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Compassion &
Sky Burials in Tibet
We arrived at Lhasa, Tibet on the highest train ride in the world that climbs over 5200m before reaching the vast Tibetan plateau (oxygen is even pumped into the carriages!).
In 1959 the Chinese invaded and have since occupied Tibet. HH Dalai Lama XIV is the head of state and has been living in exile, alongside his government, in Dharamshala which is situated in the Himalayan foothills of Northern India. The country is changing dramatically as the Chinese government encourage their own culture and population to thrive whilst Tibetans and their customs are suppressed. My time there was one of the most interesting and heart wrenching places I have ever visited.
Buddhism touches every part of traditional Tibetan daily life and they are deeply spiritual people. The word which repeatedly presented itself was ‘compassion’ or 'karuna’, which translates as something close to compassion for all living beings combined with self-compassion and is one of the central tenets within the Tibetan form of Buddhism.
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama
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To be truly compassionate re must be a lesser focus on the self and an increased consideration for all other sentient beings. One of the most striking examples of this in Tibet is the unique and fairly gruesome ritual performed on their dead known as ‘Sky Burials’.
The deceased person is initially kept in the home and a funeral date is decided by divination. When a date is decided the family members do not attend the ceremony but local villages carry the body to the top of a designated mountain- the ‘sky burial’ site. A special master of the ceremony lures vultures by burning juniper and chops up the body and its bones. The birds begin to feed and it is seen as especially good karma should they leave no trace of the body behind.
I first heard about the sky burials whilst stood in a monastery in Tibet looking at the graphic murals paints on its walls depicting the ceremony. I was initially quite shocked by its brutality. However, after looking into its significance in more detail I began to understand the connection to compassion. They believe that the spirit has already moved on to its next reincarnation and therefore the body becomes merely a shell. By offering their bodies to the birds they are giving it back to the Earth that has provided them life. Tibetan Buddhists view the body as a vehicle for the spirit and a tool that, even in death, is able of compassion as they are able to nourish other living beings. In Tibetan the ritual is known as ‘Bya Gor’, which translates as ‘alms for the birds’. It also allows them to avoid disturbing the land with the body, which displays the great value Tibetans place on their environment.
Although this may seem like an extreme example of compassion and far removed from most people’s day-to-day lives I believe there is something we may learn from it.
There is so much interesting research which has cropped in this field. In 2004 Dacher Keltner suggested that compassion is “an evolved part of human nature, rooted in our brain and biology”. Since then research in psychology and neuroscience have continued to uphold this school of thought and have gone on to believe that compassion is so intrinsic to human nature that it is vital for good health.
Diener and Seligman, who are leading positive psychology researchers, propose that connection with others in a meaningful way leads to greater mental and physical health and even reduces the time it takes to recover from illness. Stephanie Browns research on volunteering outlines that compassion could help lengthen your lifespan whilst Elizabeth Dunn’s study showed that we experience considerably higher levels of wellbeing when we give versus when we spend money on ourselves (and this has been proven to be true across the world regardless of income).
From spending quality, offline, time with friends and family to introducing a meditation practice there are so many ways we can aim to cultivate more compassion in our day to day lives.
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Some recommendations:
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‘7 Years in Tibet’ by Heinrich Harrer
I had read ‘7 Years in Tibet’ by Heinrich Harrer about six years ago and there began the start of my fascination with this mysterious, vast and troubled region. It is an unbelievable true story, which manages to present Tibet before the Chinese occupation when very few Westerners had been into the heart of this country and its culture. If reading isn’t your thing there is a good movie version too!
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‘The Art of Happiness’ by the Dalai Lama
This book comprises of a series of interview questions from psychiatrist Howard Cutler to the Dalai Lama. An easy to absorb introduction to Tibetan Buddhist aimed at non-Buddhists in the West.
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‘Kundun’
A brilliant movie which explains how the current Dalai Lama was discovered as a 2 year old child in rural Tibet all the way to his escape from the country when the Chinese invaded. It depicts their ceremonies so beautifully and shows a sky burial too.
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‘Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama by Daniel Goleman’
The Dalai Lama sat with some of the worlds leading scientists which lead on to inspire some of the worlds breakthrough research. This completely fascinating book breaks these discussions down. Perfect for anyone who likes a good dose of research alongside their Eastern philosophy.
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‘To a Mountain in Tibet’ by Colin Thubron
A great travel novel about the holy mountain Mount Kalais in Tibet.
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Dr Chatterjee’s Podcast (Feel Better, Live More) has a great episode on meditation and how to get started- you can listen to it here.
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A little note on the Sky Burials in Tibet- they are very important and spiritual ceremonies and are private. If you are visiting Tibet please do not seek out these ceremonies as it is not appropriate for visitors to attend.
