Book cover for: Across Many Mountains, a memoir by Yangzom Brauen
(Page 23- 1st paragraph) “My great-grandfather wished for a sky burial for his dead wife, the traditional Tibetan funeral ritual where, after all the required prayers & blessings, the monks expose the corpse to the vultures. In the Tibetan mountains & high plains, digging graves is often all but impossible; the ground is hard, rocky, & often frozen. Wood for burying the dead is always difficult to come by. Disposing of a body is far less important to Buddhists than their concern for the deceased’s consciousness. Once the soul has left the body, the corpse is merely an empty vessel, according to Buddhist belief, and this vessel should be put to the greatest possible use for the benefit of other creatures. We respect birds that feed on carrion just as we respect all living beings.” - Yangzom Brauen
A lesson in Tibetan culture from #acrossmanymountains
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#MountainMonday #SkyBooks #skyburial #yangzombrauen
