ing-ma
sect[1063] but appears to date from after Atisa's reforms, although it has
a strong tendency to revert to older practices. It has several important
sub-sects, such as the Karmapa found in Sikhim and Darjiling, as well as in
Tibet, the Dugpa which is predominant in Bhotan and perhaps in Ladak,[1064]
and the Dikung-pa, which owns a large monastery one hundred miles
north-east of Lhasa. Milarapa (or Mila), the cotton-clad saint who wandered
over the Snow-land in the light garments of an Indian ascetic, is perhaps
the post picturesque figure in Lamaism and in some ways reminds us of St.
Francis of Assisi.[1065] He was a worker of miracles and, what is rarer in
Tibet, a poet. His compositions known as the Hundred Thousand Songs are
still popular and show the same delicately sensitive love of nature as the
Psalms of the Theragatha.

The main distinction is between the Gelugpa or Yellow Church and all
the other sects. This is merely another way of saying that Atisa
reformed the corrupt superstitions which he found but that his
reformed church in its turn became corrupt and required correction.
This was given by Tsong-kha-pa who belonged originally to the Kadampa.
He collected the scattered members of this sect, remodelled its
discipline, and laid the foundations of the system which made the
Grand Lamas rulers of Tibet. In externals the Gelugpa is characterized
by the use of the yellow cap and the veneration paid to Tsong-kha-pa's
image. Its Lamas are all celibate and hereditary succession is not
recognized. Among the many great establishments which belong to it are
the four royal monasteries or Ling in Lhasa; Gandan, Depung and Serra
near Lhasa; and Tashilhunpo.

It has often been noticed that the services performed by the
Gelugpa[1066] and by the Roman Catholic Church are strangely
similar in appearance. Is this an instance of borrowing or of
convergence? On the one hand it is stated that there were Roman
missions in Amdo in Tsong-kha-pa's youth, and the resemblances are
such as would be natural if he had seen great celebrations of the mass
and taken hints. In essentials the similarity is small but in
externals such as the vestments and head-dresses of the officiants,
the arrangement of the choir, and the general _mise-en-scene_, it is
striking. On the other hand many points of resemblance in ceremonial,
though not all, are also found in the older Japanese sects, where
there can hardly be any question of imitating Ch