The Living Buddha does not die. His soul sometimes passes intothat of a child born on the day of his death and sometimestransfers itself to another being during the life of the Buddha.
This new mortal dwelling of the sacred spirit of the Buddha almostalways appears in the yurta of some poor Tibetan or Mongol family.
There is a reason of policy for this. If the Buddha appears in thefamily of a rich prince, it could result in the elevation of afamily that would not yield obedience to the clergy (and such hashappened in the past), while on the other hand any poor, unknownfamily that becomes the heritor of the throne of Jenghiz Khanacquires riches and is readily submissive to the Lamas. Only threeor four Living Buddhas were of purely Mongolian origin; theremainder were Tibetans.
One of the Councillors of the Living Buddha, Lama-Khan Jassaktu,told me the following:
"In the monasteries at Lhasa and Tashi Lumpo they are keptconstantly informed through letters from Urga about the health ofthe Living Buddha. When his human body becomes old and the Spiritof Buddha strives to extricate itself, special solemn servicesbegin in the Tibetan temples together with the telling of fortunesby astrology. These rites indicate the specially pious Lamas whomust discover where the Spirit of the Buddha will be re-incarnated. For this purpose they travel throughout the whole land and observe. Often God himself gives them signs and indications. Sometimes thewhite wolf appears near the yurta of a poor shepherd or a lamb withtwo heads is born or a meteor falls from the sky. Some Lamas takefish from the sacred lake Tangri Nor and read on the scales thereofthe name of the new Bogdo Khan; others pick out stones whose cracksindicate to them where they must search and whom they must find;while others secrete themselves in narrow mountain ravines tolisten to the voices of the spirits of the mountains, pronouncingthe name of the new choice of the Gods. When he is found, all thepossible information about his family is secretly collected andpresented to the Most Learned Tashi Lama, having the name ofErdeni, The Great Gem of Learning,"" who, according to the runes ofRama, verifies the selection. If he is in agreement with it, hesends a secret letter to the Dalai Lama, who holds a specialsacrifice in the Temple of the ""Spirit of the Mountains"" andconfirms the election by putting his great seal on this letter ofthe Tashi Lama.
"If the old Living Buddha be still alive, the name of his successoris kept a deep secret; if the Spirit of Buddha has already gone outfrom the body of Bogdo Khan, a special legation appears from Tibetwith the new Living Buddha. The same process accompanies theelection of the Gheghen and Hutuktus in all the Lamaite monasteriesin Mongolia; but confirmation of the election resides with theLiving Buddha and is only announced to Lhasa after the event.
The present Bogdo Khan of Outer Mongolia is a Tibetan. He sprangfrom a poor family living in the neighborhood of Sakkia Kure inwestern Tibet. From earliest youth he had a stormy, quiteunaesthetic nature. He was fired with the idea of the independenceand glorification of Mongolia and the successors of Jenghiz Khan.
This gave him at once a great influence among the Lamas, Princesand Khans of Mongolia and also with the Russian Government whichalways tried to attract him to their side. He did not fear toarraign himself against the Manchu dynasty in China and always hadthe help of Russia, Tibet, the Buriats and Kirghiz, furnishing himwith money, weapons, warriors and diplomatic aid. The ChineseEmperors avoided open war with the Living God, because it mightarouse the protests of the Chinese Buddhists. At one time theysent to the Bogdo Khan a skilful doctor-poisoner. The LivingBuddha, however, at once understood the meaning of this medicalattention and, knowing the power of Asiatic poisons, decided tomake a journey through the Mongol monasteries and through Tibet.
As his substitute he left a Hubilgan who made friends with theChinese doctor and inquired from him the purposes and details ofhis arrival. Very soon the Chinese died from some unknown causeand the Living Buddha returned to his comfortable capital.
On another occasion danger threatened the Living God. It was whenLhasa decided that the Bogdo Khan was carrying out a policy tooindependent of Tibet. The Dalai Lama began negotiations withseveral Khans and Princes with the Sain Noion Khan and JassaktuKhan leading the movement and persuaded them to accelerate theimmigration of the Spirit of Buddha into another human form. Theycame to Urga where the Bogdo Khan met them with honors andrejoicings. A great feast was made for them and the conspiratorsalready felt themselves the accomplishers of the orders of theDalai Lama. However, at the end of the feast, they had differentfeelings and died with them during the night. The Living Buddhaordered their bodies sent with full honors to their families.
The Bogdo Khan knows every thought, every movement of the Princesand Khans, the slightest conspiracy against himself, and theoffender is usually kindly invited to Urga, from where he does notreturn alive.
The Chinese Government decided to terminate the line of the LivingBuddhas. Ceasing to fight with the Pontiff of Urga, the Governmentcontrived the following scheme for accomplishing its ends.
Peking invited the Pandita Gheghen from Dolo Nor and the head ofthe Chinese Lamaites, the Hutuktu of Utai, both of whom do notrecognize the supremacy of the Living Buddha, to come to thecapital. They decided, after consulting the old Buddhistic books,that the present Bogdo Khan was to be the last Living Buddha,because that part of the Spirit of Buddha which dwells in the BogdoKhans can abide only thirty-one times in the human body. BogdoKhan is the thirty-first Incarnated Buddha from the time of UndurGheghen and with him, therefore, the dynasty of the Urga Pontiffsmust cease. However, on hearing this the Bogdo Khan himself didsome research work and found in the old Tibetan manuscripts thatone of the Tibetan Pontiffs was married and his son was a naturalIncarnated Buddha. So the Bogdo Khan married and now has a son, avery capable and energetic young man, and thus the religious throneof Jenghiz Khan will not be left empty. The dynasty of the Chineseemperors disappeared from the stage of political events but theLiving Buddha continues to be a center for the Pan-Asiatic idea.
The new Chinese Government in 1920 held the Living Buddha underarrest in his palace but at the beginning of 1921 Baron Ungerncrossed the sacred Bogdo-Ol and approached the palace from therear. Tibetan riders shot the Chinese sentries with bow and arrowand afterwards the Mongols penetrated into the palace and stoletheir "God," who immediately stirred up all Mongolia and awakenedthe hopes of the Asiatic peoples and tribes.
In the great palace of the Bogdo a Lama showed me a special casketcovered with a precious carpet, wherein they keep the bulls of theDalai and Tashi Lamas, the decrees of the Russian and ChineseEmperors and the Treaties between Mongolia, Russia, China andTibet. In this same casket is the copper plate bearing themysterious sign of the "King of the World" and the chronicle of thelast vision of the Living Buddha.
"I prayed and saw that which is hidden from the eyes of the people.
A vast plain was spread before me surrounded by distant mountains.
An old Lama carried a basket filled with heavy stones. He hardlymoved. From the north a rider appeared in white robes and mountedon a white horse. He approached the Lama and said to him:
"'Give me your basket. I shall help you to carry them to theKure.' The Lama handed his heavy burden up to him but the rider could notraise it to his saddle so that the old Lama had to place it back onhis shoulder and continue on his way, bent under its heavy weight.
"Then from the north came another rider in black robes and on ablack horse, who also approached the Lama and said:
"'Stupid! Why do you carry these stones when they are everywhereabout the ground?' With these words he pushed the Lama over with the breast of hishorse and scattered the stones about the ground. When the stonestouched the earth, they became diamonds. All three rushed to raisethem but not one of them could break them loose from the ground.
"Then the old Lama exclaimed:
"'Oh Gods! All my life I have carried this heavy burden and now,when there was left so little to go, I have lost it. Help me,great, good Gods!' Suddenly a tottering old man appeared. He collected all thediamonds into the basket without trouble, cleaned the dust fromthem, raised the burden to his shoulder and started out, speakingwith the Lama:
" "'Rest a while, I have just carried my burden to the goal and I amglad to help you with yours.' They went on and were soon out of sight, while the riders began tofight. They fought one whole day and then the whole night and,when the sun rose over the plain, neither was there, either aliveor dead, and no trace of either remained. This I saw, BogdoHutuktu Khan, speaking with the Great and Wise Buddha, surroundedby the good and bad demons! Wise Lamas, Hutuktus, Kampos, Marambasand Holy Gheghens, give the answer to my vision!""This was written in my presence on May 17th, 1921, from the wordsof the Living Buddha just as he came out of his private shrine tohis study. I do not know what the Hutuktu and Gheghens, thefortune tellers, sorcerers and clairvoyants replied to him; butdoes not the answer seem clear, if one realizes the presentsituation in Asia?
"Awakened Asia is full of enigmas but it is also full of answers tothe questions set by the destiny of humankind. This greatcontinent of mysterious Pontiffs, Living Gods, Mahatmas and readersof the terrible book of Karma is awakening and the ocean ofhundreds of millions of human lives is lashed with monstrous waves.
"Stop!" whispered my old Mongol guide, as we were one day crossingthe plain near Tzagan Luk. "Stop!"He slipped from his camel which lay down without his bidding. TheMongol raised his hands in prayer before his face and began torepeat the sacred phrase: "Om! Mani padme Hung!" The otherMongols immediately stopped their camels and began to pray.
What has happened? I thought, as I gazed round over the tendergreen grass, up to the cloudless sky and out toward the dreamy softrays of the evening sun.
The Mongols prayed for some time, whispered among themselves and,after tightening up the packs on the camels, moved on.
Did you see, asked the Mongol, "how our camels moved their earsin fear? How the herd of horses on the plain stood fixed inattention and how the herds of sheep and cattle lay crouched closeto the ground? Did you notice that the birds did not fly, themarmots did not run and the dogs did not bark? The air trembledsoftly and bore from afar the music of a song which penetrated tothe hearts of men, animals and birds alike. Earth and sky ceasedbreathing. The wind did not blow and the sun did not move. Atsuch a moment the wolf that is stealing up on the sheep arrests hisstealthy crawl; the frightened herd of antelopes suddenly checksits wild course; the knife of the shepherd cutting the sheep'sthroat falls from his hand; the rapacious ermine ceases to stalkthe unsuspecting salga. All living beings in fear areinvoluntarily thrown into prayer and waiting for their fate. So itwas just now. Thus it has always been whenever the King of theWorld in his subterranean palace prays and searches out the destinyof all peoples on the earth."In this wise the old Mongol, a simple, coarse shepherd and hunter,spoke to me.
Mongolia with her nude and terrible mountains, her limitlessplains, covered with the widely strewn bones of the forefathers,gave birth to Mystery. Her people, frightened by the stormypassions of Nature or lulled by her deathlike peace, feel hermystery. Her "Red" and "Yellow Lamas" preserve and poetize hermystery. The Pontiffs of Lhasa and Urga know and possess hermystery.
On my journey into Central Asia I came to know for the first timeabout "the Mystery of Mysteries," which I can call by no othername. At the outset I did not pay much attention to it and did notattach to it such importance as I afterwards realized belonged toit, when I had analyzed and connoted many sporadic, hazy and oftencontroversial bits of evidence.
The old people on the shore of the River Amyl related to me anancient legend to the effect that a certain Mongolian tribe intheir escape from the demands of Jenghiz Khan hid themselves in asubterranean country. Afterwards a Soyot from near the Lake ofNogan Kul showed me the smoking gate that serves as the entrance tothe "Kingdom of Agharti." Through this gate a hunter formerlyentered into the Kingdom and, after his return, began to relatewhat he had seen there. The Lamas cut out his tongue in order toprevent him from telling about the Mystery of Mysteries. When hearrived at old age, he came back to the entrance of this cave anddisappeared into the subterranean kingdom, the memory of which hadornamented and lightened his nomad heart.
I received more realistic information about this from Hutuktu JelybDjamsrap in Narabanchi Kure. He told me the story of the semi-realistic arrival of the powerful King of the World from thesubterranean kingdom, of his appearance, of his miracles and of hisprophecies; and only then did I begin to understand that in thatlegend, hypnosis or mass vision, whichever it may be, is hidden notonly mystery but a realistic and powerful force capable ofinfluencing the course of the political life of Asia. From thatmoment I began making some investigations.
The favorite Gelong Lama of Prince Chultun Beyli and the Princehimself gave me an account of the subterranean kingdom.
Everything in the world, said the Gelong, "is constantly in astate of change and transition--peoples science, religions, lawsand customs. How many great empires and brilliant cultures haveperished! And that alone which remains unchanged is Evil, the toolof Bad Spirits. More than sixty thousand years ago a Holymandisappeared with a whole tribe of people under the ground and neverappeared again on the surface of the earth. Many people, however,have since visited this kingdom, Sakkia Mouni, Undur Gheghen,Paspa, Khan Baber and others. No one knows where this place is.
One says Afghanistan, others India. All the people there areprotected against Evil and crimes do not exist within its bournes.
Science has there developed calmly and nothing is threatened withdestruction. The subterranean people have reached the highestknowledge. Now it is a large kingdom, millions of men with theKing of the World as their ruler. He knows all the forces of theworld and reads all the souls of humankind and the great book oftheir destiny. Invisibly he rules eight hundred million men on thesurface of the earth and they will accomplish his every order."Prince Chultun Beyli added: "This kingdom is Agharti. It extendsthroughout all the subterranean passages of the whole world. Iheard a learned Lama of China relating to Bogdo Khan that all thesubterranean caves of America are inhabited by the ancient peoplewho have disappeared underground. Traces of them are still foundon the surface of the land. These subterranean peoples and spacesare governed by rulers owing allegiance to the King of the World.
In it there is not much of the wonderful. You know that in the twogreatest oceans of the east and the west there were formerly twocontinents. They disappeared under the water but their people wentinto the subterranean kingdom. In underground caves there exists apeculiar light which affords growth to the grains and vegetablesand long life without disease to the people. There are manydifferent peoples and many different tribes. An old BuddhistBrahman in Nepal was carrying out the will of the Gods in making avisit to the ancient kingdom of Jenghiz,--Siam,--where he met afisherman who ordered him to take a place in his boat and sail withhim upon the sea. On the third day they reached an island where hemet a people having two tongues which could speak separately indifferent languages. They showed to him peculiar, unfamiliaranimals, tortoises with sixteen feet and one eye, huge snakes witha very tasty flesh and birds with teeth which caught fish for theirmasters in the sea. These people told him that they had come upout of the subterranean kingdom and described to him certain partsof the underground country."The Lama Turgut traveling with me from Urga to Peking gave mefurther details.
The capital of Agharti is surrounded with towns of high priestsand scientists. It reminds one of Lhasa where the palace of theDalai Lama, the Potala, is the top of a mountain covered withmonasteries and temples. The throne of the King of the World issurrounded by millions of incarnated Gods. They are the HolyPanditas. The palace itself is encircled by the palaces of theGoro, who possess all the visible and invisible forces of theearth, of inferno and of the sky and who can do everything for thelife and death of man. If our mad humankind should begin a waragainst them, they would be able to explode the whole surface ofour planet and transform it into deserts. They can dry up theseas, transform lands into oceans and scatter the mountains intothe sands of the deserts. By his order trees, grasses and bushescan be made to grow; old and feeble men can become young andstalwart; and the dead can be resurrected. In cars strange andunknown to us they rush through the narrow cleavages inside ourplanet. Some Indian Brahmans and Tibetan Dalai Lamas during theirlaborious struggles to the peaks of mountains which no other humanfeet had trod have found there inscriptions carved on the rocks,footprints in the snow and the tracks of wheels. The blissfulSakkia Mouni found on one mountain top tablets of stone carryingwords which he only understood in his old age and afterwardspenetrated into the Kingdom of Agharti, from which he brought backcrumbs of the sacred learning preserved in his memory. There inpalaces of wonderful crystal live the invisible rulers of all piouspeople, the King of the World or Brahytma, who can speak with Godas I speak with you, and his two assistants, Mahytma, knowing thepurposes of future events, and Mahynga, ruling the causes of theseevents."The Holy Panditas study the world and all its forces. Sometimesthe most learned among them collect together and send envoys tothat place where the human eyes have never penetrated. This isdescribed by the Tashi Lama living eight hundred and fifty yearsago. The highest Panditas place their hands on their eyes and atthe base of the brain of younger ones and force them into a deepsleep, wash their bodies with an infusion of grass and make themimmune to pain and harder than stones, wrap them in magic cloths,bind them and then pray to the Great God. The petrified youths liewith eyes and ears open and alert, seeing, hearing and rememberingeverything. Afterwards a Goro approaches and fastens a long,steady gaze upon them. Very slowly the bodies lift themselves fromthe earth and disappear. The Goro sits and stares with fixed eyesto the place whither he has sent them. Invisible threads join themto his will. Some of them course among the stars, observe theirevents, their unknown peoples, their life and their laws. Theylisten to their talk, read their books, understand their fortunesand woes, their holiness and sins, their piety and evil. Some aremingled with flame and see the creature of fire, quick andferocious, eternally fighting, melting and hammering metals in thedepths of planets, boiling the water for geysers and springs,melting the rocks and pushing out molten streams over the surfaceof the earth through the holes in the mountains. Others rushtogether with the ever elusive, infinitesimally small, transparentcreatures of the air and penetrate into the mysteries of theirexistence and into the purposes of their life. Others slip intothe depths of the seas and observe the kingdom of the wisecreatures of the water, who transport and spread genial warmth allover the earth, ruling the winds, waves and storms. . . . InErdeni Dzu formerly lived Pandita Hutuktu, who had come fromAgharti. As he was dying, he told about the time when he livedaccording to the will of the Goro on a red star in the east,floated in the ice-covered ocean and flew among the stormy fires inthe depths of the earth.These are the tales which I heard in the Mongolian yurtas ofPrinces and in the Lamaite monasteries. These stories were allrelated in a solemn tone which forbade challenge and doubt.
Mystery. . . .
During my stay in Urga I tried to find an explanation of thislegend about the King of the World. Of course, the Living Buddhacould tell me most of all and so I endeavored to get the story fromhim. In a conversation with him I mentioned the name of the Kingof the World. The old Pontiff sharply turned his head toward meand fixed upon me his immobile, blind eyes. Unwillingly I becamesilent. Our silence was a long one and after it the Pontiffcontinued the conversation in such a way that I understood he didnot wish to accept the suggestion of my reference. On the faces ofthe others present I noticed expressions of astonishment and fearproduced by my words, and especially was this true of the custodianof the library of the Bogdo Khan. One can readily understand thatall this only made me the more anxious to press the pursuit.
As I was leaving the study of the Bogdo Hutuktu, I met thelibrarian who had stepped out ahead of me and asked him if he wouldshow me the library of the Living Buddha and used a very simple,sly trick with him.
Do you know, my dear Lama, I said, "once I rode in the plain atthe hour when the King of the World spoke with God and I felt theimpressive majesty of this moment."To my astonishment the old Lama very quietly answered me: "It isnot right that the Buddhist and our Yellow Faith should conceal it.
The acknowledgment of the existence of the most holy and mostpowerful man, of the blissful kingdom, of the great temple ofsacred science is such a consolation to our sinful hearts and ourcorrupt lives that to conceal it from humankind is a sin. . . .
Well, listen," he continued, "throughout the whole year the King ofthe World guides the work of the Panditas and Goros of Agharti.
Only at times he goes to the temple cave where the embalmed body ofhis predecessor lies in a black stone coffin. This cave is alwaysdark, but when the King of the World enters it the walls arestriped with fire and from the lid of the coffin appear tongues offlame. The eldest Goro stands before him with covered head andface and with hands folded across his chest. This Goro neverremoves the covering from his face, for his head is a nude skullwith living eyes and a tongue that speaks. He is in communion withthe souls of all who have gone before.
"The King of the World prays for a long time and afterwardsapproaches the coffin and stretches out his hand. The flamesthereon burn brighter; the stripes of fire on the walls disappearand revive, interlace and form mysterious signs from the alphabetvatannan. From the coffin transparent bands of scarcely noticeablelight begin to flow forth. These are the thoughts of hispredecessor. Soon the King of the World stands surrounded by anauriole of this light and fiery letters write and write upon thewalls the wishes and orders of God. At this moment the King of theWorld is in contact with the thoughts of all the men who influencethe lot and life of all humankind: with Kings, Czars, Khans,warlike leaders, High Priests, scientists and other strong men. Herealizes all their thoughts and plans. If these be pleasing beforeGod, the King of the World will invisibly help them; if they areunpleasant in the sight of God, the King will bring them todestruction. This power is given to Agharti by the mysteriousscience of 'Om,' with which we begin all our prayers. 'Om' is thename of an ancient Holyman, the first Goro, who lived three hundredthirty thousand years ago. He was the first man to know God andwho taught humankind to believe, hope and struggle with Evil. ThenGod gave him power over all forces ruling the visible world. After his conversation with his predecessor the King of the Worldassembles the 'Great Council of God,' judges the actions andthoughts of great men, helps them or destroys them. Mahytma andMahynga find the place for these actions and thoughts in the causesruling the world. Afterwards the King of the World enters thegreat temple and prays in solitude. Fire appears on the altar,gradually spreading to all the altars near, and through the burningflame gradually appears the face of God. The King of the Worldreverently announces to God the decisions and awards of the'Council of God' and receives in turn the Divine orders of theAlmighty. As he comes forth from the temple, the King of the Worldradiates with Divine Light.""
"Has anybody seen the King of the World? I asked.
Oh, yes! answered the Lama. "During the solemn holidays of theancient Buddhism in Siam and India the King of the World appearedfive times. He rode in a splendid car drawn by white elephants andornamented with gold, precious stones and finest fabrics; he wasrobed in a white mantle and red tiara with strings of diamondsmasking his face. He blessed the people with a golden apple withthe figure of a Lamb above it. The blind received their sight, thedumb spoke, the deaf heard, the crippled freely moved and the deadarose, wherever the eyes of the King of the World rested. He alsoappeared five hundred and forty years ago in Erdeni Dzu, he was inthe ancient Sakkai Monastery and in the Narabanchi Kure.
One of our Living Buddhas and one of the Tashi Lamas received amessage from him, written with unknown signs on golden tablets. Noone could read these signs. The Tashi Lama entered the temple,placed the golden tablet on his head and began to pray. With thisthe thoughts of the King of the World penetrated his brain and,without having read the enigmatical signs, he understood andaccomplished the message of the King."How many persons have ever been to Agharti? I questioned him.
Very many, answered the Lama, "but all these people have keptsecret that which they saw there. When the Olets destroyed Lhasa,one of their detachments in the southwestern mountains penetratedto the outskirts of Agharti. Here they learned some of the lessermysterious sciences and brought them to the surface of our earth.
This is why the Olets and Kalmucks are artful sorcerers andprophets. Also from the eastern country some tribes of blackpeople penetrated to Agharti and lived there many centuries.
Afterwards they were thrust out from the kingdom and returned tothe earth, bringing with them the mystery of predictions accordingto cards, grasses and the lines of the palm. They are theGypsies. . . . Somewhere in the north of Asia a tribe existswhich is now dying and which came from the cave of Agharti,skilled in calling back the spirits of the dead as they floatthrough the air."The Lama was silent and afterwards, as though answering mythoughts, continued.
"In Agharti the learned Panditas write on tablets of stone all thescience of our planet and of the other worlds. The Chinese learnedBuddhists know this. Their science is the highest and purest. Every century one hundred sages of China collect in a secret placeon the shores of the sea, where from its depths come out onehundred eternally-living tortoises. On their shells the Chinesewrite all the developments of the divine science of the century.As I write I am involuntarily reminded of a tale of an old Chinesebonze in the Temple of Heaven at Peking. He told me that tortoiseslive more than three thousand years without food and air and thatthis is the reason why all the columns of the blue Temple of Heavenwere set on live tortoises to preserve the wood from decay.
"Several times the Pontiffs of Lhasa and Urga have sent envoys tothe King of the World, said the Lama librarian, "but they couldnot find him. Only a certain Tibetan leader after a battle withthe Olets found the cave with the inscription: 'This is the gateto Agharti.' From the cave a fine appearing man came forth,presented him with a gold tablet bearing the mysterious signs andsaid:
"'The King of the World will appear before all people when the timeshall have arrived for him to lead all the good people of the worldagainst all the bad; but this time has not yet come. The most evilamong mankind have not yet been born. Chiang Chun Baron Ungern sent the young Prince Pounzig to seek outthe King of the World but he returned with a letter from the DalaiLama from Lhasa. When the Baron sent him a second time, he did notcome back.""
"The Hutuktu of Narabanchi related the following to me, when Ivisited him in his monastery in the beginning of 1921:
"When the King of the World appeared before the Lamas, favored ofGod, in this monastery thirty years ago he made a prophecy for thecoming half century. It was as follows: 'More and more the people will forget their souls and care abouttheir bodies. The greatest sin and corruption will reign on theearth. People will become as ferocious animals, thirsting for theblood and death of their brothers. The 'Crescent' will grow dimand its followers will descend into beggary and ceaseless war. Itsconquerors will be stricken by the sun but will not progress upwardand twice they will be visited with the heaviest misfortune, whichwill end in insult before the eye of the other peoples. The crownsof kings, great and small, will fall . . . one, two, three, four,five, six, seven, eight. . . . There will be a terrible battleamong all the peoples. The seas will become red . . . the earthand the bottom of the seas will be strewn with bones . . . kingdomswill be scattered . . . whole peoples will die . . . hunger,disease, crimes unknown to the law, never before seen in the world.
"The enemies of God and of the Divine Spirit in man will come.
Those who take the hand of another shall also perish. Theforgotten and pursued shall rise and hold the attention of thewhole world. There will be fogs and storms. Bare mountains shallsuddenly be covered with forests. Earthquakes will come. . . .
Millions will change the fetters of slavery and humiliation forhunger, disease and death. The ancient roads will be covered withcrowds wandering from one place to another. The greatest and mostbeautiful cities shall perish in fire . . . one, two, three. . . .
Father shall rise against son, brother against brother and motheragainst daughter. . . . Vice, crime and the destruction of bodyand soul shall follow. . . . Families shall be scattered. . . .
Truth and love shall disappear. . . . From ten thousand men oneshall remain; he shall be nude and mad and without force and theknowledge to build him a house and find his food. . . . He willhowl as the raging wolf, devour dead bodies, bite his own flesh andchallenge God to fight. . . . All the earth will be emptied. Godwill turn away from it and over it there will be only night anddeath. Then I shall send a people, now unknown, which shall tearout the weeds of madness and vice with a strong hand and will leadthose who still remain faithful to the spirit of man in the fightagainst Evil. They will found a new life on the earth purified bythe death of nations. In the fiftieth year only three greatkingdoms will appear, which will exist happily seventy-one years.
Afterwards there will be eighteen years of war and destruction.
Then the peoples of Agharti will come up from their subterraneancaverns to the surface of the earth.'"* * * * * *Afterwards, as I traveled farther through Eastern Mongolia and toPeking, I often thought:
And what if . . . ? What if whole peoples of different colors,faiths and tribes should begin their migration toward the West?And now, as I write these final lines, my eyes involuntarily turnto this limitless Heart of Asia over which the trails of mywanderings twine. Through whirling snow and driving clouds of sandof the Gobi they travel back to the face of the Narabanchi Hutuktuas, with quiet voice and a slender hand pointing to the horizon, heopened to me the doors of his innermost thoughts:
"Near Karakorum and on the shores of Ubsa Nor I see the huge,multi-colored camps, the herds of horses and cattle and the blueyurtas of the leaders. Above them I see the old banners of JenghizKhan, of the Kings of Tibet, Siam, Afghanistan and of IndianPrinces; the sacred signs of all the Lamaite Pontiffs; the coats ofarms of the Khans of the Olets; and the simple signs of the northMongolian tribes. I do not hear the noise of the animated crowd. The singers do not sing the mournful songs of mountain, plain anddesert. The young riders are not delighting themselves with theraces on their fleet steeds. . . . There are innumerable crowds ofold men, women and children and beyond in the north and west, asfar as the eye can reach, the sky is red as a flame, there is theroar and crackling of fire and the ferocious sound of battle. Whois leading these warriors who there beneath the reddened sky areshedding their own and others' blood? Who is leading these crowdsof unarmed old men and women? I see severe order, deep religiousunderstanding of purposes, patience and tenacity . . . a new greatmigration of peoples, the last march of the Mongols. . . .Karma may have opened a new page of history!
"And what if the King of the World be with them?
But this greatest Mystery of Mysteries keeps its own deep silence.
GLOSSARYAgronome.--Russian for trained agriculturalist.
Amour sayn.--Good-bye.
Ataman.--Headman or chief of the Cossacks.
Bandi.--Pupil or student of theological school in the Buddhistfaith.
Buriat.--The most civilized Mongol tribe, living in the valley ofthe Selenga in Transbaikalia.
Chahars.--A warlike Mongolian tribe living along the Great Wall ofChina in Inner Mongolia.
Chaidje.--A high Lamaite priest, but not an incarnate god.
Cheka.--The Bolshevik Counter-Revolutionary Committee, the mostrelentless establishment of the Bolsheviki, organized for thepersecution of the enemies of the Communistic government in Russia.
Chiang Chun.--Chinese for "General"--Chief of all Chinese troops inMongolia.
Dalai Lama.--The first and highest Pontiff of the Lamaite or"Yellow Faith," living at Lhasa in Tibet.
Djungar.--A West Mongolian tribe.
Dugun.--Chinese commercial and military post.
Dzuk.--Lie down!
Fang-tzu.--Chinese for "house."Fatil.--A very rare and precious root much prized in Chinese andTibetan medicines.
Felcher.--Assistant of a doctor (surgeon).
Gelong.--Lamaite priest having the right to offer sacrifices toGod.
Getul.--The third rank in the Lamaite monks.
Goro.--The high priest of the King of the World.
Hatyk.--An oblong piece of blue (or yellow) silk cloth, presentedto honored guests, chiefs, Lamas and gods. Also a kind of coin,worth from 25 to 50 cents.
Hong.--A Chinese mercantile establishment.
Hun.--The lowest rank of princes.
Hunghutze.--Chinese brigand.
Hushun.--A fenced enclosure, containing the houses, paddocks,stores, stables, etc., of Russian Cossacks in Mongolia.
Hutuktu.--The highest rank of Lamaite monks; the form of anyincarnated god; holy.
Imouran.--A small rodent like a gopher.
Izubr.--The American elk.
Kabarga.--The musk antelope.
Kalmuck.--A Mongolian tribe, which migrated from Mongolia underJenghiz Khan (where they were known as the Olets or Eleuths), andnow live in the Urals and on the shores of the Volga in Russia.
Kanpo.--The abbot of a Lamaite monastery, a monk; also the firstrank of "white" clergy (not monks).
Kanpo-Gelong.--The highest rank of Gelongs (q.v.); an honorarytitle.
Karma.--The Buddhist materialization of the idea of Fate, aparallel with the Greek and Roman Nemesis (Justice).
Khan.--A king.
Khayrus.--A kind of trout.
Khirghiz.--The great Mongol nation living between the river Irtishin western Siberia, Lake Balhash and the Volga in Russia.
Kuropatka.--A partridge.
Lama.--The common name for a Lamaite priest.
Lan.--A weight of silver or gold equivalent to about one-eleventhof a Russian pound, or 9/110ths of a pound avoirdupois.
Lanhon.--A round bottle of clay.
Maramba.--A doctor of theology.
Merin.--The civil chief of police in every district of the Soyotcountry in Urianhai.
Om! Mani padme Hung!.--"Om" has two meanings. It is the name ofthe first Goro and also means: "Hail!" In this connection:
Hail! Great Lama in the Lotus Flower!Mende.--Soyot greeting--"Good Day."Nagan-hushun.--A Chinese vegetable garden or enclosure in Mongolia.
Naida.--A form of fire used by Siberian woodsmen.
Noyon.--A Prince or Khan. In polite address: "Chief,""Excellency."Obo.--The sacred and propitiatory signs in all the dangerous placesin Urianhai and Mongolia.
Olets.--Vid: Kalmuck.
Om.--The name of the first Goro (q.v.) and also of the mysterious,magic science of the Subterranean State. It means, also: "Hail!"Orochons.--A Mongolian tribe, living near the shores of the AmurRiver in Siberia.
Oulatchen.--The guard for the post horses; official guide.
Ourton.--A post station, where the travelers change horses andoulatchens.
Pandita.--The high rank of Buddhist monks.
Panti.--Deer horns in the velvet, highly prized as a Tibetan andChinese medicine.
Pogrom.--A wholesale slaughter of unarmed people; a massacre.
Paspa.--The founder of the Yellow Sect, predominating now in theLamaite faith.
Sait.--A Mongolian governor.
Salga.--A sand partridge.
Sayn.--"Good day!" "Good morning!" "Good evening!" All right;good.
Taiga.--A Siberian word for forest.
Taimen.--A species of big trout, reaching 120 pounds.
Ta Lama.--Literally: "the great priest," but it means now "adoctor of medicine."Tashur.--A strong bamboo stick.
Turpan.--The red wild goose or Lama-goose.
Tzagan.--White.
Tzara.--A document, giving the right to receive horses andoulatchens at the post stations.
Tsirik.--Mongolian soldiers mobilized by levy.
Tzuren.--A doctor-poisoner.
Ulan.--Red.
Urga.--The name of the capital of Mongolia; (2) a kind of Mongolianlasso.
Vatannen.--The language of the Subterranean State of the King ofthe World.
Wapiti.--The American elk.
Yurta.--The common Mongolian tent or house, made of felt.
Zahachine.--A West Mongolian wandering tribe.
Zaberega.--The ice-mountains formed along the shores of a river inspring.
Zikkurat.--A high tower of Babylonish style.
The End