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 Christianity, and it would seem that a ritual common to Tibet and Japan can be explained only as borrowed from India.  Further, although Tsong-kha-pa may have come in contact with missionaries, is it likely that he had an opportunity of seeing Roman rites performed with any pomp?  It is in the great choral services of the two religions that the resemblance is visible, not in their simpler ritual.  For these reasons, I think that the debt of Lamaism to the Catholic Church must be regarded as not proven, while admitting the resemblance to be so striking that we should be justified in concluding that Tsong-kha-pa copied Roman ceremonial, could it be shown that he was acquainted with it.

The life and ritual of the Lamas have often been described, and I need not do more than refer the reader to the detailed account given by Waddell in his Buddhism of Tibet ,[1067] but it is noticeable that the monastic system is organized on a larger scale and inspired by more energy than in any other country.  The monasteries of Tibet, if inferior to those of Japan in the middle ages, are the greatest Buddhist establishments now existing.  For instance Depung has 7000 monks, Serra 5500 and Tashilhunpo 3800:  at Urga in Mongolia there are said to be 14,000.  One is not surprised to hear that these institutions are veritable towns with their own police and doubtless