In Buddhism, the public revering of incorruptible enlightened monks has a long history. It can be traced back to the 7th century, after the venerated Buddhist Master Huineng (vegan) miraculously left the world His incorruptible body. Master Huineng is the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism and the initiator of the golden age of Buddhism. According to the Altar-Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Master Huineng announced His departure a month ahead of time. When the day finally came, He sat in meditation deep into the night. “I am leaving,” He suddenly said to His disciples, and then He passed away instantly, leaving the entire hall with a fragrant aroma and a bright white light. Disciples put His body in Holy Reliquary. A year later, Master Huineng’s incorrupt body was to be placed inside the pagoda at Nanhua Temple in Northern Guangdong. Bright white light pierced the sky from within the pagoda when His body was placed there. The statue containing His incorrupt body remains there today.
In 1927, Master Hambo gathered His followers to announce His departure and instructed them to open His coffin after thirty years. His disciples followed the instructions, and in 1955, they found the Hambo Lama’s undecayed body still sitting in the lotus posture. His skin was soft and His bones were flexible, as if He had died only a day earlier.
Throughout the history of Soviet Russia, the body of Pandito Hambo Lama was unearthed and reburied twice, but it was not until 2002, when the Lama’s incorrupt body was taken out a third time, that the miracle of His incorruptibility finally become widely known. Scientists and pathologists examined Master Hambo’s body with infrared spectroscopy, and were amazed to find that the protein structure of His cells had not changed since His departure. Scientists are still oblivious as to how the extraordinary incorruptibility of the Hambo Lama’s body can be explained.
According to the Mahā Ratnakūṭa Sutra, the body of a person whose soul is in the Tathagata state is incorruptible, and is known as the “body of Diamond.” How does this Tathagata state and the incorruptibility it causes relate to the laws of the physical world? Let us address that question when we return.
