Sky burial

Last updated
A sky burial site in Yerpa Valley, Tibet Sky burial site, Yerpa Valley.JPG
A sky burial site in Yerpa Valley, Tibet
Drigung Monastery, Tibetan monastery famous for performing sky burials Drigung monastery.jpg
Drigung Monastery, Tibetan monastery famous for performing sky burials

Sky burial (Tibetan : བྱ་གཏོར་, Wylie : bya gtor, lit. "bird-scattered" [1] ) is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposed to the elements or to be eaten by scavenging animals, especially carrion birds like vultures and corvids. Comparable excarnation practices are part of Zoroastrian burial rites where deceased are exposed to the elements and scavenger birds on stone structures called Dakhma. [2] Sky burials are endemic to Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia, as well as in Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of India such as Sikkim and Zanskar. [3] The locations of preparation and sky burial are understood in the Vajrayana Buddhist traditions as charnel grounds. Few such places remain operational today, as the Chinese Communist Party initially banned the practice completely during the Cultural Revolution as feudal superstition, and continues to restrict the practice due to its allegations of decimation of vulture populations. [4] [5]

Contents

The majority of Tibetan people and many Mongols adhere to Vajrayana Buddhism, which teaches the transmigration of spirits. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it or nature may cause it to decompose. The function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains in as generous a way as possible (the origin of the practice's Tibetan name). In much of Tibet and Qinghai, the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and due to the scarcity of fuel and timber, sky burials were typically more practical than the traditional Buddhist practice of cremation, which has been limited to high lamas and some other dignitaries. [6]

Other nations which performed air burial were the Caucasus nations of Georgians, Abkhazians, and Adyghe people, in which they put the corpse in a hollow tree trunk. [7] [8]

Name

"Sky burial" is a Western term; it is not used by Tibetans, who call it "giving alms to the birds" or "to carry to the mountain." [9] The practice may also be referred to as "celestial burial". [10]

History and development

Tibetan sky burials may have evolved from Chöd practices introduced by Dampa Sangye (d. 1117), but other evidence suggests an adoption of non-Buddhist, Zoroastrian practices of defleshing the dead as an animal offering. [11] [12] These practices most likely came out of practical considerations, [13] [14] [15] but they could also be related to more ceremonial practices similar to the suspected sky burial evidence found at Göbekli Tepe (11,500 years before present) and Stonehenge (4,500 years BP).[ citation needed ] Most of Tibet is above the tree line, and the scarcity of timber makes cremation economically unfeasible. Additionally, subsurface interment is difficult since the active layer is not more than a few centimeters deep, with solid rock or permafrost underlying the surface.

The customs are first recorded in an indigenous 12th-century Buddhist treatise, which is colloquially known as the Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol). [16] Tibetan tantricism appears to have influenced the procedure. [17] [18] The body is cut up according to instructions given by a lama or adept. [19]

Vultures feeding on cut pieces of body at a 1985 sky burial in Lhasa, Tibet Vultures on Lhasa sky burial rock 1.jpg
Vultures feeding on cut pieces of body at a 1985 sky burial in Lhasa, Tibet

Mongolians traditionally buried their dead (sometimes with human or animal sacrifice for the wealthier chieftains), but the Tümed adopted sky burial following their conversion to Tibetan Buddhism under Altan Khan during the Ming dynasty. Other banners subsequently converted under the Manchu Qing dynasty. [20]

Sky burial was initially treated as a primitive superstition and sanitation concern by the Communist governments of both the PRC and Mongolia; both states closed many temples, [20] and the practice was banned during the Cultural Revolution, [4] as sky burials were considered among the Four Olds, the umbrella term used by Communists to describe "backwards" customs, cultures and ideas. As a result of these policies, many corpses would simply be buried or thrown in rivers. Many families believed the souls of these people would never escape purgatory and became ghosts. Sky burial nonetheless continued to be practiced in rural areas and has even received official protection in recent years. However, the practice continues to diminish for a number of reasons, including restrictions on its practice near urban areas and diminishing numbers of vultures in rural districts. Finally, Tibetan practice holds that the yak carrying the body to the charnel grounds should be set free, making the rite much more expensive than a service at a crematorium. [21]

Purpose and meaning

Corpse being carried from Lhasa for sky burial c. 1920 Ragbya carries corps from Lhasa for Sky burial.jpg
Corpse being carried from Lhasa for sky burial c. 1920

For Tibetan Buddhists, sky burial and cremation are templates of instructional teaching on the impermanence of life. [19] Jhator is considered an act of generosity on the part of the deceased, since the deceased and their surviving relatives are providing food to sustain living beings. Such generosity and compassion for all beings are important virtues in Buddhism. [22]

Although some observers have suggested that jhator is also meant to unite the deceased person with the sky or sacred realm, this does not seem consistent with most of the knowledgeable commentary and eyewitness reports, which indicate that Tibetans believe that at this point life has completely left the body and the body contains nothing more than simple flesh.

Only people who directly know the deceased usually observe it, when the excarnation happens at night.

Vajrayana iconography

The tradition and custom of the jhator afforded Traditional Tibetan medicine and thangka iconography with a particular insight into the interior workings of the human body. Pieces of the human skeleton were employed in ritual tools such as the kapala (skullcup) and kangling (thigh-bone trumpet).

The 'symbolic bone ornaments' (Sanskrit: aṣṭhiamudrā; Tibetan: rus pa'i rgyan phyag rgya) are also known as "mudra" or 'seals'. The Hevajra Tantra identifies the Symbolic Bone Ornaments with the Five Wisdoms and Jamgon Kongtrul in his commentary to the Hevajra Tantra explains this further. [23]

Setting

1938 photo of sky burial from the Bundesarchiv Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-12-50-06, Tibetexpedition, Ragyapa, Geier.jpg
1938 photo of sky burial from the Bundesarchiv

A traditional jhator is performed in specified locations in Tibet (and surrounding areas traditionally occupied by Tibetans). Drigung Monastery is one of the three most important jhator sites.

The procedure takes place on a large flat rock long used for the purpose. The charnel ground (durtro) is always higher than its surroundings. It may be very simple, consisting only of the flat rock, or it may be more elaborate, incorporating temples and stupa (chorten in Tibetan).

Relatives may remain nearby [24] during the jhator, possibly in a place where they cannot see it directly. The jhator usually takes place at dawn.

The full jhator procedure (as described below) is elaborate and expensive. Those who cannot afford it simply place their deceased on a high rock where the body decomposes or is eaten by birds and animals.

In 2010, a prominent Tibetan incarnate lama, Metrul Tendzin Gyatso, visited the sky burial site near the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Sertar County, Sichuan, and was dismayed by its poor condition. With the stated goal of restoring dignity to the dead and creating a better environment for the vultures, the lama subsequently rebuilt and improved the platform where bodies are cut up, adding many statues and other carved features around it, and constructed a large parking lot for the convenience of visitors. [25]

Procedure

Sky burial art at Litang monastery in Tibet Vulture feeding on body detail, sky burial art with vultures at Litang Monastery, Tibet in 2009 (cropped).jpg
Sky burial art at Litang monastery in Tibet

Accounts from observers vary. The following description is assembled from multiple accounts by observers from the U.S. and Europe.

Participants

Prior to the procedure, monks may chant mantra around the body and burn juniper incense – although ceremonial activities often take place on the preceding day.

The work of disassembling of the body may be done by a monk, or, more commonly, by rogyapas ("body-breakers"). All the eyewitness accounts remarked on the fact that the rogyapas did not perform their task with gravity or ceremony, but rather talked and laughed as during any other type of physical labor. According to Buddhist teaching, this makes it easier for the soul of the deceased to move on from the uncertain plane between life and death onto the next life.

Some accounts refer to individuals who carry out sky burial rituals as a tokden which is Tibetan for 'master' of the process. While a Tokden has an important role in burial rites, they are often people of low social status and sometimes receive payment from the families of the deceased.

Disassembling the body

A body being prepared for sky burial in Sichuan Skyburial.JPG
A body being prepared for sky burial in Sichuan

According to most accounts, vultures are given the whole body. Then, when only the bones remain, these are broken up with mallets, ground with tsampa (barley flour with tea and yak butter, or milk) and given to the crows and hawks that have waited for the vultures to depart.

In one account, the leading rogyapa cut off the limbs and hacked the body to pieces, handing each part to his assistants, who used rocks to pound the flesh and bones together to a pulp, which they mixed with tsampa before the vultures were summoned to eat. In some cases, a Tokden will use butcher's tools to divide the body.

Sometimes the internal organs were removed and processed separately, but they too were consumed by birds. The hair is removed from the head and may be simply thrown away; at Drigung, it seems, at least some hair is kept in a room of the monastery.

None of the eyewitness accounts specify which kind of knife is used in the jhator. One source states that it is a "ritual flaying knife" or trigu (Sanskrit kartika ), but another source expresses skepticism, noting that the trigu is considered a woman's tool (whereas rogyapas seem to be exclusively male).

Vultures

The human skeleton as vultures feed. Vulture - Sky burial.jpg
The human skeleton as vultures feed.

The species contributing to the ritual are typically the Himalayan and griffon vultures.

In places where there are several jhator offerings each day, the birds sometimes have to be coaxed to eat, which may be accomplished with a ritual dance. According to Buddhist belief, it is a bad omen if only a small number of vultures come down to eat, if portions of the body are left over after the vultures fly away, or if the body is completely left untouched. [5] Such cases are believed to reflect badly upon the deceased, indicating that they may have lived a bad life or accumulated bad karma, thus predetermining them to a bad rebirth. [26]

In places where fewer bodies are offered, the vultures are more eager, and sometimes have to be fended off with sticks during the initial preparations. Often there is a limit to how many corpses can be consumed at a certain burial site, prompting lamas to find different areas. It is believed that if too many corpses are disposed of in a certain burial site, ghosts may appear.

Not only are vultures an important aspect to celestial burial but also to its habitat's ecology. They contribute to carcass removal and nutrient recycling, as they are scavengers of the land. [27] Due to an alarming drop in their population, in 1988, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife added certain species of vultures into the "rare" or "threatened" categories of their national list of protected wild animals. [27] Local Chinese governments surrounding sky burial locations have established regulations to avoid disturbance of the vultures during these rituals, as well as to not allow individuals who have died due to infectious diseases or toxicosis from receiving a sky burial to prevent compromising the health of the vultures. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan Buddhism</span> Form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet

Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Zangnan, as well as in Nepal. Smaller groups of practitioners can be found in Central Asia, some regions of China such as Northeast China, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and some regions of Russia, such as Tuva, Buryatia, and Kalmykia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vajrayana</span> Indian Buddhist tantric tradition

Vajrayāna, also known as Mantrayāna, Mantranāya, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Buddhist tradition of tantric practice that developed in Medieval India. Tantrism, which originated within Hinduism during the first millennium CE, significantly influenced South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism, giving rise to distinct Buddhist tantric traditions. Emerging in the 7th century CE, these traditions spread across Southeast, East, and Central Asia, leading to distinct East Asian and Tibetan practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelug</span> Dominant school of Tibetan Buddhism

The Gelug is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan philosopher, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples.

<i>Kalachakra</i> Nondualistic tantra tradition in Tibetan Buddhism

Kālacakra is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism as well as Hinduism that means "wheel of time" or "time cycles". "Kālacakra" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The tantra is considered to belong to the unexcelled yoga (anuttara-yoga) class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrathful deities</span> Enlightened beings in Mahayana Buddhism

In Buddhism, wrathful deities or fierce deities are the fierce, wrathful or forceful forms of enlightened Buddhas, Bodhisattvas or Devas ; normally the same figure has other, peaceful, aspects as well. Because of their power to destroy the obstacles to enlightenment, they are also termed krodha-vighnantaka, "Wrathful onlookers on destroying obstacles". Wrathful deities are a notable feature of the iconography of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, especially in Tibetan art. These types of deities first appeared in India during the late 6th century, with its main source being the Yaksha imagery, and became a central feature of Indian Tantric Buddhism by the late 10th or early 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Excarnation</span> Burial preparation

In archaeology and anthropology, the term excarnation refers to the practice of removing the flesh and organs of the dead before burial. Excarnation may be achieved through natural means, such as leaving a dead body exposed to the elements or for animals to scavenge; or by butchering the corpse by hand. Following excarnation, some societies retrieved the excarnated bones for burial. Excarnation has been practiced throughout the world for hundreds of thousands of years. The earliest archaeological evidence of excarnation is from the Awash River Valley in Ethiopia, 160,000 years ago. Examples of excarnation include "sky burials" in parts of Asia, the Zoroastrian "Tower of Silence", and Native American "tree burials". Excarnation is practiced for a variety of spiritual and practical reasons, including the Tibetian spiritual belief that excarnation is the most generous form of burial and the Comanche practical concern that in the winter the ground is too hard for an underground burial. Excarnation sites are identifiable in the archaeological record by a concentration of smaller bones, which would be the bones that would be the easiest to fall off the body, and that would not be noticed by practitioners of excarnation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower of Silence</span> Zoroastrian excarnation structure

A dakhma, otherwise referred to as Tower of Silence, is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation, in order to avoid contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the decomposing dead bodies. Carrion birds, usually vultures and other scavengers, consume the flesh. Skeletal remains are gathered into a central pit where further weathering and continued breakdown occurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cakrasaṃvara Tantra</span> Buddhist text

The Cakrasaṃvara Tantra is an influential Buddhist Tantra. It is roughly dated to the late 8th or early 9th century by David B. Gray. The full title in the Sanskrit manuscript used by Gray's translation is: Great King of Yoginī Tantras called the Śrī Cakrasaṃvara (Śrīcakrasaṃvara-nāma-mahayoginī-tantra-rāja). The text is also called the Discourse of Śrī Heruka (Śrīherukābhidhāna) and the Samvara Light (Laghusaṃvara).

The disposal of human corpses, also called final disposition, is the practice and process of dealing with the remains of a deceased human being. Disposal methods may need to account for the fact that soft tissue will decompose relatively rapidly, while the skeleton will remain intact for thousands of years under certain conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machig Labdrön</span>

Machig Labdrön, or "Singular Mother Torch from Lab" (1055–1149), was a Tibetan Buddhist nun believed to be a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal, and the renowned 11th-century Tibetan tantric Buddhist master and yogini that originated several Tibetan lineages of the Vajrayana practice of Chöd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chöd</span> Buddhist religious practice

Chöd is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Also known as "cutting through the ego," the practices are based on the Prajñāpāramitā or "Perfection of Wisdom" sutras, which expound the "emptiness" concept of Buddhist philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhist tantric literature</span> Group of Indian and Tibetan texts

Buddhist tantric literature refers to the vast and varied literature of the Vajrayāna Buddhist traditions. The earliest of these works are a genre of Indian Buddhist tantric scriptures, variously named Tantras, Sūtras and Kalpas, which were composed from the 7th century CE onwards. They are followed by later tantric commentaries, original compositions by Vajrayana authors, sādhanas, ritual manuals, collections of tantric songs (dohās) odes (stotra), or hymns, and other related works. Tantric Buddhist literature survives in various languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. Most Indian sources were composed in Sanskrit, but numerous tantric works were also composed in other languages like Tibetan and Chinese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan tantric practice</span> Tantric practices in Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan tantric practice, also known as "the practice of secret mantra", and "tantric techniques", refers to the main tantric practices in Tibetan Buddhism. The great Rime scholar Jamgön Kongtrül refers to this as "the Process of Meditation in the Indestructible Way of Secret Mantra" and also as "the way of mantra", "way of method" and "the secret way" in his Treasury of Knowledge. These Vajrayāna Buddhist practices are mainly drawn from the Buddhist tantras and are generally not found in "common" Mahayana. These practices are seen by Tibetan Buddhists as the fastest and most powerful path to Buddhahood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Arjia Rinpoche</span> Current incarnation of the Arjia Hotogtu

Lobsang Tubten Jigme Gyatso (བློ་བཟང་ཐུབ་བསྟན་འཇིགས་མེད་རྒྱ་མཚོ་), officially the 8th Arjia Hotogtu (ཨ་ཀྱཱ་ཧོ་ཐོག་ཐུ།), born 1950 in Haiyan County, Qinghai) is one of the most prominent Buddhist teachers and lamas to have left Tibet. At age two, Arjia Rinpoche was recognized by Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama as the 20th Arjia Danpei Gyaltsen, the reincarnation of Je Tsongkhapa's father, Lumbum Ghe, the throne holder and abbot of Kumbum Monastery. He has trained with lineage teachers, such as the 14th Dalai Lama, the 10th Panchen Lama, and Gyayak Rinpoche—from whom he received many sacred teachings and ritual instructions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree of physiology</span> Tibetan thangka

The tree of physiology is a Tibetan thangka depicting human physiology and certain pathological transformations.

Among Buddhists, death is regarded as one of the occasions of major religious significance, both for the deceased and for the survivors. For the deceased, it marks the moment when the transition begins to a new mode of existence within the round of rebirths. When death occurs, all the karmic forces that the dead person accumulated during the course of their lifetime become activated and determine the next rebirth. For the living, death is a powerful reminder of the Buddha's teaching on impermanence; it also provides an opportunity to assist the deceased person as they transition to a new existence. There are several academic reviews of this subject. In Buddhism, death marks the transition from this life to the next for the deceased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kapala</span> Cup made from a human skull used as a ritual implement

A kapala is a skull cup used as a ritual implement (bowl) in both Hindu Tantra and Tibetan Buddhist Tantra (Vajrayana). Especially in Tibetan Buddhism, kapalas are often carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels.

Gurung Shamanism is arguably one of the oldest religions in Nepal. It describes the traditional shamanistic religion of the Gurung people of Nepal. There are three priests within the Gurungs which are Pachyu, Khlepree and Bonpo Lama. Tamus do not have a written script; nowadays they use the Devanagari script. However, the Tamus have created their own script called 'Khema Script' which is taught in Rupandehi, Nepal, and is widely taught even in overseas countries like Sikkim, India. The pronunciation of the word 'Pachyu' and 'Khlepree' are often different from one village to another. Pachyu are sometimes referred to as 'Poju or Pajyu' and Khlepree is also known as 'Lhori or Ghyabri'. Bonpo Lamais the proper term for a Gurung Lama. The "Pachyu" is understood to be the first priest amongst the three priests followed by Khlepree and lastly the Bonpo Lam. Pachyu, Khlepree and Bonpo Lams' recite chants of ancient legends and myths. These sacred myths and legends within the Pe are historical events and stories which dates back to as early as the creation of Earth to stories that have occurred within the Gurung societies as they are one of the indigenous people of Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charnel ground</span> Above-ground location for disposal of the dead

A charnel ground is an above-ground site for the putrefaction of bodies, generally human, where formerly living tissue is left to decompose uncovered. Although it may have demarcated locations within it functionally identified as burial grounds, cemeteries and crematoria, it is distinct from these as well as from crypts or burial vaults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese Esoteric Buddhism</span> Traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism

Chinese Esoteric Buddhism refers to traditions of Tantra and Esoteric Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people. The Tantric masters Śubhakarasiṃha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra, established the Esoteric Buddhist Zhenyan tradition from 716 to 720 during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It employed mandalas, mantras, mudras, abhiṣekas, and deity yoga. The Zhenyan tradition was transported to Japan as Shingon Buddhism by Kūkai as well as influencing Korean Buddhism and Vietnamese Buddhism. The Song dynasty (960–1279) saw a second diffusion of Esoteric texts. Esoteric Buddhist practices continued to have an influence into the late imperial period and Tibetan Buddhism was also influential during the Yuan dynasty period and beyond. In the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) through to the modern period, esoteric practices and teachings became absorbed and merged with the other Chinese Buddhist traditions to a large extent.

References

  1. ↑ Lamb, Robert (July 25, 2011), "How Sky Burial Works", How Stuff Works, archived from the original on May 20, 2024, retrieved August 12, 2024
  2. ↑ "Zoroastrian Funerals", BBC, October 2, 2009, archived from the original on August 5, 2024, retrieved August 12, 2024
  3. ↑ Sulkowsky, Zoltan (December 1, 2013) [Originally published 2008], Around the World on a Motorcycle, Center Conway, NH: Whitehorse Press, p. 114, ISBN   978-1-884313-55-4
  4. 1 2 Faison, Seth (July 3, 1999), "Lirong Journal; Tibetans, And Vultures, Keep Ancient Burial Rite", The New York Times , para. 13, archived from the original on August 9, 2023
  5. 1 2 3 MaMing, Roller; Lee, Li; Yang, Xiaomin; Buzzard, Paul (March 29, 2018), "Vultures and Sky Burials on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau", Vulture News, 71 (1): 22, doi: 10.4314/vulnew.v71i1.2 , ISSN   1606-7479
  6. ↑ "Sky Burial", Travel China Guide, March 20, 2019, archived from the original on May 15, 2024, retrieved August 12, 2024
  7. ↑ История Грузии (in Russian), archived from the original on February 18, 2013, retrieved August 12, 2024
  8. ↑ Описание Колхиды Или Мингрелии (in Russian), archived from the original on April 19, 2023, retrieved August 12, 2024
  9. ↑ Wentmore, Kevin J. (2021), Eaters of the dead:Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters, London, UK: Reaktion Books, p. 27
  10. ↑ Ding, John Zijiang (April 1, 2016), "A Comparative Study of Han and Tibetan Views of Death", Comparative Civilizations Review, 74 (74), ISSN   0733-4540
  11. ↑ Aldenderfer, Mark (2013), "Variation in Mortuary Practice on the Early Tibetan Plateau and the High Himalayas" (PDF), Journal of the International Association for Bon Research, 1, archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2022
  12. ↑ Barstow, Geoffrey (2011), "Buddhism Beyond the Monastery: Tantric Practices and Their Performers in Tibet and the Himalayas", Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 18, archived from the original on July 8, 2024
  13. ↑ Wylie, Turrell V. (1965), "Mortuary Customs at Sa-Skya, Tibet", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 25: 232, doi:10.2307/2718344, JSTOR   2718344
  14. ↑ Martin, Daniel Preston (1996), "On the Cultural Ecology of Sky Burial on the Himalayan Plateau", East and West, 46 (3–4): 360–365
  15. ↑ Joyce, Kelly A.; Williamson, John B. (2003), "Body recycling", in Bryant, Clifton D. (ed.), Handbook of Death & Dying, vol. 2, Thousand Oaks: Sage, p. 815, ISBN   0-7619-2514-7
  16. ↑ Martin, Daniel Preston (1991), The Emergence of Bon and the Tibetan Polemical Tradition, (PhD thesis), Indiana University Press, p. 212, OCLC   24266269
  17. ↑ Ramachandra Rao, Saligrama Krishna (1977), Tibetan Tantrik Tradition, New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann, p. 5, OCLC   5942361
  18. ↑ Wylie, Turrell V. (1964), "Ro-Langs: The Tibetan Zombie", History of Religions, 4 (1): 69–80, doi:10.1086/462495, S2CID   162285111
  19. 1 2 Goss, Robert E.; Klass, Dennis (1997), "Tibetan Buddhism and the Resolution of Grief: The Bardo-Thodol For the Dying and the Grieving", Death Studies, 21 (4): 385, doi:10.1080/074811897201895, PMID   10170479
  20. 1 2 Michel, Heike (n.d.), The Open-Air Sacrificial Burial of the Mongols, archived from the original on April 16, 2023, retrieved August 12, 2024
  21. ↑ Runze, Yu, ed. (December 13, 2012), "Funeral Reforms Edge Along in Tibetan Areas", Sina English, Xinhua, archived from the original on February 24, 2021, retrieved August 12, 2024
  22. ↑ Mihai, Andrei (April 28, 2023) [First published November 9, 2009], "The Sky Burial", ZME Science, archived from the original on March 1, 2024, retrieved August 12, 2024
  23. ↑ Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé, Jamgön (2005), Systems of Buddhist Tantra, The Indestructible Way of Secret Mantra, The Treasury of Knowledge, book 6, part 4, Boulder: Snow Lion, p. 493, ISBN   1-55939-210-X
  24. ↑ Ash, Niema (1992), Flight of the Wind Horse: A Journal into Tibet, London: Rider, p. 59, ISBN   0-7126-3599-8
  25. ↑ 喇榮五明佛學院屍陀林：帶你走進生命輪迴的真相 (in Traditional Chinese), September 28, 2016, archived from the original on June 27, 2023, retrieved August 12, 2024
  26. ↑ Gouin, Margaret (2010), Tibetan Rituals of Death: Buddhist Funerary Practices, Routledge, p. 70, ISBN   978-0-203-84998-9
  27. 1 2 MaMing, Roller; Xu, Guohua (November 11, 2015), "Status and Threats to Vultures in China", Vulture News, 68 (1): 10, doi: 10.4314/vulnew.v68i1.1 , ISSN   1606-7479

Further reading

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Sky burials at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.