Posted on 05/05/2016 11:19:11 AM PDT by nickcarraway
In the southeastern Chinese city of Quanzhou, a well-known Buddhist monk named Fu Hou has been mummified and encased in gold leaf.
According to The Associated Press, it's "a practice reserved for holy men in some areas with strong Buddhist traditions" and was done to honor Fu Hou's dedication to the religion.
Li Ren, the Chongfu Temple's abbot, said that after the 94-year-old's death in 2012, "the monk's body was washed, treated by two mummification experts, and sealed inside a large pottery jar in a sitting position," according to the wire service.
Video published by The Daily Telegraph showed the "Open Cylinder" ceremony when the monk was removed from the pottery jar in January. The newspaper reported that thousands gathered for the event, and the video showed men cutting off the material wrapped around the monk's body.
The abbot told AP that the body showed "little sign of deterioration apart from the skin having dried out." The wire service reported that "the local Buddhist belief is that only a truly virtuous monk's body would remain intact after being mummified."
Men apply lacquer on the mummified body of revered monk Fu Hou in January. Men apply lacquer on the mummified body of revered monk Fu Hou in January. Chinatopix via AP The monk's body was then sterilized and painted. The final step — gilding with gold leaf — started on March 16, according to The People's Daily.
Li Ren said the golden statue "is now being placed on the mountain for people to worship," the wire service reported.
The People's Daily has more pictures of the mummification and gilding process.
Mummified in gold? Sounds like a job for Indiana Jones.
NO SAINT SHOULD BE PRAYED TO. That is a Catholic tradition..NOT BIBLICAL.
Unless you use the Bible Jesus used, the Septuagint.
Yes, that's exactly what I said.
> Parts of the Buddha himself have supposedly been preserved as relics...
The body of Sidharth Malhotra (Lord Buddha) was cremated and the ashes sifted to obtain 4 teeth. These teeth are the relics.
A Sri Lankan friend of mine told me that Buddha’s ear is a cherished relic there. She showed me a picture of a religious procession, with elephants, that is held annually, and the ear leads off the parade, apparently.
That would be respectful to do that to Barack.
Well said. There is a difference between worship and reverence.
Now that’s gold.
At least the Buddhist monk wasn’t mummified & placed on a motorcycle in a riding stance.
“The result looks like some sort of Oscar to be given to a Non-Profit.”
LOL!
Prop me up against the jukebox if I die. Put a stiff drink in my hand; fill my boots up with sand........
About a year ago I read about the relics of Buddha, evidently one had been stolen (Burma, now Myanmar) and it made the news,
I asked the Abbot of the local Buddhist temple if these relics of Buddha’s body actually existed and he told me yes they did and explained that they were incisor teeth, because teeth sometimes survive cremation. He told me there were 4 of them and they were stored in 4 different temples, never together, in case something ever happened to one of the temples. I know the Abbot, because my wife is the temple’s bookkeeper and, although I’m not Buddhist myself, I get sucked into their fund raiser events regularly.
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