Talking about someone’s death, of course, people will think about the funeral tradition. Every country has different kind of funeral tradition. The common tradition which has been practiced by many countries such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and America is burying the dead body under the ground. Besides, cremation is other common type of funeral tradition for some certain religions. For example in India and Bali, when someone died, the corpse must be burned out. However, Tibet funeral tradition is rare and unique. This funeral tradition is not burying the body under the ground or burning it, but giving the dead body to the vultures. Tibetian called it Sky burial. Sky burial is funeral tradition by giving the corpse to the birds of prey so that the soul reaches nirvana easily and gets reincarnation in other circle life as Tibetians belief.
The process of doing a sky burial varies in each family. It depends on the amount of money they have. Those with little income usually leave the deceased body on a high rock without any ritual, while those who are rich do the complete ritual of sky burial. These are some steps that should be done for the sky burial. When someone died, the corpse is wrapped in white cloth and placed in a corner of the house for three or five days. Monks are asked to chant so that the souls can be released from the holly place. The day before the burial, the family members take off the clothes of the dead body. Then on a selected day, the corpse is sent to burial site in the mountains which is always far from the residential area. After chanting “Daodeng”, the man who is in charge of the burial process, begins to slice the body. The first cut falls on the back, then muscles are peeled off and limbs are disjointed from the body. The internal organs are cut into pieces. Bones are smashed into splinters then mixed with “Tsampa”, roasted barley flour and it is given to little birds. After the body has been totally separated, the bones mixture is scattered on the ground.
There are many stories about the origin of sky burial in Tibet. In Tibet, the earth is frozen most of the year and it is difficult to dig or to find wood for cremation. Therefore, people adopted sky burial for the funeral tradition. Another story of sky burial is the doxy of Buddhism that alms giving are one of the marks of Buddhist. The highest level of alms is sacrificing their body. In sutra, there is a story about a man giving his own body to hungry tiger to save the tiger. The sutra says that the soul will apart of the body and get a new turn. When people died their body will be left and no use. So giving the body to vulture becomes the last generosity of a whole life. Tibetan believed that the vultures are ”Dakini”. Dakini is equivalent of angels. In Tibetan Dakini means “sky dancer” that will bring the soul to windy place where souls await for their next life. Some Tibetans said that the Drigung Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism established this tradition in land of snow, Tibet.
The Communist government of China legalized sky burial for funeral tradition in 1980’s. Sky burial is a part of Tibetan culture. But, sky burial is forbidden to visitors and photographers. They are worried that the guests will give negative effects to the soul ascent. Many people said that sky burial is unbelievable moment because they cut every parts of their family dead body and give them to birds at the top of mountain. Since they believe in reincarnation, many people see no need to preserve the body or just let the birds eat it. Although, sky burial cultivates many negative opinions, they have been doing sky burial since at least 12th century based on the Tibetan Book of the Death. However, many of Buddhism around the world do not have the same way in funeral tradition. Tibetian considers this, because they do not need to dig in their hard rocky soil. However, people around the world consider this the most sadistic funeral tradition.
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