Funerals in Tibetan Custom

Tibetan Buddhists are preoccupied with the belief characteristic of a cycle of the previous, this and the next life. Therefore, a funeral, although tragic, is held to redeem the sins of the dead and bless his future. It is a link between death and life.

Tibetans hold funeral in a way different from others. The body, wrapped up in white piece of cloth, is placed on an earthen cushion at the house corner. Buddhism holds that when the body is carried out of the house, its soul may not leave. When the earthen cushion is dismantled and thrown out of the house, the soul is taken away. Generally, the body stays in the house for three to five days before being moved out together with earthen cushion to a crossroads. When one dies in the village, members of other families mourn, bring with them a pot of wine apiece. When the body remains in the house, monks are invited to chant sin-redeeming sutras. When conditions permit, more than 100 butter lamps will burn. Family of the dead hang one red pottery jar at the door. The jar mouth is adorned with wool or a white khada scarf, and inside the jar is burning tsamba dough mixed with “three meat” (animal blood, meat and grease) and “three vegetables” (milk, cheese and butter). Within the first seven-week mourning period, family members refrain from combing their hair, washing the face, wearing any adornments, singing or dancing. Also during the period, no happy event is held within the family or at neighboring families.

The day before the dead person is moved out, neighboring families attend the mourning with Garmai Zundag, composed of one khada scarf, a handful of Tibetan incense, one sacrificial lamp and some money. People who maintain gyido ties with the dead have to bring with them other things including toiba seasonings cooked with tsampa, milk dregs and butter. The funeral takes place very early in the day. One monk leads the way, followed by the body carried by the offspring. Others see the dead off from the door to far-away road, where one or two friends of the dead take the body to the celestial funeral ground. Kith and kin of the dead refrain from going to the ground.

During the first seven-week mourning period, monks are invited to chant sutras every seven days. In the fourth chanting, four to five monks are invited to burn incense to bless the dead to return to the world at an earlier date. In the seventh chanting, four monks are invited for Buddhist mass. During the day, relatives of the dead rinse their hair, wash their faces, make sacrifice to the Roof God, and replace the sutra streamers on the roof. All gyido come for the mass, bringing with them meat, butter, tea and wine. Over 100 butter lamps are burnt at home or in the monastery during the fourth and seventh chantings. Better-off families hold a mourning anniversary at home. By then, all gyido family members come with khada scarves, tea, wine, meat, butter and money. The host entertains them with food as a token of sincere thanks for their assistance over the past year. //

Tibetan Burial Ceremony

Tibetans hold funeral in a way different from others to redeem the sins of the dead and bless his future. It is a link between death and life.Some main Tibet Burial ceremonies as follows.

Sky burial
Cremation
Earth burial
River burial
Stupa burial
Combined burial
Other burials
Celestial burial masters
Celestial burial
Flying with the Soul of the Dead

“The Life ,we treasured ultimately will turn into dust in the ground”

Cremation

Cremation is with lower rank or to the normal lay persons.

Before cremation, people wrap up the body into the sitting position and tie it to the firewood pile. At the same time, the lama chant scripture for the spirit of the dead when people spill oil on the firewood and light the fire.

After finished, the ash of the dead is taken to the peak to sprinkle in the wind or put in to a river.

Earth burial

Earth burial ceremony is an original burial tradition of the Tibetan people, but when sky burial ceremony is popular, the Tibetan people seldom use it because they think the one use earth burial can be reincarnated.

River burial

There are mainly two kinds of forms of river burial ceremony.
One is to throw the whole body into the river, the other is to cut the body into pieces and throw them into the river.

Stupa burial

Stupa burial is the burial ceremony with the highest rank. Only High Lama can be honored.
When the High Lama passes away, his body fluids are deprived by several kinds of valuable medicinal materials and spices times. After dried, it is wrapped up by silk and put inside the stupa to be long kept. The stupa have several kinds, such as gold stupa, silver stupa, copper stupa, wood stupa, earth stupa and so on, according to the position of the Living Buddha .High lama's passed away bodies are put inside the gold stupa, but the body of Gandan Tripa is put inside the silver stupa. The stupa is kept in different temples. Lower ranks are forbidden for this practice.

Combined burial

This kind burial ceremony means that earth burial comes first, then cremation and the last one is river burial. It lasts one year.
During this year, different ceremonies will be held.

Other burials

If a Tibetan child dies young, according to the lock tradition, the burial ceremony will be not held. They put the body inside a pottery can and then throw it into the river. Sometimes they keep it in the warehouse for a long time.

In some remote Tibetan area, there are traditions of stone coffin burial and rock burial.
The Tibetans believe in Buddhism and hold that life is endless. One life ends and this means the beginning of new life. In their eyes, body is merely the carrier of soul. When one life ends, the soul leaves the body that needs to be presented to the deities as sacrificial object. Returning the useless body to the earth is the most precious contribution to Buddha. Celestial burying ground is an altar for the said sacrificial object.
Generally, the site is determined by eminent monks and Living Buddhas according to traditional religious way, or determined by all of the locals. Stones are indispensable for the site. No matter how the site is determined, however, it should be close to a monastery (Buddha will direct the soul to where it should go), face the sun (sunlight will help disperse evil atmosphere), stay away direct invasion of wind, and be located at a slope.
In front of the celestial burying ground there should be ranging mountains that protect the site from being invaded by wind and snow, and make it impossible for the soul to see his/her hometown and would then be hesitant to leave.
In Tibet there are more than 200 celestial burying ground sites, with a few which are most influentially the Largest Ground(Aromatic plants are burnt for auspicious smoke in the Ground.)
Of the three Celestial Burial Grounds in the world, two are in Tibet, respectively being Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground by Zhigungti Monastery in Meizhugongka, and Samye Celestial Burial Ground by Samye Monastery in Shannan.

Celestial Burial Masters

Celestial burial is worshipped in Tibet as the highest pursuit of life. Of three elements indispensable for celestial burial, celestial rock (also known as altar), cinereous vultures, and masters of celestial burial, celestial burial masters are the most mysteriously important.

Rituals

Upon invitation from relatives of the dead, the celestial burial master goes to investigate how the dead died. According to Tibetan customs, those who are cut to death, shot to death or die of poison or contagious diseases are not allowed to be celestially buried.

The celestial burial master cleans the body of the dead and ties it into the form of an embryo (with hands meeting in front of the chest and sitting on folded legs) to be placed on the celestial rock.

On the burial day, the master arrives at four in the morning, and draws two white flour lines outside the house of the dead, lines which are one meter apart. He carries the body on his back and walks in-between the lines. This means this would not disturb those alive.

The sun does not appear on the eastern horizon when the body is carried to the celestial burial ground. The master lights aromatic plants for smoke, smoke used as a signal to cinereous vultures, and cut the body into pieces. The master does not have the final say as to which celestial ground is used. It is entirely the choice of relatives of the dead. According to Tibetan customs, people of the same family should not use the same celestial burial ground when dead in 12 years.

If the celestial burial ground is in faraway place, the master has to carry the body to the site at one o'clock at night. The celestial burial ground is generally located on a mountain slope, and the master has to carry the body there without rest halfway. If the master has disciples, he can have one of them to carry body in his place.

As one dies of varied diseases, some celestial burial master would wear white uniform but very few of them wear gloves.

“The soul of the dead has just left its carrier and it watches while I work,” celestial burial masters often say, adding that it is their duty to do a good job of their carriers so that their souls could leave in peace.

Professional and Amateur Masters

There are two kinds of people who work as professional celestial burial masters-monks and monks who, however, have resumed secular life.

Normally, Celestial Burial Ground has masters who are monks from the Monastery . When one celestial burial master becomes old, the monastery will arrange two young men to learn skills indispensable for celestial burial rituals. Once one is designated to be a professional celestial burial master, he needs only to recite one sutra to redeem the sins of the dead, and will not be required to learn to recite other sutras and calendaring other monks have to learn. Most of the professional celestial burial masters are found mainly in Lhasa, Shigatse and Shannan.

Some masters do the job for three reasons. The first is for a master to pass the job to his son…. The second is for the master to do the work to eke out a living. The third are monks who, however, have resumed secular life.

Celestial Burial in Tibet
Throughout history, people have tried to avoid death or at least delay it. Some try to find a fountain of youth. Some hope good works can prolong lifespan. Most view death as something to be dreaded. The Tibetan view of death is, on the contrary, optimistic . One of their burial customs is called sky burial, or celestial burial, which shows their respect for nature and an understanding of life.
Death does not discriminate. It stalks everyone from emperors, buddhas to men in the street, with no exception. Before the ceremony begins, the Lamas chant a prayer to help the soul of the deceased person ascend. This is in fact a requiem for the dead. The corpse is then chopped and cypress branches are burnt to attract hawks or vultures. It is considered auspicious if the birds eat up the minced flesh. This is a kind of sacrifice proposed by Tibetan Buddhism which believes in human elevation with the help of animals. It also shows the Buddhist's love for all creatures of the world.
To the Tibetans, the sky, or the universe, holds a supreme position. It is where the sacred world lies. To merge with the sky is a holy event, one which replaces the sufferings of this world with peace.
“Celestial burial” refers to the Tibetan tradition of feeding the dead to vultures and other birds of prey on mountaintops. Celestial burying ground, also called “Mandala”, is where life leaves and comes. A huge piece of stone hidden in high mountains is surrounded by burning plants that give up smoke going up into the air. The celestial burial platform normally locates at the hillside is a striking place for such burials. The snow on the mountains never thaws. Lush green brush covers the land. Buddhist banners are forever blowing in the wind brightening up the dismal sky. The surroundings give the platform a holy and awesome air.The corpses of those who died of infectious disease,poison or murdered are chopped, the flesh is burnt up so that vultures and hawks cannot eat it. In Tibetan custom, only people who died of normal causes are entitled to celestial burial.

Flying With the Soul of the Dead
In a Tibetan valley, before the sun rises, a corpse tied in a fetal position is laid on a large rock on a mountainside. Someone is burning a fire with cypress branches and Indian azalea branches, onto which tsampa (roasted highland barley) is sprinkled, and the smoke curls upwards.
A very strange odor soon begins to spread across the valley. Within some minutes, a black dot emerges from before the rising sun and begins to fly towards the smoke; one dot, two, and the number mount…… Gradually, the first dot assumes the shape of a bird; with streamlined body, beautiful stretching and seldom flapping wings, it glides slowly downwards.
Cinereous vulture can be seen in various Tibetan-inhabited areas.
Those currently found in Tibet are only in one color: hemp grey. It is said there are white cinereous vultures, but they have rarely been seen. According to old people, in the early 1930s and 1940s there were many white cinereous vultures and they were commonly seen at each celestial burial ground.
In the eyes of many Tibetans, white cinereous vultures are “deities” who have descended to the world as messengers of “the founder of Buddhism”. If a white cinereous vulture appears in celestial burial of a dead person that is considered a great spiritual favor on the deceased bringing blessings on all the descendants.

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