The Buddhist way

Tibetan monks are more practical in their approach to disposal of the dead.

According to reports from news agencies which were published in the DNA issue of April 18, 2010, "Monks wearing face masks set ablaze piles of the blanket-wrapped bodies of China’s earthquake victims on a mountaintop Saturday, as necessity forced local Tibetans to break with the tradition of leaving their dead out for vultures.

"Hundreds of villagers sat on the hillside, watching as the flames leapt skyward, while monks chanted and prayed for the dead…

"Tibetans in the region traditionally perform ‘sky burials,’ in which bodies are chopped into pieces and left on a platform to be devoured by vultures. But a monk, Zewang Jimei, said the large number of corpses made that impossible.

"‘There are not enough vultures for all these bodies, so the bodies will become very dirty and it is not good for the souls to rest in peace,’ Zewang said. ‘Therefore, we think the mass cremation is the best funeral for all these earthquake victims.’”

Contrast the Tibet scenario with our dakhmas at Doongerwadi where corpses not only lie helter skelter in varying degrees of decomposition but also face the indignity of having unconsecrated bovine urine sprayed on them daily.