Monk baffles scientists

[indigobusiness]

Monk baffles scientists
24/12/2004 12:26 - (SA)

Moscow - A Siberian Buddhist leader whom followers claim looks and feels just the same as when he died in 1927 is mystifying science.

Seated in the lotus pose in the ceremonial garments of a Buddhist lama, Dasha-Dorjo Itighelov is to undergo examination with modern techniques to find out what keeps him looking so perky.

"This is a phenomenon that science has no name for," said Viktor Zyvagin, a leading expert in forensic medicine.

For the Buddhists of the Buryat republic near Siberia's Lake Baikal, the answer is simple. The lama is not dead, they believe, but in a state of nirvana.

snip

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1639903,00.html

[MissBrooks]

1. I thought you meant the TV show guy.

[indigobusiness]

2. I should've put 'Dead Monk...' in the header...

I reckon.

[intheflow]

3. I read the oddest things on DU.

I don't know what to make of this story! LOL

[Mrs. Overall]

4. In the Catholic saint tradition, this is known as being "incorrupt"

Many Catholic saints are supposedly "incorrupt"--their dead bodies have not undergone the usual decaying process. It is an interesting phenomenon.

This is an informative site on the matter with cool pictures:

http://www.geocities.com/goody.geo/artgallery.html

Here's a brief description of the site:

St. Bernadette, St. Agnes of Montepulciano, St. Mother Cabrini, St. Clare, St. Margaret Mary, St. John Vianney. Life Stories of Incorrupt Saints ...

(It's morose, but quite fascinating)

[indigobusiness]

8. It's not uncommon with special Buddhist monks.

Some are coated in gold and still sit in their monasteries.

It is odd to western sensibilities. Morose? Not really, not to me.

[Mrs. Overall]

12. I meant "morose" in the sense that saint incorruptibility

can extend to body parts and the cutting off of body parts and removal of internal organs that go on display or on tour.

I think the idea of a monk who is not decaying or a monk coated in gold is not morose at all, but the touring of body parts and organs can be disturbing to some people.

Me, personally, I find it very interesting.

[Sir Craig]

5. "He's not dead, he's resting..."

"...after a long squawk."

"He's pining for the fjords."

[indigobusiness]

9. Is that Monty Python?

It rings a bell.

[Sir Craig]

10. Yes, the "Dead Parrot Sketch"...

Absolute comedy classic...

[indigobusiness]

11. "That parrot is no more..."

Of course. Thanks.

[Wilber_Stool]

6. They're not dead

they're just pining for the fjords.

[autorank]

7. Is his name Franco?

[NNadir]

13. Lenin has been doing this longer. In 1972 he wrote a letter to the

editors at the National Lampoon, in fact. I recall the letter very well. It went something like this:

"Sirs:

It's my Party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to...

You would cry too if it happened to you.

Sincerely,

V.I. Lenin
Glass Box,
Red Square,
Moscow, RSSR,
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."