112 
Sarat Chandra Das —Sacred Literature f etc. 
[No. 2, 
CHAPTER II. 
To-u-se or the Bon (Pon) religion oe China. 
The chief god or teacher of this most ancient religion of China was 
Lo-u-kyun. He is both god and man. As a god he is called by the 
name “ Thai-shan Lo-u-kyun” which in Tibetan means the chief lord 
of goodness. He is said to have appeared when, according to the Chinese 
account, Heaven and Earth were first formed. Some writers identify him 
with the god Brahma, which conjecture is accepted by many. In the begin¬ 
ning of the formation of the world the great Brahma formed the superb 
mansion of the gods and thereafter the Earth, which accounts agree with 
those given of Thaishan Lo-u-kyun as well as with the signification of 
his name “ Brahma built the world.” Lo-u-kyun from that period to 
modern times is said to have sent forth 81. emanations among which 
the great teacher Buddha is counted as one, just as the Brahmanists 
reckon him (Buddha) as one of the Avatars of Vishnu. The human Lo-u- 
kyun was an incarnation of the divine Thai-shan Lo-u-kyun. He is 
believed to have been contemporary with Khun-fu-tse. After a stay 
of 82 years within his mother’s womb he was born when all his hair had 
turned grey, for which reason he was called by the nickname Lo-u-tse or 
the grey-haired old man. His followers addressed him by the name “Lo-u- 
kyun” the honorific equivalent for Lo-u-tse. Having obtained 72 chap¬ 
ters of what are called “ heavenly scriptures,” from a certain cavern of a 
hill, he became a religious teacher and preached the religion called “ To-u-se.” 
The famous Chankya Rinpochhe Itolpai dorje observed that this Lo-u- 
kyun is identical with S'en-rab of the Tibetan Bonpo 7 . In Chinese a sage 
is called Shyan-shen of which the first syllable shyan by the phonetic laws of 
the Tibetan has been changed into sliyen, whence “ sen ” ; sen means rah or 
“ excellent.” Ywon-shi-then-tsun another celebrated teacher of the To-u-se 
religion who appeared after the founder, is also considered as one of the 
81 incarnations of Lo-u kyun. The pith of To-u-se doctrine as originating 
from Thai-shan Lo-u-kyun is similar to that of the religion of the god 
Brahma. The To-u-se religion obtained its greatest diffusion under two of 
Lo-u-kyun’s incarnation called Lo-u-tse and Ywon-shi-then-tsun. 
To-u-se religious theories. 
The supreme being is immaterial (Arupa), shapeless and invisible. 
He is self-created and matchless and most noble. 8 In the abridged 
To-u-se scripture there are mentioned many gods possessing a shape, being the 
7 [See Vol. L, p. 187 ; also ibidem, p. 195, note 5. Ed.] 
8 The writer did not .see the chief of the To-u-se scriptures for which reason he 
could not describe what views they had respecting the state of the soul and transmigra¬ 
tion and emancipation. 
