Corpse of monk in lotus position who died in 1723 found

[CloakofStars9]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1540&e=14&u=/afp/vietnam_archaeology_monk




HANOI (AFP) - The corpse of a Buddhist monk sitting in a lotus position has been uncovered in a pagoda in northern Vietnam over 280 years after he died, a museum official said.

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20040316/thumb.sge.tpj36.160304204946.photo00.default-277x367.jpg (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040316/photos_sc_afp/040316205006_lr6uf299_photo0)
AFP Photo (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040316/photos_sc_afp/040316205006_lr6uf299_photo0)

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/th/999999.gif


The body of the monk, Nhu Tri, who died in 1723 in a tower at the Tieu Pagoda in Bac Ninh province, was covered in a layer of special preservative paint.

His internal organs remained intact but one eye socket was damaged and his arms were broken off at the elbow, according to Nguyen Duy Nhat, deputy director of the Bac Ninh Museum.

[Avalon]

I read the article on Witchvox, and a guest made a very interesting comment. Isn't it kind of against Buddhist thought to preserve him with chemicals? Wouldn't it be more in line with teachings to allow him to crumble into dust - emphasizing impermanence?

Monk, help me out here.

[sweet nothings]

o0o0o....I read somewhere about another monk that was even better preserved....somewhere really tropical.....wasn't as old, but it was quite an amazing picture...I'll try to see if I can dig that magazine up in my science classroom....I'll probably scan the picture after that....the only thing that bothered me was they had it on display.....bit morbid dont u think? (My oppinion) we should really just leave these people to rest...ill look into that story though!

[CloakofStars9]

very true, i am constantly torn between feeling that the dead should be left alone out of respect but at the same time i always feel so intrigued by findings like this

[mucgwyrt]

I read the article on Witchvox, and a guest made a very interesting comment. Isn't it kind of against Buddhist thought to preserve him with chemicals? Wouldn't it be more in line with teachings to allow him to crumble into dust - emphasizing impermanence?

Monk, help me out here.
What, like christians couldn't possibly bring themselves to murder people in the name of God because that would go against their religeon?! ;)

[~ Monk ~]

Wow, that's really interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of an actual preservation being done before.

Buddhist burial practices seem to vary. I've read a little bit about Vietnamese Buddhists who may either be cremated or buried in a coffin The burial choice isn't dictated by beliefs - so I guess preserving a corpse wouldn't be out of the question.

On the other hand, not too long ago I was reading an article about sky burials in Tibet - corpses are stripped of all flesh and their bones are shattered into small pieces, and then everything is fed to vultures (corpses may also be cremated or be given a water burial, in which they're cut into pieces small enough for fish to eat). This is seen as a part of life's cycle - the dead are returned to the earth in one fashion or another.

Interesting stuff indeed.