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Tibet/ China: A 1905 photograph of Lamaic dancing at a ceremony in a lamasery in Yerkalo in the Tibetan/ Yunnanese border area.

Tibet/ China: A 1905 photograph of Lamaic dancing at a ceremony in a lamasery in Yerkalo in the Tibetan/ Yunnanese border area.

Perhaps due to misunderstandings by early Western scholars attempting to understand Tibetan Buddhism, the term 'Lama' has historically been erroneously applied to Tibetan monks generally. Similarly, Tibetan Buddhism was referred to as 'Lamaism' by early Western academics and travelers who did not understand that what they were witnessing was a form of Buddhism; they may also have been unaware of the distinction between Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. The term 'Lamaism' is now considered derogatory.

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