In 1927, Russian Buddhist monk, Hambo Lama Itigelov, was buried. But right before he died, he told the other Buddhist monks that he wished to be exhumed years down the line.
The interesting thing was that this order meant he knew his body would be preserved.
And he was right. Even though he wasn’t mummified, his corpse sure looked like it had been. His skin and tissue were soft. This has never happened before and is the first case of a non-decaying corpse that had gone without mummification.
Even years after the exhumation, he sits in lotus position in open air for everyone to see. There are no temperature or humidity controls either! Apparently, monks treat him as a living person and shake hands with him. It is said he is just in a deep hibernation.
Check out this story and see for yourself. After you give it a read, I’d love to hear your opinion on this phenomenon in the comments below.
Dead Buddhist Monk Is Alive
From BuddhistChannel.tv
Moscow, Russia — “Exhumation of the body of Hambo Lama Itigelov took place September 10 th, 2002 on the territory of cemetery near the city of Ulan Ude (Russian Federation). He died and was buried in 1927 and the exhumation was performed in presence of relatives, officials, and specialists”.
This was the information that appeared in Russian mass media regarding Buryat Lama who was exhumed from the grave in the beginning of the 21 st century. The grave contained a wooden box and there was a sitting Buddhist lama in ‘lotus’ pose. His body was preserved as if it was mummified, however it was not. Soft muscles and skin, folding joints. The body was covered with silk clothes and fabric.
Hambo Lama Itigelov is a real person quite well known in Russian history. He studied in Anninsky Datsan (Buddhist university in Buryatia, nowadays there are ruins only) and obtained degrees in medicine and philosophy (on the nature of emptiness), he created an encyclopedia of pharmacology.
In 1911 Itigelov became a Hambo Lama (the head of Buddhist church in Russia). During the period from 1913 till 1917 he participated in social actions of the Tsar, being invited to 300-year anniversary of Romanov’s house, opened the first Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg, and Nikolai II gave him St. Stanislav award on 19 th of March, 1917.
During the First World War Itigelov created and inspired the organization called “Buryat brothers”. He was helping the army with money, meals, clothes, medicaments, he also built a set of hospitals with lama doctors helping wounded soldiers. For that he got St. Anna award and others.
In 1926 Itigelov advised the Buddhist monks to leave Russia, since ‘the red teaching was coming’ (Itigelov himself never left Russia). In 1927, being 75, he told lamas to begin meditation, since he said he was preparing to die. Lamas did not want to perform this meditation because Itigelov was still alive. Thus, Itigelov began to meditate by himself, lamas joined him and soon he died.
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Well, my mind is officially blown!
Yes its unbelievable, so can be called a Miracle.…
Truly the demonstration of PURITY IN BEHAVIOR, IN THOUGT AND PURITY IN SPIRIT REMAINING UNCONTAMINATED TO ETERNITY. MONK HAMBO LAMA, IMMORTAL THROUGH HIS SELFLESS PURE DEEDS, SO PURE THAT NOTHING IN THE ENVIRONMENT CAN INFECT OR DAMAGE IT. ILLUSTRATION OF PROOF, OF MATERIAL BODY, ALSO LIKE ANY OTHER THING EXISTING, IS A PART OF UNIVERSAL COSMIC ENERGY WHICH IS PURE.
woow… mind-blowing indeed… Thought I’ve heard of such cases but neither was sooner than thousand of years ago… It’s good that the old teachings are still being preserved
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Thanks for posting this!
I heard urban legend on this and found this explanation.. and it’s about diet.
Quote: “Most recent is the case of Hambo Lama Itigelov, a Buddhist monk who died in the Russian Mongol territory of Buryatia in 1927 and was exhumed in 2002, by his own last request. His condition was described by the monks and a pathologist in attendance as that of someone who had died only 36 hours before. Video shows what looks to be a well-preserved mummy, but hardly that of someone who died only 36 hours before. His body is on display in the open air and is claimed to remain pliable, a claim which is untested. Despite a Russian documentary movie finding no explanation, and the monks’ claims to the contrary, the pathologist’s own report found the body to have been preserved with bromide salts. Itigelov had also instructed that his body be packed in salt, another way to help prevent decomposition by absorbing moisture away from the body. It’s interesting that in life, Itigelov actually had a degree in medicine, and had written a Buddhist encyclopedia on pharmacology.
Buddhist monks have long practiced self-mummification. Some Japanese monks used to prepare themselves for self-mummification through a technique called sokushinbutsu. They ate a subsistence diet of nuts and seeds for 1000 days to get rid of all their fat, and then spent the next 1000 days eating only bark, roots, and drinking the tea of a poisonous tree called the urushi, in an effort to make their body both dehydrated and toxic to parasites. Finally they would place themselves inside a stone tomb, ringing a bell once each day. When the bell failed to ring, the other monks would seal the tomb, wait another 1000 days, and then open it up to find out whether the monk had mummified. Only about 20 such monks were successfully mummified in this manner; the rest decomposed normally. Even this number is impressive given that the internal organs remained, which are a prime source of bacteria that contribute to decomposition. Tests of the mummies have revealed toxic levels of arsenic, which is another embalming agent. Together with the lack of body fat and pre-existing dehydration, monks practicing sokushinbutsu actually had a reasonable chance of mummification if their tomb was well sealed and conditions were dry. Hambo Lama Itigelov’s own technique of using bromide salts and salt packing appears to be a scientifically updated form of sokushinbutsu.
But you couldn’t call these monks incorruptible any more than you can use the term to describe the Catholic saints who are obviously mummified. Mummification is the natural, expected process that happens to a body under the right conditions. There’s nothing miraculous about a natural, expected process. I suppose some people claim that in some of these cases, decomposition should have taken place instead of mummification, and thus the miracle. So, what; leaving a few strands of beef jerky stretched over the bones is the best that the miracle-creating superbeing was able to muster? I’m not convinced, and a skeptical Catholic shouldn’t be either. Incorruptible should mean incorruptible. The corpse needs to be flexible and lifelike, as if asleep. We’ve never seen anything remotely like that. There are no verifiable, viewable examples of supernatural incorruptibility anywhere on the planet, and no reason to think there ever have been.”
http://skeptoid.com/episode.php?id=4126&comments=all
Wow this is very interesting, especially how he somehow knew his body would be preserved. I also find it interesting that he just meditated because he was “preparing” to die, and then just did… almost as if he suddenly “chose” to go at that particular time.
I read the rest of the article following the link and it said no signs of decay, but judging by the photo it looks as if he’s missing a nose and I’m not sure if those are his fingers but they also looked decayed.
In either case; however, it’s still amazing how he is so well preserved, even IF his nose is gone… especially after so many years, and after so many years being in open air as well.
though it looks extraordinary but it is possible. thru Meditation, one can achieve any thing since human is born with lot of unimaginable powers powers. but when one os born the body is covered withj MAYA with which the man thinks the world is permanent & tries hard by any unlawful means to increase the property etc by indulgigng all types like corruption, dcheating etc. with this he attrats KARMA in life & forgets from where he comes & for life purpose who he is? etc. this is maya. One who meditates seriously & sincerely in life, he can design life whatewver he wants. in this universe no body stops anybody proviede the person is PUR at heart & works for the mankind. MEDITATION-ANAPANASATI IS THE ONLY WAY IN THIS UNIVERSE TO ATTAI ANY THING. FOR MORE DETAILS, U CAN VISIT http://WWW.pssmovement.org
We are controlled by our mind. As a matter of fact, as a man thinketh, so he becomes. Inspite of the teachings of Buddha which the monk practiced, he also conditioned his mind to what his remains (corpse) would be.
I am confident that it is a feat, which any conscious and subconscious individual can attain.
Carpe diem
My great granfather drank a bottle or more of whiskey every day. Years after he was buried he was exhumed as the graveyard was under a mudslide and his body was preserved — he even had a smile still on his face. Whiskey will do the trick if drank continously for a long period of time and in enough quantity. Not forgetting whiskey is quite spiritual.
I think it is really very spiritual, that Buddist monk kept his dead body not ruined by nature.He probably gained power over nature.IN India we thereare hundreds of saints who had that power. Some saints promised that they would come out after certain years, but due to fear out of the deep regards to thier Master they did not venture to exume the body, some of the deciples had died and forgot to tell others. Also there was fear of legal hurdles.
in places where there is constant wet clay dirt this happens because no air gets to the body. it is common in germany for instance. also after years of being in a airtight place the body does not decay when exposed to air. the lack of decomposition to bodies is one of the things the catholic church deems as a sign of sainthood. st burnedette was exhumed and is encased in glass in a church to today without any decomposition. they say her skin is wax like to the touch.
All this focus on bodily preservation is patently absurd!
It smacks of Spiritual Materialism. I’m way more interested in forming than in staying formed. One of my favorite quotes:
I came to pass, not to stay. Or this: I seem to be a verb.
WE MUST KNOW OUR SELF,WE ARE INFINITE BEANS EVERY THING THAT TWO OF US BELIEVE BECOME A REALITY.
I’m sorry but I have to disagree there are actually many examples of yogis that have been perfectly preserved after they die and consciously choosing to leave their bodies at the time of death for example paramahansa yogananda. He did a demonstration before he died where he consciously left his body during his last speech. I believe there is a name for this yogi practice but I do not remember what exactly it is.