… “Crazy Uncle?”
After the major event, Losar, I decided to go on another pilgrimage. I planned to stay close to the village for many reasons. One of these reasons was because of my strange and unusual dream that I dreamt of three days after the Tibetan New Year. I dreamt that an old man had suddenly died, and the village was concerned of what they were supposed to do with his body. In my dream, this man appeared to be an enlightened individual who had been studying alone for many years. He taught me many things… but why did I appear as a child in this dream? I started questioning myself… Who was this man? Why did he appear in my dream? Was he my teacher? To answer these questions, I decided to leave the village and search for any answers. I wanted to discover if any other person had dreamt such a dream before, and thus, was determined to go on another pilgrimage. However, I did not want to go too far because I felt that someone was going to die… very soon…
When I was on my short, yet inspiring pilgrimage, I heard many stories from the very oldest people that I met. One of the stories that I heard, and started to question about was focused on a hermit, who was known as Crazy Uncle. They told me that he had died yesterday, and used to live in a cave near my village. They also mentioned that some people assumed that he was a tantric practitioner, but that he barely talked to anyone for many years. A few of the very oldest people in the village used to know him, but their accounts of his past were very different. In conclusion, no one was quite sure what he was up to in his cave for the last couple of decades.
After these conversations, I started to believe that the man who appeared in my dream was Crazy Uncle. But why did he appear in my dream… and then suddenly die? What was I supposed to learn from this event? Why did I appear as a young child in that dream? What kind of connection did I have with him? What kind of connection did he have with me?
After hearing this story, I journeyed back to my village and found that a letter was placed at the front of my door. I opened the envelope and saw that it was from my parents. I read through the letter carefully… and started to cry. My mother noted that she had heard news about a man, known as Crazy Uncle, who had passed away a few days ago. She clearly stated that this man took care of me when he lived in the same village as us. He was one of my father’s good friends and looked after me when both of my parents were busy. Images started to hit me. I closed my eyes and vividly saw a man and a young boy reading together. AHH HA! I opened my eyes and started to think more deeply… I remember this… I remember reading with a man about the teachings of the Buddha… about the Dharma. It HIT ME. He was saying his goodbye to me before he died, and the reason why I appeared young in that dream was because that was the “closest” memory I had of him. As a young boy, I idolized him because he took time out of his busy schedule and guided me throughout the many Buddhist scriptures and texts. He made me struggle and told me that it was important for me to find answers to my questions. He reminded me that life wasn’t easy and that struggling was important in order for an individual to live a good life. He told me that I would become a great monk because of my motives, inspirations and knowledge.
What was the village supposed to do with his body? I knew that it was important for the village to speculate his level of attainment, but that it wasn’t going to be an easy task, because no one was quite sure how much he had studied. I began to do some research with the other villagers on the aspects of the death and dying practices in Buddhism.
Upon discovery, I learned that there were four types of literature in which death was treated. They were, tantric exegesis, prayer, narrative, and practical manuals. I also learned that Tsele Natsok Rangdrol was a prolific writer on the classic Nyingma topics, and was best remembered for his trilogy on the Great Seal and Great Perfection contemplative systems and the intermediate state between death and life. Tsele described the dissolution of the human body at the moment of death, based on notions of physiology drawn from tantric exegesis. The five elements that made up the human body, and the process of death was no more and no less than the breakdown of these five. “Wind,” the energy that animates human life, is the key factor. When the wind ceases its normal flow throughout the body, the physiological system as a whole begins to shut down. While reading these texts and scriptures, I recalled that death was not an end, but a transition, a passage between two states of existence, from one life to the next. After reading this text, I started to believe that Crazy Uncle was going to be reincarnated into a special and great being.
Tibetans believed that an individual’s soul remained in bar do, a special zone for the newly dead, for 49 days after death. During these 49 days, they entered a new body, in order to start a new cycle of life, death and rebirth. On each of these 49 days, the deceased passed through a new level of life.
Tibetans have five ways of disposing dead bodies. They were, the Water Burial, the Sky Burial, the Fire Burial, the Earth Burial and Embalming. Some of the corpses were still mummified, by using an ancient technique in which the corpse was put in a large box and packed in salt for about three months.
Since we did not know Crazy Uncle’s level of attainment, some of the villagers and I believed that the best option that we had was to carry out the Sky Burial practice. I also learned that the Sky Burial practice was the most common way of disposing dead bodies in Tibet.
After death, the deceased would be left untouched for three days. Monks would chant around the corpse. Before the day of the Sky Burial, the corpse would be cleaned and wrapped in a white cloth, and then, would be positioned in a fetal position. The ritual of Sky Burial usually begins before dawn. Lamas would lead a ritual procession to the charnel ground, chanting to guide the soul.
For the Sky Burial practice, the body of the deceased was supposed to be carried to a monastery on the backs of close friends and cut into little pieces by monks or members of a professional caste. These pieces were to be fed to the vultures who were known to carry the spirit to heaven.
The corpse was offered to the vultures because it was believed that the vultures were Dakinis. Dakinis were the Tibetan equivalent of angels. In Tibetan, Dakini means “sky dancer”. Dakinis would take the soul into the heavens, which was understood to be a windy place where souls awaited for their reincarnation. This donation of human flesh to the vultures was considered virtuous because it saved the lives of small animals that the vultures might otherwise capture for food. Sakyamuni, one of the Buddhas, demonstrated this virtue. To save a pigeon, he once fed a hawk with his own flesh.
After this long discussion, I decided that the Sky Burial practice was the safest way to go. However, there were some villagers who thought and debated otherwise. I decided to pray to Crazy Uncle and ask him for guidance. However, it wasn’t easy for me… I was upset that he passed away. He was my teacher from the beginning, but I wasn’t able to thank him as a monk. He did not see me in my robes, but had inspired me to learn and achieve more about the teachings of the Buddha. When I was a child, he emphasized that it was important to live alone, because one was supposed to isolate themselves from all of the possible distractions that they could encounter. That’s why he decided to live alone… and chose not to communicate with anyone. What was I supposed to do? I heard that one could learn and become a spiritual teacher faster if they studied alone. I decided to tell the other monks, nuns and villagers that I was going to leave the village and live in the caves. I also wrote a letter to my family, explaining the situation that I was in, and that I was eager to experience the greatness of studying alone. I idolized Crazy Uncle from the start and continuously looked up to him and his teachings. I was determined to follow his steps.
