'Mysterious' Tibetan celestial burial ritual

One problem that no one can escape from birth is death, the word death can be heavier than a mountain, or lighter than a feather for each person, but whoever doesn't want to live should start from a mythical story.

The Chinese persistently pursue immortality. From Chang'e flying to the moon to Sun Wukong causing havoc in the underworld, these are our beautiful fantasies of transcendent living.

When this imagination is mapped to the screen, it becomes an obsession with the elixir of immortality. Qin Shi Huang searched for it all his life but in the end could not find it. Therefore, we long for immortality but in the end we cannot escape death.

When death became a reality and had to be faced, a series of cultures appeared, the most indispensable thing for the Chinese people is cultural heritage. Therefore, even in China there are many different cultures after death, ethnic groups have different customs, and different religions have different beliefs and concepts.

In the traditions of the Chinese people, people often pay attention to returning to their roots after the leaves fall and rest in the ground. However, in the mystical culture of the Tibetans, there is a unique heavenly burial ritual that literally means heavenly burial, that is, bathing the dead, taking off clothes, and placing the dead in the field. level and let the birds and animals eat the carcass. Why is this so, and what is the significance of this?

As ordinary carbon-based organisms, we will all face birth, aging, illness and death. After death, the Chinese people always pay attention to peaceful burial, family and country affection. Returning to our roots when the leaves fall is a topic we often talk about.

Therefore, underground burial is applied in most regions. Burial has a long history in people's hearts, only burial is considered to show filial piety towards children.

We believe that humans come from nature and will eventually return to nature. Burying the deceased in the ground can allow the deceased to return to nature and become one with nature, embodying the Chinese Taoist philosophy of ruling by doing nothing and following nature. surprised about that and buried the deceased in the ground to show respect to the deceased.

In addition to land burial, there is also water burial. The water burial method is divided into three types: floating burial, ash scattering, and underwater burial, which also has a long history like soil burial. In fact, we all more or less know this method in the world.

For example, in the third part of the famous "The Legend of the Sword and the Fairy", after the war, Sedum sprinkled Nightshade's ashes in the sword into the water. This is a typical style of scattering ashes, scattering the ashes of the deceased. In rivers and seas, rivers will take the deceased to places they have never been to, and will take the deceased to visit the great rivers and mountains of their homeland. This is a beautiful thought about death after death in the form of scattering ashes.

Ancient people believed that water is the source of life. If people can return to water after death, there will be a good rebirth.

In addition to these two relatively simple burial methods, stone burial is very time-consuming and laborious. As the name suggests, after the deceased passes away, the coffin is placed in a cave on the cliff.

This burial method generally exists among ethnic minorities. Although in our opinion, this method is first of all a waste of time and energy, and second is also a huge challenge for upwardly mobile people, but in fact it has its origins.

In ancient times, people's productivity was relatively low. They did not have enough money to build a house, so they lived in caves, so after death they wanted to continue living in caves. This is the desire of hard workers to have a better life.

In addition to the above three methods, the main character also has the custom of outdoor burial. In addition to being more popular abroad, sky burial is also more popular in China, mainly among ethnic Tibetans , it is meant to nurture their spirit through generations.

For sky burial, Tibetans simply take the deceased to an inaccessible grassland area and let animals share the food. There are no complicated steps.

With the continuous progress of society, people are increasingly aiming for a better life. People have given deeper meanings to heavenly burial and placed good wishes for the deceased.

So burial in heaven is now more perfect. After the deceased passes away, there will be someone who specializes in reciting sutras for the deceased. On suitable days for burial, someone will transport the body to the appropriate place.

After that, the sky burial master chops the corpse according to certain procedures, and then burns smoke after the animals approach. The meat is directly eaten by the animals, and the bones are also crushed, and then mixed with tsampa ( a cake).

The meaning of the Tibetans doing this is to let the animals judge whether the person is qualified to go to heaven or not. If a wild animal eats that person in a short time, that person must be very pure and will definitely go to heaven.

On the other hand, if animals refuse to share food, this person is not qualified to go to heaven, has committed many sins and will cause his relatives and friends great sadness. Different customs need to be respected.

Most Tibetans believe in Buddhism which emphasizes reincarnation, so people are very concerned about whether they can go to heaven or not.

If this person has no sins and a pure soul, the animals are ready to help that person ascend to heaven. Although this may sound confusing, it is actually the best wishes and wishes of Tibetans for their loved ones. After death, people can go to heaven freely and no longer suffer.