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In Tibet, Vultures Transport The Dead To Eternity

By Njideka Agbo
30 May 2018   |   6:30 am
When a man breathes his last, he is laid six feet underground. This ideology is commonplace across various cultures and nations. However, the reserve is the case in Tibet. Tibet, a historic place in Central Asia and known as the “roof of the world” boasts of places such as Mount Everest. A spiritual people, they…

When a man breathes his last, he is laid six feet underground. This ideology is commonplace across various cultures and nations. However, the reserve is the case in Tibet. Tibet, a historic place in Central Asia and known as the “roof of the world” boasts of places such as Mount Everest.

A spiritual people, they are upholders of Vajrayana Buddhism, a religious practice that believes in the reincarnation and transmigration of the dead. When a man dies, his self-sacrificing nature does not die. His body is offered to vultures (Danikis meaning angels) who will transport his body to the eternity to await reincarnation.

This type of burial is called Sky Burial.

Just as its name, a dead person is exposed to the sky. Since the body is now devoid of soul and spirit, the body has become a mere flesh. The man is performing an honourable and just duty even after death: his body has become a source of food to the animals that would have been hungry. After the vultures are done, the bones are ground and given to hawks to feed them. This offering is called a jhator.

Although the entire burial process is not known, different accounts state that three days after the death of a man (Chikai Bardo), they are wrapped with a white cloth in a fetal position. His body is then taken to one of the designated burial monasteries such as Larung where his body is carried around the monastery 80 times. A day before the burial, the monks chant Mantra and burn incense before the body breakers take over to prepare him for his angelic visitation.

It is a privilege to have a sky burial. To be buried in the ground means moving without a destination in the spirit.

In a case where the body was not completely consumed, the person was considered a person filled with many ills and unclean for the vultures. To the Tibetans

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