4/26/2006: Vultures feast in Tibetan burial ceremony

[Undertoad]

Somewhere in this picture, hidden behind all those birds, is a dead body. It's being eaten by the birds. It's the job of that guy in back to observe and pray, and then shoo them away when they're done.

Ya gotta be kidding me. OMG yer not kidding me.

xoB sends along this WaPo image with the crack "he doesn't look like a funeral director", but friends, that's what he is. The official caption tells us that a burial master prays and drives away vultures after they finished eating the body of a dead person during a celestial burial in Qinghai, China. Celestial burial is a traditional funeral of Tibetan people.

According to this description,

Upon invitation from relatives of the dead, the celestial burial master goes to investigate how the dead died. According to Tibetan customs, those who are cut to death, shot to death or die of poison or contagious diseases are not allowed to be celestially buried.

The celestial burial master cleans the body of the dead and ties it into the form of an embryo (with hands meeting in front of the chest and sitting on folded legs) to be placed on the celestial rock.

On the burial day, the master arrives at four in the morning, and draws two white flour lines outside the house of the dead, lines which are one meter apart. He carries the body on his back and walks in-between the lines. This means this would not disturb those alive.

The sun does not appear on the eastern horizon when the body is carried to the celestial burial ground. The master lights aromatic plants for smoke, smoke used as a signal to cinereous vultures, and cut the body into pieces. The master does not have the final say as to which celestial ground is used. It is entirely the choice of relatives of the dead. According to Tibetan customs, people of the same family should not use the same celestial burial ground when dead in 12 years.

If the celestial burial ground is in faraway place, the master has to carry the body to the site at one o'clock at night. The celestial burial ground is generally located on a mountain slope, and the master has to carry the body there without rest halfway. If the master has disciples, he can have one of them to carry body in his place.

As one dies of varied diseases, some celestial burial master would wear white uniform but very few of them wear gloves.

Now, the fact that the WaPo published this image is pretty remarkable in itself. According to this China Daily page, you couldn't take this photo in Tibet. Trying to protect and respect their culture, they're closing ranks around this particular practice, keep it a secret.

It seems to me like they already would have done, because I for one have never heard of it. And yet it's how 80% of the Tibetan people say they would prefer to go.

[glatt]

It looks like the vultures aren't the only ones gnawing on leg bones.

I'm guessing the burial master is revered, but it sure seems like a sucky job.

[rebelcan]

This reminds me of one of the <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/">Sandman</a> comics. It's the one where in the city of the dead where they handle the burial of everyone, a student gets sent to watch a burial similar to this. While the birds are busy, the student and the two ( or three ) other burial attendants pass the time while telling stories.

All in all, I think this is a pretty cool way to go. Better than having your remains pumped full of chemicals so you'll look the same forever, and then getting buried in a small ( and very pricey ) wooden box somewheres. Kind of a "returned to the nature that created you" kinda deal.

[Happy Monkey]

Yeah, Sandman came to mind for me, too. Gaiman has a way of filling your head with odd factoids.

[Shocker]

Looks like fun, think they would even allow that in the States?

[barefoot serpent]

neat... can I change my selection in the Final Choices thread?

edit: oh, n/m that was myfinal choice

[Trilby]

You know what? I KNEW not to look at/read the text for today's Iotd. I just knew it.

Bah!

[joelnwil]

Zoroastrians do the same thing. The body is placed on a mountain or high building.

[Ridgeplate]

Originally Posted by joelnwil

Zoroastrians do the same thing. The body is placed on a mountain or high building.

Really? I thought for sure it had something to do with the backsides of Mexican swordsmen...

Learn something every day...

[Promenea]

One of my favorite poems:

Robinson Jeffers - Vulture

I had walked since dawn and lay down to rest on a bare hillside
Above the ocean. I saw through half-shut eyelids a vulture wheeling high up in heaven,
And presently it passed again, but lower and nearer, its orbit narrowing,
I understood then
That I was under inspection. I lay death-still and heard the flight-feathers
Whistle above me and make their circle and come nearer.
I could see the naked red head between the great wings
Bear downward staring. I said, "My dear bird, we are wasting time here.
These old bones will still work; they are not for you."
But how beautiful he looked, gliding down
On those great sails; how beautiful he looked, veering away in the sea-light
over the precipice. I tell you solemnly
That I was sorry to have disappointed him. To be eaten by that beak and
become part of him, to share those wings and those eyes--
What a sublime end of one's body, what and enskyment; what a life after death.

[nephtes]

Aaah, I've read about this. It's also called "Sky Burial" (Wikipedia info). I originally came across this in a book by the same, a true story about a chinese woman named Shu Wen who travels to Tibet to search for her missing husband. Wholeheartedly recommended -- I read it almost cover-to-cover on a flight from Montreal to Miami. Absolutely spellbinding.

But I digress. Getting back to the ceremony itself, the description in the book is somewhat at odds with the Wikipedia article, which emphasizes the purely pragmatic aspects. According to my recollection, the body must be completely consumed; even the bones are ground up for the birds. Any remains would tie the spirit to this world, leaving it prey to demons and preventing it from moving on to reincarnation or nirvana.

Hey, who's to say this is weirder than spending two grand on a mahogany coffin so it can rot in the ground?

- Steve

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by glatt

It looks like the vultures aren't the only ones gnawing on leg bones.

I'm guessing the burial master is revered, but it sure seems like a sucky job.

Maybe he gets to keep the leavings.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by glatt

It looks like the vultures aren't the only ones gnawing on leg bones.

I think that's the thing he beats the gong thing with.

With this funeral, you could end up on a Cadillac windshield....but more likely a Yak.

rebelcan & nephtes, welcome to The Cellar.

[Oafed]

I think that's the thing he beats the gong thing with.

I beg to differ!

[Jordon]

Buddhists can be some pretty Goth folks. I just finished reading the biography of Milarepa, again. It was common to meditate in graveyards in order to impress oneself with the transitory nature of life. Then there's Celestial Burial. You end up as vulture poo. It's less ego flattering than all that morticians wax and pancake, formaldehyde and a casket that costs as much as and sort of looks like a Sky Blue Cadillac. If you want a concrete grave liner/sarcophagus type thang, that's extra, as are locks on the casket (don't ask), thank you for your Hallmark bereavement card embossed Stationary with the funeral parlor's name and website, flower arrangements, extra professional mourners, catering for the wake...