[Buddha-l] Lamas and such

[Chris Fynn]

S. A. Feite wrote:

> On Dec 4, 2009, at 11:13 AM, Chris Fynn wrote:

>> I thought Blavatsky was rather enamoured of Tibet - wasn't it where  
>> her
>> "mahatmas" and masters were supposed to reside?

> Yes, but she apparently drew a distinction between purer (Indian)  
> Buddhism and lower forms in some schools of Tibetan Buddhism, which  
> she termed "Lamaism". She believed these were schools which were  
> "left to the care of the uninitiated Lama and Mongolian innovators."  
> I don't know if she is referring to the Bon religion or not.

> Of course that's not to imply that Blavatsky should be considered an  
> authority. Far from it. Today she'd just be considered a trance  
> channeler who wrote imaginative novels with little basis in fact.

>> When Wadell wrote about "Lamaism" I'm sure he looked on it as some  
>> kind
>> of Oriental equivalent of Catholicism or Papisism - OTOH when Blofeld
>> used the term, do you think he was being disparaging?

> Can academics be disparaging without meaning to be? Of course they  
> can. But perhaps "insensitive" would be a better word.
> 
> Simply slapping an "-ism" on the end of a word will not always suffice.

>> Recently I was surprised to hear some Tibetan friends referring to  
>> their
>> own religion as Lamaism. They don't seem to have a problem with the  
>> word.

>   The first Tibetan Buddhist center in the US, in New Jersey, was  
> actually called the "Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America". It has  
> been used differently at different times. Suffice to say, it's not  
> the most authentic descriptor, just a Western gloss over. Since it  
> does not have an origin wholly in Tibetan or Sanskrit it's just not a  
> very helpful neologism.

That center was actually started by Kalmyk Mongols not Tibetans - which 
is perhaps why it was not called the "Tibetan Buddhist Monastery of 
America"

"Lamaism" may not be wholly Tibetan (as "Buddhism" is not wholly 
Sanskrit) but. as Lama is an honorific term, Tibetans do not usually 
find the word derogatory,

Some Bhutanese call their religion Lamasism when speaking English - as 
while their Buddhism is almost identical to that of Tibet, they 
generally do not like it when things they think of as Bhutanese are 
called "Tibetan". Calling the religion either "Lamaism" or "Himalayan 
Buddhism" avoids that.

In Nepal Sherpas, Tamangs and a number of other groups religiously and 
culturally close to Tibetans often say their caste is "Lama" because of 
they follow the religious tradition of the lamas.

- Chris

Thimphu, Bhutan