As police say lama found in lotus
positon was destined for sale on black market, there are claims it was
one step away from becoming a Buddha.
A mummified monk found in the lotus
position in Mongolia is ‘not dead’ and is instead one stage away from
becoming a real-life Buddha, it has been claimed.
Forensic examinations are under way on
the amazing remains, which are believed to be around 200 years old,
having been preserved in animal skin. But one expert has insisted the
human relic is actually in ‘very deep meditation’ and in a rare and very
special spiritual state known as ‘tukdam’.
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| Over the last 50 years there are said to have been 40 such cases in India involving meditating Tibetan monks. |
Dr Barry Kerzin, a famous Buddhist monk
and a physician to the Dalai Lama, said: ‘I had the privilege to take
care of some meditators who were in a tukdam state.
‘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. 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 the meditator can continue
to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha. Reaching such
a high spiritual level the meditator will also help others, and all the
people around will feel a deep sense of joy’.
Initial speculation is that the mummy could be a teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov.
Born in 1852, Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov was a
Buryat Buddhist Lama of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, best known for
the lifelike state of his body.
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| The ‘meditating monk’ and the house in Mongolia where it was hidden. |
Ganhugiyn Purevbata, who is the founder
and professor of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulaanbaatar
Buddhist University, said: ‘Lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra,
the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolizes of the preaching
Sutra.
‘This is a sign that the Lama is not
dead, but is in a very deep meditation according to the ancient
tradition of Buddhist lamas’.
However, there is more to the story and
now police have revealed that the monk had been stolen from another part
of the country and was about to be sold off.
An unnamed official said that it was
taken from a cave in the Kobdsk region by a man who then hid it in his
own home in Ulaanbaatar.
He had then been planning to sell it on
the black market at a ‘very high price’, with local media claiming he
wanted to take it over the Mongolian border. Police uncovered the plot
and quickly arrested a 45-year-old, named only as Enhtor.
According to Article 18 of the Criminal
Code of Mongolia smuggling items of cultural heritage are punishable
with either a fine of up to 3million roubles ($43,000) or between five
and 12 years in prison. The monk is now being guarded at the National
Centre of Forensic Expertise at Ulaanba
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