Sky Burial Is One Of The Weirdest, Yet Considered Sacred Funeral Rituals Of The Tibetan. Its Origin Is Still Hidden Along With The Other Mysteries Of , Although It Was Believed That The Drigung Kagyu Order Of The Tibetan Buddhism Was The One Who Founded The Tradition Which Continues Until These Days.The Sky Burial Is Actually One Of The Most Preserved Traditions In , . It Has Long Been Practiced Especially By The Commoners As An Alternative To Cremation And Water Burial, And Although It May Seem Strange To Some Especially For Those Who Are Not Tibetans, The Sky Burial Is Practiced By The Locals With Much Honor And Pride.What Happens During A Sky Burial Is That The Corpse Wrapped In White Cloth Is Prepared For Consumption By The Vultures. It Is First Unwrapped And Cut Into Pieces For The Vultures To Eat. According To Some Witnesses, The First Cut Is Made On The Back Of The Corpse. The Flesh Is Chopped Into Chunks Of Meat And The Internal Organs Are Left Sliced Into Pieces. The Bones, On The Other Hand, Are Cracked Into Chips And Are Often Mixed With Roasted Barley Flour, Known By The Tibetans As Tsampa.It Is Further Interesting To Know That Prior To The Actual Sky Burial, The Ritual Starts Leaving The Dead Body Untouched For About Three Days. Chanting Lead By The Monks Follows And Before The Day Of The Sky Burial, The Body Will Be Wiped And Cleaned, And Wrapped In White Cloth. Surprisingly, The Dead Body Is Not Just Wrapped In A Natural Position, But It Will Be Positioned Like That Of A Fetus. Once Everything Is Prepared, The Sky Burial Then Starts Before Dawn.The Sky Burial Is Often Led By Monks Or Lamas. They Lead The Procession To The So-called Charnel Ground, While The People Witnessing The Event Chanting To Guide The Soul. It Was Only After The Chanting That The Body Is Chopped Into Pieces For The Vultures To Eat.Well, For Some Cultures, The Sky Burial Is Barbaric In Nature. But There Is More To It Than Its Being A Brutal Way Of Disposing The Dead Body. The Locals In Practice This Ritual With The Belief That When A Person Dies, The Body Is Left As Simply A Useless Material. They Often Consider It As An Empty Vessel. The Soul Of The Deceased Has Already Departed The Body And The Flesh To Be Reincarnated Into Another Cycle Of Life. Also, The Body Is Cut Into Pieces For The Vultures To Consume Believing That The Vultures Are The Dakinis, Which Means Angels. According To The Tibetans, The Vultures Are The Ones That Will Take The Human Soul Into The Heavens, So Those Who Practice The Sky Burial Consider The Practice As Worthy And Even Virtuous For The Reason That It Saves The Lives Of Small Animals Which Vultures Might Capture To Feed.The Sky Burial Is Now Considered Open Only For The Relatives Of The Deceased. There Are Some Instances, However, In Which Visitors Are Allowed To Witness The Ritual After Charging For Fees. Photography Is Also Strictly Forbidden Believing That Might Create A Negative Impact To The Ascent Of The Spirit.
