Magic and Mystery in Tibet

The "consciousness" of the "I," or according to another definition" the will to live."

"He who knows how to go about it could live comfortably even in hell," is a very popular saying in Tibet.

However, in Tibet, as elsewhere, the views of the philosophers are only understood by the elite. The masses, although they repeat the orthodox creed: "all aggregates are impermanent; no 'ego' exists in the person, nor in anything," remain attached to the more simple belief in an undefined entity travelling from world to world, assuming various forms.

Orthodox Buddhism strictly forbids religious rites, and the learned lamas acknowledge that they cannot bestow spiritual enlightenment, which can only be acquired by personal intellectual effort.