The Sky Burial
Mon, Nov 9, 2009
Post filled in: Feature Post, Great Pics, Other
First of all, it has to be said that this once common burial practice in Tibet is pretty hard to ‘digest’ for our ‘civilized’ world, and there’s a big chance you’ll find the pictures shocking. As adepts of Buddhism, Tibetans believe the single most important part of a person is its spirit, and after death, there is no reason to preserve the body, which is just a hollow vessel. Also, wood is quite scarce and the soil is really rocky, making it hard to dig a grave. That’s pretty much why, after a somebody dies, the corpse was cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop where vultures feed off of it or it just decomposes.
My first impression when I first heard of it was quite severe; but thinking about it better, it does seem to make sense. I mean, digging a grave would be extremely hard and impractical, while finding enough fuel or wood for cremation would be practically impossible. Also, the spiritual meaning is not hard to understand, when you think outside the western ideology. The deceased is providing food for a part of nature, which is a proof of generosity, one of the most important things in Buddhism.
The Tibetan name for this ceremony is jhator, which literally means “giving alms to the birds”.
“Sky burial and open cremation may initially appear grotesque for Westerners, especially if they have not reflected on their own burial practice of embalming. For Tibetan Buddhists, sky burial and cremation are templates of instructional teaching on the impermanence of life.” (unknown)
It appeared grotesque for the Chinese government too, who prohibited it from 1950 to 1980, and non-Tibetans are allowed to witness this ceremony, though filming or even taking pictures is considered highly offensive. The full procedure is quite expensive, and for those who can’t afford it, simply placing the deceased on a high rock is the favorite option.
The ceremony takes place in light spirit, as the rogyapas (monks) who perform the ceremony talk to each other as when doing any other physical labor. There are different ways to do this; basically beating the body and bones together to a pulp is not uncommon, while some witnesses reported breaking the bones and cartilages with sledge hammers.
The vulture in this ceremony is nicknamed the “Eurasian Griffon”, and even with its big appetite, it can’t eat all that it’s being offered, because in some places there are even a few sky burials per day.
I had some quite interesting talks regarding this ceremony, so please share your opinion on this, it’d be great to see what you guys think about it.
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Andrei is no scientist, but from an early age, he has been fascinated by science; that's why he went to college, and signed up for Geophysics. Feeling that there's a huge gap between science and average people, he rallied TP, started ZME Science, and gave it a green twist too.
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November 10th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I don’t mind this. I mean, to me it’s incredibly practical. People are primarily concerned with the passing of the soul into it’s selected afterlife, so what happens with the body is irrelevent often.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
I think it makes an amazing amount of sense. We humans have gotten the idea that we are above nature even though nature keeps reminding us that we aren’t. I wouldn’t mind being “buried” in this fashion myself.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:10 am
I think it is logical! A circle of life, death and rebirth as their belief dictates.
It’s their way.
Or should they be like the americans where they mummify a body and fill it with toxic materials that pollute our environment…
NO this seems practical and logical, also why burn a body because it will fill the air with smoke too and anyways a stated the wood is scarce…
Let the scavengers have the bodies, afterwards collect the bones and place them in the family homes/crypts what have you.
Pragmatic I say!
November 11th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Quite frankly, I would choose this method of dealing with my remains, if the option were available. Even as an atheist I see something profoundly spiritual about this practice.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
You said that it is incredibly offensive to photograph the ceremony. Are these your photographs? And if so how did you convince them to allow you to take them?
November 12th, 2009 at 6:19 am
i agree that the practical importance of this form of burial outway any other consideration…
November 12th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Embalming is not so much a Western practice as its more common and popular in the USA. In temperate/warm densly populated countries in Europe leaving bodies exposed on hillsides might cause some health risk. What is becoming more popular is cremation and sometimes spreading of ashes in the country side or at sea.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Dead is Dead.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I found out about sky burial many years ago when I checked out a video from the library about Tibet. Footage actually showed monks throwing body parts (leg/arm) up into the air as birds hovered above to catch, hence sky burial. Guess they don’t do that much any more? Any way, it was REALLY COOL and since I’ve always wanted that sort of burial for myself.
I love birds and would be honored to feed the likes of those in that first picture. Beautiful. You probably find me very strange for that. I believe our bodies are wonderful, though temporary hosts for our souls. We the body dies, let it provide one last duty by contributing to the cycle and continuation of another life.
Thanks for your blog!
November 17th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
this is great. we do come from this erth and we go beck to the ground in some way or another. whsh this could happen aruond hear.