Cremation: New Reincarnation Route for Tibetans

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 ◆ Cremation: New Reincarnation Route for Tibetans

Basang Zhoima's soul entered the circle of reincarnation through a new gate -- the 83-year-old Tibetan woman was cremated on Monday, in a different style of funeral from that of her fellow Tibetans.

She was cremated at the Xishan (West Mountain) Funeral Home in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Zhoima was the 70th Tibetan cremated since October 17, 2000, when the funeral home, the first of its kind in Tibet, opened. So far, the funeral home has cremated 400 bodies, but most of those were the ethnic Han people.

Also cremated with Zhoima was Dawa Yanglag, a 21-year-old Tibetan woman who died of tuberculosis.

By time-honored tradition, when a Tibetan dies, his or her remains are placed in a pagoda, buried underground, disposed of by"heaven" or by water burial.

Cremation, however, is a completely new concept for the 2.6 million Tibetans.

The loved ones of Basang Zhoima came to the funeral home early Monday morning. Rabga Samzhub, the deceased woman's son-in-law, said, "We decided on cremation because it is clean, cheap and convenient."

One of the most popular Tibetan funerals is the heaven burial, by which the body of the diseased is chopped into pieces and placed on a holy altar on a mountain top to served as food for condors. Tibetans, who are Buddhists, hold the belief that the condor takes the soul to heaven.

Cremation is much cheaper than heavenly burial, according to Samzhub.

"More importantly we are now considering that our dear departed can also complete the reincarnation process and ascend heaven through cremation," said Samzhub.

After going through all the necessary ceremonial formalities, Samzhub, together with other family members, lit a butter lamp placed in front of the remains of his mother-in-law and put his palms together and prayed for her, while chanting Buddhist scriptures to farewell her soul.

"As the society becomes more open to the outside world, a growing number of Tibetans have gradually got used to the modern way of life and accepted science. They just tend to preserve traditions in a changed world," remarked Li An, a Tibetanologist.

The funeral home, decorated with Buddhist patterns, was built at a cost of 17 million yuan (about 2 million U.S. dollars) provided by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs. It comprises the cremation center, a cemetery, ashes rooms and a place for people to mourn for the deceased in its total area of 100,000 square meters. Currently, the funeral home employs 13-member staff including Tibetans.

Tibetan people are free to choose the form of funeral for their remains. At present, the majority still prefer the heaven or water burials because of strong traditional influences and transport restrictions, said Cedain Lhunzhub, director of the Xishan Funeral Home.

And when a living Buddha or monk passes away, his remains are still placed in a pagoda.

A second funeral home has already been built in Qamdo Prefecture in eastern Tibet and it is expected to go into service shortly.