, in each of which
states they acquire a greater degree of merit.
In the birth in which they become Buddha, they are always of woman
born, and pass through infancy and youth like ordinary mortals,
until at the prescribed age they abandon the world and retire to the
wilderness, where they receive the supernatural powers with which
the office is endowed. Their highest glory is that they receive the
wisdom by which they can direct sentient beings to the path that
leads to the desired cessation of existence.
The Buddhism of Thibet appears to be an innovation on the original
system of religion. It was introduced into the country about the
seventh century of our era; and although Sakya mounee, who is supposed
by the Thibetians to have lived one thousand years before Christ,
is still believed to be the founder of the present system, the Delai
Lama, at Lassa, is regarded as an incarnation of Buddha, and is the
supreme infallible head of the whole Thibetian religious community.
The original tenets, too, have been modified, and the modern Scriptures
have been adapted to three different capacities of mankind -- viz.
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