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, like Roman monks, besides other vows. And 6 th , that they had confessors, licensed by the superior Lamas, or bishops; and so empowered to receive confessions, and to impose penances, and give absolution. Besides all this, there was found the practice of using holy water, of singing service in alternation, of praying for the dead, and a perfect similarity in the costumes of the great and superior Lamas to those of the different orders of the Romish hierarchy. These early missionaries, further, were led to conclude, from what they saw and heard, that the ancient books of the Lamas contained traces of the Christian religion, which must, they thought, have been preached in Tibet in the time of the Apostles. ’ Then concerning the advent of a Saviour, the author H. T. Prinsep writes in the same book (Tibet, Tartary and Mongolia) on page 171: ‘The general expectation of the birth of a great prophet, Redeemer, or Saviour, which is alluded to even by Tacitus, as prevailing at the period when the founder of the Christian religion appeared, was, there can be no doubt, of Boodhistic origin, and not at all confined to Jews, or based only on the prophecies of their Scripture. ’