The history of Tibet popular burial, but the introduction of Buddhism in Tibet, the Tibetan burial custom of the place has changed, one of the most popular of the so-called burial (bird funeral) is under the influence of Buddhism burial custom, the meaning is the body's own charity to animals.

As influenced by Buddhism, the Tibetans believe that the body but the soul of boarding the body, according to the origin of empty thinking, is nothing but polymerization from a variety of elements, when the soul left in poor condition due to dead body after dead body would become meaningless, If this had been a dead body can not charity to animals, so naturally it is a merit, especially the Tibetans attach great importance to dying dynamic concept and, therefore, paid special attention has been called the last charity tradition.

Pa from the folklore of this burial custom party Basang Jie, said Nang Pa Party Basang Jie sent before the death of the founder to tell his disciples his body to the animal charity. Because the animal's body after eating will not hurt the other's life, equivalent to saving other lives, boundless beneficence. Thus the Tibetan burial custom of the conversion from the original burial customs burial. Others such as cremation (considered as a dependent), Shuizang (alms to the dead fish), wild funeral (alms to the body of Animals and Birds) are derived from the same facilities under the concept of an offering.

Procedures for handling dead bodies

Process similar to the body after death, immediately report to the monks living Buddha and asked him to Niansong appropriate texts, Soul of the Dead, to prevent the soul gone astray. Prayer deities, so that the deceased Tensei sector or as soon as the reincarnation of Buddha Bliss cast the prevalence of birth to Buddhism, the Tibetans do not pray for their loved ones to the reincarnation of Xian Jie, because Xianjie or in reincarnation, that human life is limited and difficult due to be considered to be the most likely way to achieve Buddhahood, so that if you can not vote in Tibetan Buddhist circles in the best birth to the reincarnation of the Buddha prosperous place. This process has been completed, in order to move the body.

In some places there is no lama, relatives apart from scripture Niansong suits the sixth mantra so popular in some places it will just die of the front of the ears of the dead Xiangfo repeatedly warned him to concentrate on prayer, not nostalgia family and worldly goods, etc. relatives of the deceased are to be considerate not wail, because this will cherish the memory of deceased family members affected by lingering earth to pray and to concentrate on the road toward the Bardo.

In general, the monks received the body as a meditation posture, while others passed away naturally, into a temporary monk sitting position Meditation. The laity's body is usually curled up with knees bent and your head between the baby reborn into a position, but there are some parts of the body tied into a cross-legged, their hands together and even shape.

Body is generally based on the Gua monk show about three days to be parked at home, but if the end of the year, you must handle dead bodies before the New Year. During the period have begun to ask the monks to recite scriptures in order to super are the soul of the deceased, a funeral normally choose auspicious day to go through God's mercy.

Burial day, in the Kham some places, by their children or relatives to take turns carrying a body in a clockwise direction around the temples, monasteries and monks chanting for the dead will release souls from purgatory the collective, and then sent to the funeral Tianzang Chang or otherwise. In the Wei-Tibet and other regions are directly from home to go back.

Also in many parts of Kham, handling of dead bodies are temples of the Buddhist monk, is generally believed that the monks with dead bodies, not only the families of the deceased was a great relief, but also by the monks to handle the body to make the monks feel more volatile, those who dealt with a lot of dead bodies People are revered monks. However, there are specialized areas in the Guardian back possession of dead people, they are secular, and it is not considered a noble profession.

The most common method of dealing with dead bodies is the burial (bird funeral), in addition to Tibet, there are other parts of the burial laws, mainly towers funeral, Shuizang, cremation, wild funeral, burial, etc., are 11 are outlined below.

1: celestial burial (bird funeral)
Is to the body feeding of birds, the body on the Tianzang Tai, the lit cigarette pine and cypress, Song Bosa on the tsampa, cigarettes rose, the group will be rushed to the scene and hovered or landed nearby awaiting the completion of some ritual , when the body fixed Tianzang Shi body back after the opening draw, eagle group will be swarmed, grab the body, such as the surface of the meat's almost due, Tian Zangshi approached the rest of the body dismembered and smashed into a broken bone, doped mixed tsampa for eagle pecking order to eat as auspicious.

That during his lifetime because of folk custom all kinds of evil, did all sorts of people died, eagles do not eat the meat of such a person; As many eagles will appear no matter how often refuse to eat the dead bodies of the phenomenon, and sometimes sent to several corpses at the same time, dozens of hundreds of eagles desperately grab some of the bodies, but next to the other bodies are indifferent, which have contributed to such a civil point of view.

In Tibet, due to leaching or other potent witches broom disease can not be implemented the death of burial, for fear of the disease spread to birds, it erred on the original intent of charity, in addition to in many places, incest, etc. are not allowed burial after his death, these two categories of people are generally can only take burial.

2: tower burial
Burial tower is a high-level funeral, only for senior monks or large Buddha. Tower burial customs come from India. According to legend, the Buddha passed away, his body cremated by his disciples and followers the door, the relic was entrusted to expose people in eight countries, were cited to go, building a tower worshiped. This is the beginning of burial tower. Later, this custom has been followed Buddhist disciples of the door. Only later, after the beginning of the Mami tower worshiped there, the Tibetan Lama introduced there has been a historical record for the eighth century AD, in the Samye Monastery next to the mountain Kok, to the Indian monk Padmasambhava built the first Lama, from the today there are 1200 years of history.

If Grubba was the founder Tsongkhapa and his disciples calendar generation, the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, and Gan Deng red buses, the status of the other Grand Living Buddhas and other prominent or successful career of the senior monks, generally used tower burial. As the Tibetan monk's history men, so Tibet has in many parts of the pagoda, but the Chinese Communists in the liberation of Tibet, the majority were destroyed during the period of democratic reform, the other is also destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug Sect of network, such as velvet zaba passed away, the temple built in the pagoda worship Gandon become Gan Teng Temple of important cultural treasures to attract followers. The sixties the twentieth century's "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" campaign, will be completely destroyed Gandon temple ruins. From the V to the 13 Dalai Lama (missing VI) of the Potala Palace in Lhasa remains were also buried within the tower.

V to the Panchen Lama's body, but also buried Zhaxilunbu Temple tower, after the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" campaign destroyed. AD 1989 under the auspices of the tenth Panchen Lama, will the people be preserved in private between five of the part of the Panchen Spirit bones, buried to build a pagoda in the temple Zhaxilunbu. Lama used to be only one body of law, five people buried in the pagoda of Tibetan history, is a unique first time.

After the Panchen Lama passed away, in the post-Tibet Shigatse Zhaxilunbu temple dedicated to the construction of gold, silver Pagoda and Tap Temple, in other parts of Germany and passed away days after the monks, some of the construction of the pagoda in the temple worship.

Lama is the monk knife a fixed body of law, easy to read and anus to internal organs removed, and then a variety of valuable medicines and spices are processed, placed in gold, silver and leather made from the tower. Tower with pearls, agate, coral, pine otoliths, jade, amber glass, gems and other treasures, enshrined in the hall, the followers can pay their last respects and worship.

Potala Palace, the World Bank in 5-13 (missing VI) the Dalai Lama's eight gold pagoda, in which V and XIII of the tallest and most luxurious, up to 14.58 meters.

Are many kinds of the pagoda. There are gold, silver, copper, wood, mud Pagoda. It is determined according to the status of living Buddhas. Golden Pagoda in general qualify for the Dalai Lama and other living Buddhas are the Silver Pagoda. In addition to the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama in the Potala Palace were built, and Si Wai Zhaxilunbu. Others were kept in the pagoda of the Living Buddha Buddha enshrined in their respective monasteries. The establishment of the pagoda is mainly to allow future generations the faithful paid their respects and worship.

3: Shuizang
Shuizang the corpse into the river feeding the fish, into the way some of them in the body, tie weights directly into the water; also have mutilated the body after the rapids of the river inputs. In some river basins of major rivers of the use of such burial. Another infant mortality are generally water after the burial.

4: Cremation
Cremation is also a more common kind of burial law, especially the monks, noble after death, cremation. In many places is considered a dependent, and burning ashes lavished on completion of the top of mountains, large forests and rivers into. If this is the relic of senior monks or ashes will be enshrined into towers.

Cremation, please monks chanting, while chanting, side with the butter ignite, relatives and friends also came to burn oil, to show that funeral and supported.

5: Wild burial
Wild burial occurs mainly in northern Tibet, and Tibet, Geelong, as well as very few areas of Mongolia. Usually the body farther away from home pack into the hillside, valley or marsh, the dead bodies left naked for the animal swallowed. Guo & nbsp10 days, after half a month to see until the muscles are eagles endured, will be buried bones.

There is also someone's death, the body naked on the deathbed of that position, after his family moved into tents. Periodically return to see whether it was animal endured, and then as a finished burying the bones.

6: Burial
Burial is in Tibet the most primitive habits, the rise of Buddhism in Tibet basically do not as a normal funeral funeral way, but in a very small number of Kham is said to still clinging to the edge of the region so far. In Tibet, most of the places, burial is only one for deaths due to infectious diseases such as leprosy funeral mourning those who died way, of course buried in the ground and prevent it from infection. Also in some places, which provides crime of incest and death, murder of the deceased not allow cremation, burial, and Shuizang, burial must be implemented.

Apart from the above funeral funeral customs, in Tibet there are cliff burial, many funerals. Where is the cliff burial after death, the body buried in Zhe Yu, ventilation, blocks out the sun, dry natural Hongyadong within the sealed mouth with stones. It is an old custom, which today is still in Tibet a few endemic pockets.

Multiple burial was popular in the Kham, which is cremation burial areas for the another method. This means that if people have died in the summer, with cremation will pollute the environment, offend the local god, drawing the heavenly stems and so he had the first burial, cremation until the autumn harvest, and then dug up. This is the multiple burial. This burial is limited to a few areas, without universality.

Above before the funeral to be held in France during religious ceremonies, but the Tibetan children premature death, after death, not to hold any funeral, close to the river basins of the direct input into rivers. In the absence of large rivers where put the body into the jar, the cover burial buried in the wild or specialized children's cemetery, and then invited the monks chanting release souls from purgatory.

Funeral customs and taboos
After death, the body side point, oil lamps, as a dependent, while others are interpreted as the soul of the deceased in the afterlife as a guiding light, do not make him go astray.

Tibetan's funeral, the most stress is placed on hold various religious rituals and offerings on the altar under the facilities that this is the only beneficial to the ceremony of the deceased did not like the West or China, as wreaths, playing funeral music habits, not layout special hall (religious monks into the body through the hall or in a special Buddhist temple), not paper money, their family members in mourning, funeral and hold firecrackers, do not play music (religious monks burial to play music).

In Tibet, human death, family members, within 49 days is not grooming, remove all decorations, not to laugh, not to speak loudly, do not wear new clothes, let alone sing and dance, come to offer condolences, but people also need to comply with these rules from the . 1 dead, neighbors, villages in the forty-nine days is not a happy occasion, not singing and dancing, as experienced by the fortune already selected auspicious day, when an extension can not be changed, then the ceremony to bring the deceased home to obtain an understanding agreed to send some money, food, wine and other items.

If you die before the holidays, with the village people have to children, but suits the adult years, will also reduce the joy of the festive atmosphere; some areas, the village people had died and the village within three days no less than to work, to show mourning and so on. A variety of customs vary, but a few examples.

Every seven days the deceased home, chanting for the dead do good to hold a variety of release souls from purgatory the souls of the ceremonies, to the temple for the light tanks, to the beggars alms of food fed to the dogs, etc. to give the child delivery of sugar (in some places as discuss Rokuji Shingon, namely, candy kids to know the reasons for the distribution will, therefore, while sugar side Niansong sixth mantra pray for the dead) and would increase the good business for the deceased as soon as possible reincarnation reborn human, has been done to forty-nine days. In the meantime, the family taboo killing, although to eat beef and mutton, but not personally slaughtered.

To the last one on the 7th, the friends, neighbors, village have come to worship at large. 49 Tianyi before, everything goes back to status quo ante, that the soul of the dead have been reborn, or to enter another world, he (she) and the living has been out of all relations, but also taboo to bring the deceased's name. But for the dead and making offerings to the activities of continuous lighting. Year after the religious ceremonies, etc. also.

Clothing and decoration of the deceased and their property, generally want to give part or all of the temples or monks as alms. In some areas whole villages, and even all the ups and downs, and all friends and family invited to the home, held a grand celebration. Banquet host a big way, let those who enjoy drinking Sanjia meat, and lively day for two days.

Tibetans believe that after death but also according to their own reincarnations of good and evil karma, the process long and full of dangerous, for this reason, the deceased must rely on living through the funeral, lamps, chanting and alms, etc., in order to increase the deceased good business , to remove or reduce the evil sin, smooth leads to a bright future, in order to have a Buddha reincarnation of the conditions in the environment.