• Forums Software Updates

    The forums will be undergoing updates on Sunday 10th November 2024.
    Little to no downtime is expected.
  • We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Buddhist Mummies

He just needs good hydration, and he'll snap out of it.
Not dead, you see. ;)
 
Makes you wonder if there're others, all over the place. :eek:
 
This article has slightly more on the mummy in the statue, including this bit:
"In Japan, monks seeking self-mummification would begin a 1,000-day diet of water, seeds and nuts, followed by a 1,000-day diet of roots, pine bark and a special tea made from the sap of the Chinese lacquer tree -- a toxic substance usually used to lacquer bowls and plates, used by the monks to repel maggots and bacteria."

http://www.cnet.com/news/ct-scan-finds-mummified-monk-inside-1000-year-old-buddha/#ftag=YHF65cbda0
 
I thought cats in the walls was bad enough, now we have to worry about dead people inside statues! Ever see that movie A Bucket of Blood?! Art imitates life...
 
I thought cats in the walls was bad enough, now we have to worry about dead people inside statues! Ever see that movie A Bucket of Blood?! Art imitates life...
I don't remember 'A Bucket of Blood', but I seem to recall an episode of a detective series (was it Columbo?) where a sculptor made bizarre, horrifying statues containing the bodies of people he'd murdered.
 
I don't remember 'A Bucket of Blood', but I seem to recall an episode of a detective series (was it Columbo?) where a sculptor made bizarre, horrifying statues containing the bodies of people he'd murdered.

The original Bucket of Blood was from 1959, so it sounds like someone in the Columbo writing pool was a Roger Corman fan...
 
So there’s a new case of Tibetan self mummification or Thukdam. Except when you read the report he died on the 14th of July, and then on several occasions he was looked at scientifically. It was declared there were no signs of death in hue or odour therefore he had entered Thukdam. But later on it describes him as having neural activity, from a pulse meter we can see he has a pulse. His oxygen levels are at 86% so a dangerously low level. But he has Brian activity, a pulse and circulating oxygen. Now, I’m no doctor but that sounds to me like he is alive. Or at least he was. They planned to cremate him on the 21st of August.
https://tibet.net/tibetan-geshe-in-...CGyyXyYZu3kqf_ZbB_iwb3v8JbVTcPzswpJCqx4FaUAcs
 
But he has Brian activity, a pulse and circulating oxygen.
411full.jpg
 
So there’s a new case of Tibetan self mummification or Thukdam. Except when you read the report he died on the 14th of July, and then on several occasions he was looked at scientifically. It was declared there were no signs of death in hue or odour therefore he had entered Thukdam. But later on it describes him as having neural activity, from a pulse meter we can see he has a pulse. His oxygen levels are at 86% so a dangerously low level. But he has Brian activity, a pulse and circulating oxygen. Now, I’m no doctor but that sounds to me like he is alive. Or at least he was. They planned to cremate him on the 21st of August.
https://tibet.net/tibetan-geshe-in-...CGyyXyYZu3kqf_ZbB_iwb3v8JbVTcPzswpJCqx4FaUAcs
Until recently in the west, whether or not someone was actually dead was a big concern. All kinds of ropes with bells to pull, signalling from the coffin, to make sure. The geshe in question was obviously alive, although not knowing about his illness, was probably in a coma.
 
This seems a cag handed investigation.

Shame, as if someones going to top themselves in such an interesting way...
 
http://travel.aol.co.uk/2015/02/05/...ead-meditating-buddha-mongolia/?ncid=webmail3

200-year-old mummified monk 'not dead, just meditating'
Senior Buddhists suggest mummified monk is in 'meditative trance'

A 200-year-old mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week is not dead but rather in a "meditative trance", say senior Buddhists. The remains were found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia, and scientists have been trying to determine how the monk is so well preserved.

Many think Mongolia's cold weather could be the reason. But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, told theSiberian Timesthat the monk was in a rare state of meditation called "tukdam".

He said: "I had the privilege to take care of some meditators who were in a tukdam state. If the person is able to remain in this state for more than three weeks - which rarely happens - his body gradually shrinks, and in the end all that remains from the person is his hair, nails, and clothes. Usually in this case, people who live next to the monk see a rainbow that glows in the sky for several days. This means that he has found a 'rainbow body'. This is the highest state close to the state of Buddha."

He added: "If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha. Reaching such a high spiritual level,the meditator will also help others, and all the people around will feel a deep sense of joy."

Ganhugiyn Purevbata, who is the founder and professor of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar Buddhist University, agreed, telling the Mirror: "Lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolises the preaching Sutra.

"This is a sign that the Lama is not dead, but is in a very deep meditation according to the ancient tradition of Buddhist lamas."

It is believed the monk may be a teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov. ...

Interesting documentary: Tukdam: Between Worlds (Tukdam: The Point of Death). Saw it on RTE1. 8/10.
https://www.rte.ie/player/movie/tukdam-the-point-of-death/315521064295

This feature documentary explores a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call 'tukdam', advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation. Remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death. Following ground-breaking scientific research into tukdam and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of 'tukdam'.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21945758/
 
I saw a documentary about this a while back.
They examined the mummified remains of a monk and came to the conclusion that he went from a state of meditation to a state like that of death, then finally died while in a meditative posture. The body didn't rot because he had become so dehydrated.
I spoke to a Monk in Bhutan who told me of other monks who had died while meditating to seek enlightenment, no one realised they were dead for several months???? While trekking I passed a small shelter of a Monk up in the mountains, he had to remain there alone without any human contact for several years.
 
Back
Top