Tsong-kha-pa gave the signs, whereby the presence of one of the twenty-five Bodhisattvas, or of the Celestial Buddhas in a human body, might be recognized. He also strictly forbade necromancy. This led to a split amongst the Lamas, and the malcontents allied themselves with the aboriginal Böns against the reformed Lamaism.
It is curious to note the great importance given by European Orientalists to the Dalai Lamas of Lhasa, and their utter ignorance as to the Tda-shu (Teshu) Lamas, while it is the latter who began the hierarchical series of Buddha-incarnations, for they are the de facto “popes” in Tibet. The works of the Orientalists are full of the direct landmarks of Arhats, possessed of thaumaturgic powers — but these are spoken of with unconcealed scorn.
If, after the beginning of persecution against Buddhism, the Arhats were no more heard of in India, it was because, their vows prohibiting retaliation, they had to leave the country and seek solitude and security in China, Tibet, Japan, and elsewhere. It was a historical rehearsal of the dramas that were enacted centuries later in Christendom.
Whosoever among those Initiates of the Supreme Degree revealed to a profane a single one of the Truths, even the smallest of the secrets entrusted to him, had to die; and he who received the confidence, was also put to death. Yet this secrecy and this profound mystery are indeed disheartening, since the Initiates of India and Tibet alone could thoroughly dissipate the thick mists hanging over the history of Occultism, and force its claims to be recognized.
Among the commandments of Tsong-kha-pa there is one that enjoins the Arhats to make an attempt to enlighten the world, including the “white barbarians,” every century, at a certain period of the cycle. Up to the present day none of these attempts has been very successful. Failure has followed failure.