The mummified body of a 200-year-old Buddhist monk was recently found in Mongolia. At the time, forensics experts had made the claim that the man had long been deceased. But now a Buddhist diplomats are claiming that the monk is, in fact, alive and simply in a deep state of meditation, only a single step away from total enlightenment.
This 200-year-old man, who is assumed alive initially topped the news in January 2015 after Mongolian officials confiscated it from individuals trying to sell the remains on the black market. A forensics investigation is still ongoing, but from initial visual tests, experts came to the conclusion that the man was likely 200 years old and exceptionally well preserved, found wrapped in cattle skin.
The man was also discovered in a lotus position, as if he was still meditating, leading many to believe that this was a Buddhist monk. Approximately, more than 40 cases were registered over last 50 years which has similar verdicts.
200 years old ‘meditating mummy’ found in Mongolia http://t.co/NNORpJkjjG pic.twitter.com/yy9yNUwRug
— The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) January 28, 2015
The man was also discovered in a lotus position, as if he was still meditating, leading many to believe that this was a Buddhist monk. Approximately, more than 40 cases were registered over last 50 years which has similar verdicts.
Dr Barry Kerzin, a famous Buddhist monk and a physician to the Dalai Lama, recently told a news channel that he has seen several high-ranking monks attempts to enter a higher state of meditation – called a tukdam state.
In this state, the meditator’s heart rate slows to a near-undetectable pace and he can appear dead. With all metabolic processes slowing – much like how some animals hibernate – the body begins to very gradually burn the bare minimum of energy to stay alive.
“If the person is able to remain in this state for more than three weeks – which rarely happens – his body gradually shrinks, and in the end, all that remains from the person is his hair, nails, and clothes,” Kerzin explained.
“Usually, in this case, people who live next to the monk see a rainbow that glows in the sky for several days. This means that he has found a rainbow body.”
“This is the highest state close to the state of Buddha” he added.
If a person remains in this kind of deep meditative state their body will enter into a kind of “luminous wakefulness,” according to Tibetan Buddhist Lama Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.
“At that moment, the experience of luminous wakefulness is very strong and one simply remains in its composure naturally, meaning that high lamas or someone with deep experience and realisation will naturally dissolve into or expand into this state of samadhi,” said Thrangu Rinpoche in an interview with Rangjung Yeshe Publications.
“When the ground luminosity dawns by itself, they recognise it, and then remain in equanimity – that is what is called ‘remaining in tukdam” Thrangu added.