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Post by Joanna on Dec 10, 2013 21:10:07 GMT -5
Dead Buddhist Monk Is 'Alive'
Exhumation of the body of Hambo Lama Itigelov took place September 10, 2002, the cemetery near the city of Ulan Ude (Russian Federation). He died and was buried in 1927 and the exhumation took place in presence of relatives, officials and specialists.”
This was the information that appeared in the Russian media regarding Buryat Lama, who was exhumed at the beginning of the 21st century. The grave contained a wooden box and the sitting Buddhist lama in "lotus" pose. His body, clothed in silk, was preserved as if mummified, but it was not. The muscles were soft and lifelike.
Hambo Lama Itigelov is a well known in Russian history. He studied in Anninsky Datsan (the Buddhist university in Buryatia – now in ruins) and obtained degrees in medicine and philosophy and created an encyclopedia of pharmacology. In 1911, Itigelov became a Hambo Lama (the head of the Buddhist church in Russia). During the period from 1913 until 1917, he received invitations from the Tsar, opened the first Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg and Nikolai II presented him the St. Stanislav Award Marcy 19, 1917.
During the First World War, Itigelov created and inspired the organization called “Buryat Brothers” that helped the army with money, meals, clothing and medicaments, He also built hospitals where lama doctors helped wounded soldiers, for which he received the St. Anna's and other awards.
In 1926, Itigelov advised Buddhist monks to leave Russia because "the red teaching was coming." (Itigelov himself never left Russia). In 1927, at the age of 75, he began meditation, saying he was preparing for death. The lamas did not want to participate because Itigelov was still alive. Thus, Itigelov began to meditate by himself and soon died.
Ititgelov left a testament wherein he asked to be buried as he was, sitting in the lotus pose in the cedar box. He also requested the other monks resume his body after several years. (This is the interesting part for this indicates he knew his body would be preserved). His corpse was exhumed in 1955 and 1973 by Buddhist monks, but they were afraid to talk about what they had done because the communist regime did not condone religion. In 2002, his body was finally exhumed and transferred to Ivolginsky Datsan (a residence of today’s Hambo Lama) where it was closely examined by monks, as well as scientists and pathologists. The official statement was that the body was very well preserved without any signs of decay. The muscles were whole and the body was lifelike both inside and out, even though his body was not embalmed.
Itigelov’s body is maintained in the open air without any temperature controls. How Itigelov remains in this state of preservation is a mystery. This is the only known and confirmed case of an imperishable body in the world. Embalming and mummification is well known among different nations and peoples: Chilean Chinchorro, Egyptian mummies, Christian saints, communist leaders and others. Some bodies were discovered in permafrost, but when exposed to the oxygenated atmosphere, they disintegrated after several hours.
Nevertheless, there are tales of such things in Buddhist texts, but no confirmed examples. Well, not until now.
Itigilov’s body does not perish nor decay. There is no fungus or other signs of deterioration. Before he died, Itigelov left a message for all people on Earth. The message contains no words. Now it is our turn to understand. Source: Chetan Rana, AweScience, November 28, 2013.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Dec 11, 2013 11:06:19 GMT -5
There's a couple of things about this that strike me as odd, besides the obvious.
Buddhists usually don't support the armed forces. That goes against everything that Buddhism is about. Even if the army was fighting for liberation, they wouldn't support violence. Also, it is customary for Buddhists to be cremated.
I have not heard about this monk before, but I have only been a Buddhist for a few years now. I'm going to ask around and see if I can get anymore information on this.
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Post by jason on Dec 11, 2013 19:06:07 GMT -5
From Satanist to Buddhist! That's quite a change, April!
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Post by aprillynn93 on Dec 11, 2013 21:54:04 GMT -5
I know right?
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Post by kitty on Dec 11, 2013 23:40:19 GMT -5
You were a Satanist? What exactly do Satanists do? Is it like what you see on TV, or is it just another form of witchcraft?
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Post by Sam on Dec 12, 2013 2:26:13 GMT -5
I'd also like to know more about what Satanists do. I went to a seminar once by a police officer, who was also a cult expert, but he said thinks like pentagrams were signs of Satanism and it was just after there were some posts in one of our old groups about the pentagram that I knew that he didn't know what he was talking about. I should have spoke up and told him that he was wrong, but I didn't.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Dec 12, 2013 11:27:14 GMT -5
I actually wasn't ever a Satanist, but being in the OTO, I was labeled that by many. I learned to embrace it. When people have a genuine interest in finding out about it I don't mind discussing it in earnest. Otherwise I, like most OTOers, don't even try to explain it.
LaVey's Satanism was really just a glorified rebellion from Christianity. It was just Christianity in reverse pretty much. Same formula, except you worship Satan instead of Jesus. Actually, it was more of a joke than anything. There was little to no structure. He tried to make it serious at one point, but it didn't work. Most of his members were more interested in acting like rowdy, silly teenagers.
After LaVey shut down his church of Satan, Michael Aquino and some of the other high ranking members of the church started the Temple of Set. They are a little more serious than the Church of Satan was, having a real structure and hierarchy. I actually did become a member of the Temple of Set for a short while just to check it out. They are very secretive and the only way to check them out is to become a member.
There is another sect of people that have tried to go on with the Church of Satan and practice LaVey Satanism, but I do not know how serious they are.
Many of these true Satanists are really not evil except in the eyes of the Christian church. Many are animal rights activists and support a variety of other charitable organisations as well. They are actually mostly extreme left wing. They do not believe in animal sacrifice or most things that people associate with Satanism. They are elitists. The main premise of Satanism is the elevation of the ego. This is in opposition to the Christian premise of being a sheep in Jesus's flock.
Of course, like anything, there are those that call themselves Satanists or devil worshipers who do things like animal sacrifice, but they are not a real organization.
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Post by jason on Dec 12, 2013 12:20:59 GMT -5
So what you're saying is that a lot of Satanists are like most Wiccans, just a bunch of vegan, animal rights freaks.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Dec 12, 2013 13:37:12 GMT -5
Yeah pretty much.
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Post by Sam on Dec 13, 2013 1:07:56 GMT -5
Folks like that are just trying to shock society.
But since you were in the OTO, there must have been some people who really practiced Satanism. I'd like to know if they did things like use upside down crosses and do the black mass. I guess what I'm asking is if you ever met any real Satanists? What did you learn about the Temple of Set? I think that there was something posted about it in the old group once, but I don't remember what it was and I couldn't find it.
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Post by aprillynn93 on Dec 13, 2013 12:24:28 GMT -5
That's exactly it Sam-they do it mostly for the shock value. I have to admit, we in the OTO did have some fun shocking people as well. I can't say there isn't anyone in the OTO that practices Satanic rituals in earnest because there are alot of people in the OTO, and the order doesn't dictate what you can or can't practice in your personal life. I can say there aren't any Satanists in the order that I know personally, or have even heard of. One time for Halloween, we did some ritual from LaVey's Satanic Bible just for fun. Speaking strictly of LaVey's church of Satan, they did perform a Black Mass. They do not sacrifice any animals or children. It is really just a bastardization of the Catholic Mass. Just pretty much insert "Hail Satan" at every opportunity, add pentagrams and upside down crosses, and you have a Black Mass LOL! Most Thelemites (OTO people) just wouldn't be interested in Satanism. Like I said earlier, it is backwards Christianity for the most part. You are worshiping a God outside yourself. That formula goes against the main premise of Thelema. However, there are actually a scant few people in the order who consider themselves Christian, so if they can do it, then it stands to reason there may be some Satanists somewhere too. I don't think I have ever met any real Satanists face to face, but I have corresponded with a few. The following is what I learned during my time in the Temple of Set (I'll post a link to their site at the end of this if anyone wants to read about it more in depth): The people in the Temple of Set no longer consider themselves Satanists. They call themselves Setians. They worship the Egyptian God Set, who is actually very similar to Satan in that he promotes indulgence (which was LaVey's central focus) and cultivating ego. The story goes that after the original Church of Satan became defunct, Michael Aquinas did a ritual to try and find out what he should do next. During that ritual, supposedly he had a vision where Set came to him and told him to form the Temple of Set. I will say that at least on the surface of it, they are trying to be serious with it. They present a professional appearance at first, and they have a structure. To get a real feel for what they are about, they make you join. There are 6 degrees in the system. When you join, you are at degree 1. It is really very much a cult of personality. You have a year from when you join to get one of the upper degrees to "recognize" you to the 2nd degree. If you fail to do this, you are out. Basically, you have to do some serious butt kissing to really get in. There were no suggested set of rituals or anything. There weren't even any initiation rituals. Personally, I got the impression that most members are egomaniacle, armchair magicians. One high ranking member who thought he was King of all, and everyone treated him like he was, was a 40 + year old pizza delivery boy. We surmised he probably lived in his parents basement by some conversations he had on one of the boards. Mind you, I don't judge someone on how much money a they make, but if you are going to act like you are better than everyone, supposedly in control of your sector of the universe or whatever, then you better at least have your personal affairs in order. As Jason surmised, many Setians are fiercely Vegan. Many Setains are fierce animal rights advocates, and at least one I knew of was a member of PETA There is at least one "Order" within the temple that considers themselves vampires. There are actually a few very well spoken, well educated members. Someone had posted some photos from a recent "Conclave", which is what they call their conventions they hold. They looked like those photos you see of ghost hunters, only they were dressed in gothic clothes. That's the elite Temple of Set right there. Seriously, they looked like overgrown metal-head teenagers. Those photos were the last straw for me. I was a member for I think it was 5 months. I did meet one person whom I still converse with from time to time. Of course, this is my perspective. Someone else may have a completely different experience with them. Incidentally, they ended up ripping me off $13. When hey processed my dues payment, they charged me twice. After months of trying to get refunded, I gave up and told them to keep it. They obviously needed it more than I do. Xeper.org (Temple of Set)
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