the eternal
and universal soul of Buddha."

We know not whether this explanation, which was given to us by the Regent
himself, is generally adopted by the learned Buddhists of Thibet and
Mongolia. We may, however, observe, as it appears to us, that it bears
some analogy with the literal meaning: Oh, the gem in the lotus, Amen.
The gem being the emblem of perfection, and the lotus of Buddha, it may
perhaps be considered that these words express the desire to acquire
perfection in order to be united with Buddha, to be absorbed in the
universal soul. The symbolic formula, Oh, the gem in the lotus, Amen,
might then be paraphrased thus: Oh, may I obtain perfection, and be
absorbed in Buddha, Amen.

According to the explanation of the Regent, the mani would be, as it
were, the summary of a vast pantheism, the basis of the whole belief of
the Buddhists. The learned Lamas say that Buddha is the necessary, the
independent Being, the Beginning and End of all things. The earth, the
stars, mankind, everything that exists is a partial and temporal
manifestation of Buddha. Everything was created by Buddha; in this
sense, that everything proceeds from him, as light proceeds from the sun.
All creatures sprung from Buddha, have had a beginning, and will have an
end; but in the same way that they have necessarily sprung from the
universal essence, they will necessarily return to it. It is as the
rivers and the torrents produced by the waters of the sea, and which,
after a course, more or less long, proceed again to lose themselves in
its immensity. So Buddha is eternal; his manifestations also are
eternal; but in this sense, that there have been manifestations, and that
there always will be manifestations, though taken separately, they have a
beginning and an end.

Without inquiring too nicely whether this agrees or not with what
precedes, the Buddhists admit, besides, an unlimited number of divine
incarnations. They say that Buddha assumes a human body, and comes to
dwell among men, in order to aid them in acquiring perfection, and to
facilitate for them their reunion with the universal soul. These Living
Buddhas constitute the numerous class of Chaberons, whom we have
frequently noticed before. The most celebrated Living Buddhas are--at
Lha-Ssa, the Tale-Lama; at Djachi-Loumbo, the Bandchan-Remboutchi; at the
Grand Kouren, the Guison-Tamba; at Peking, the Tchang-Kia-Fo, a sort of
grand almoner of the imperial court; and in