For some reasons, i didn't find it that horrible. Your dead body is used to feed animals instead of buried in the ground or burned to ashes. Nothing wrong with that imo.

Same here.

Yeah I've read that stuff before and it doesn't really bother me either. Seems more natural than burying yourself in a wood box or burning yourself into ashes. Not that I would opt for it over cremation, but whatevs.

Yeah, I was just wondering if there's such a thing as Tibetan Sky Burial tourism. Pretty good way to return your body to the earth from whence it came.

Feeding the corpse to animals is OK but cutting and chopping it up like that is kinda weird. Why don't they just drop it there and leave it?

I’m sure I heard a radio program about the vultures being killed off by something and now there aren’t enough of them to take care of all the bodies.
Also I liked the idea of Tibetan Sky burial better when I didn’t know some Tibetan guy cuts you into pieces for the birds like a parent with a toddler’s steak.

If they don't cut up the bodies then the vultures will get accustomed to eating complete humans and will begin attacking Tibetan sunbathers.

there was a history channel special on these events that had old filmed interviews of veterans talking about their personal experiences. two german and british guys were talking about how the germans started singing carols and the british ones eventually sang along and they made it sound like it was spontaneous and directly after a stall to some fighting.

it was pretty moving stuff.

Meh, we're all made of flesh anyway, not that big of a deal if it's in one or twenty pieces imo.

I had never heard of the Tibetan sky burial before.

I think its kind of awesome.

I was definitely not expecting that but wasn't too disgusted by it. The most disgusting thing was that the inside of the guy looked like the inside of a pumpkin.

Vantek, it looks like the guy took the bones and smashed them into dust and spread it with the smashed brain and eyeballs. I assume this helps with digestion.

It's just to get the vultures to eat the bones, which they obviously can't do unless they're smashed. I doubt they'll digest any of the actual bone even if they eat it, they'll just **** it out somewhere.

I didn't say it's a big deal, I said it's weird. As far as I know in most cultures hacking the body of a dead person like that would be considered at least unpleasant but often downright desecration. Cutting up the body or sitting there smashing bones and trying to make some sort of a mixture out of them which the vultures would eat is an unnecessary waste of time, why would they develop such a tradition when the typical cultural condition seems to be resistance to such a possibility?

I understand why feeding the flesh to vultures is a part of the ritual (because it's actually just inevitable when there are vultures around and you can't dig a grave or burn the body). But cutting the body is unnecessary and the bones they could just leave lying around. They could just stack them in a nice pile if they absolutely feel the need to mess with them. Going out of their way to cut up the body to the vultures and smash the bones and trick the vultures into eating them as well is weird.

So you know it helps the dissolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marree_Man

Here's a fun one:

This is one of the rarest languages due to the fact you cannot learn it unless you're born into the tribe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese_language

Here is a bit of background information on this very hostile tribe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese


___

Two fishermen got too close to the island (it's illegal to visit the island) and were killed. When helicopters came to recover the body the tribe shot arrows at it and the helicopters never recovered the bodies.

every piece of flesh is supposed to be eaten and I guess that's the only way to do it. (it was mentioned in a class I'm taking)

also, those guys don't look like Tibetan monks who I think the ritual is reserved for
[edit] just read the wiki and it says the ritual arose out of practicality which wasn't what I was taught in class but w/e

Every piece of flesh WILL be eaten. But they want to feed them the bones as well, even though it's about as nutritious as rocks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronol...al_IRA_actions
Histroy of IRA activity through out the troubles.

There is a scene in Kundun depicting the Sky burial of the Dalai Lama's father.

Colossi of Memnon

"The Colossi of Memnon (known to locals as el-Colossat, or es-Salamat) are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. For the past 3400 years (since 1350 BC) they have stood in the Theban necropolis, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor."

"In 27 BC, a large earthquake reportedly shattered the eastern colossus, collapsing it from the waist up and cracking the lower half. Following its rupture, the remaining lower half of this statue was then reputed to "sing" on various occasions- always within an hour or two of sunrise, usually right at dawn."


It could just be folklore, but the 3,400 statues themselves are pretty incredible.

These sky burials are they free? I mean it costs quite a bit to get a coffin and be buried and it's quite a bit cheaper to be burned and stored as ash, but how much is it for a sky burial?

Apparently all you need is a bicycle, large bag, some knives, a hammer and chisel and you're set. Might need a permit beforehand or something.

Dalai Lama Sr.?

Nothing lifts the spirits like a biking tour in the mountains when you're about to die.

I think he was Dali Lama III, because on the Dali Lama's business cards it says " Dali Lama IV, Esquire."