Mummified 200-Yr Old Monk Found Meditating

[kissan]

Mummified 200-year-old monk found in Mongolia in 'very deep meditation': Buddhist academic

 

A Buddhist academic has said a 200-year-old mummified monk discovered in Mongolia may not be dead but in a "very deep meditation".

 

The preserved body was discovered in the lotus position, covered in animal hide, last week in the Songinokhairkhan district, close to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.

 

Forensic examinations are being carried out on the remains, which investigators believe belong to a man who may have been a Lama, or a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism.

 

Now, an expert has claimed the monk may have been in a rare spiritual state known as "tukdam".

 

Ganhugiyn Purevbata, founder and professor of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar Buddhist University, told The Siberian Times: "Lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolizes of 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."

 

The mummified remains have reportedly been taken for examination at the Ulaanbataar National Centre of Forensic Expertise, according to The Telegraph.

 

The Siberian Times/Morning Newspaper Mongolia It has been suggested the mummified monk was a teacher of the Buryat Buddhist Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was born in 1852, and was reported to have died in 1927 while meditating.

 

When his body was examined by Buddhist monks in 1955 and again in 1973, Itigilov apparently remained in the lotus position and his body did not appear to show signs of decay.

 

It is understood the body was reburied in a coffin packed with salt and left until 2002 when it was once again exhumed, 75 years after Itigilov's death.

 

According to a 2002 report in the The New York Times, a dozen witnesses were on hand to see the body had remained preserved.

 

Vladislav L. Kozeltsev, an expert at the Centre for Biomedical Technologies, told the paper the preservation of the body may have been due to a defect in a gene in Itigilov's body which hastened the decomposition of cells after death.

 

He said while the salt in the coffin may have played a part in slowing decay, other factors may have included the soil and the coffin's condition, adding the possibility of "some secret process of embalming" could not be ruled out.

 

[ParmQ]

 

The monk was found wrapped in traditional Buddhist robes

 

A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week has been baffling and astounding those who uncovered him.

Senior Buddhists say the monk, found sitting in the lotus position, is in a deep meditative trance and not dead.

Forensic examinations are under way on the remains, found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia.

Scientists have yet to determine how the monk is so well preserved, though some think Mongolia's cold weather could be the reason.

But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, told the Siberian Times that the monk was in a rare state of meditation called "tukdam".

"If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha," Dr Kerzin said.

The monk was discovered after being stolen by a man hoping to sell him on the black market.

Mongolian police have arrested the culprit and the monk is now being guarded at the National Centre of Forensic Expertise.

Worship for eternity

The monk was found as he was about to be sold on the black market

The identity of the monk is unclear, though there is speculation that he is the teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was also found mummified.

In 1927, Itigilov - from neighbouring Buryatia in the then Soviet Union - supposedly told his students he was going to die and that they should exhume his body in 30 years.

The lama sat in the lotus position, began meditating and died.

When he was dug up, legend has it that his body was still preserved.

Fearing interference by the Soviet authorities, his followers reburied him and he remained at rest until 2002 when he was again dug up to great fanfare and found still well preserved.

The lama was then placed in a Buddhist temple to be worshipped for eternity.

 

[kissan]

hey... i tried to copy those pics but somehow my right-click button was not working on them

 

 

The monk was found wrapped in traditional Buddhist robes

 

A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week has been baffling and astounding those who uncovered him.

Senior Buddhists say the monk, found sitting in the lotus position, is in a deep meditative trance and not dead.

Forensic examinations are under way on the remains, found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia.

Scientists have yet to determine how the monk is so well preserved, though some think Mongolia's cold weather could be the reason.

But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, told the Siberian Times that the monk was in a rare state of meditation called "tukdam".

"If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha," Dr Kerzin said.

The monk was discovered after being stolen by a man hoping to sell him on the black market.

Mongolian police have arrested the culprit and the monk is now being guarded at the National Centre of Forensic Expertise.

Worship for eternity

The monk was found as he was about to be sold on the black market

The identity of the monk is unclear, though there is speculation that he is the teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was also found mummified.

In 1927, Itigilov - from neighbouring Buryatia in the then Soviet Union - supposedly told his students he was going to die and that they should exhume his body in 30 years.

The lama sat in the lotus position, began meditating and died.

When he was dug up, legend has it that his body was still preserved.

Fearing interference by the Soviet authorities, his followers reburied him and he remained at rest until 2002 when he was again dug up to great fanfare and found still well preserved.

The lama was then placed in a Buddhist temple to be worshipped for eternity.