Response
I think that the response is honest with the attitude displayed by those enact the burial on to the deceased. I believe that the limited, utmost restricted access is acceptable considering that the burial is a sacred ritual not for the amusement of some tourists. The reverence of the people executing the deeds and those who chanted is remarkable considering what was occurring right before them. It is difficult to view the scene from their perspective and not remain attached the body of a loved one but rather their soul. Because in the end, as humans we find it difficult to believe in things that we can't see and to detach ourselves from the physical attributes of a person and emphasise on this invisible entity (the soul) is hard to adopt.
The message is quite clear not just in this real life experience but in the sky burials in general, that we should not be so attached to our bodies, but more to our minds. Our minds will leave the bodies and whether we bury, cremate or feed it to animals, we will have to leave it. They have left there bodies so many times in their previous lives and have no memory of it and neither does anyone else. Some people might find it disrespectful to feed the bodies to the animals, but our bodies will be eaten by insects/maggots anyways when buried. What we do with the dead doesn’t so much affect the dead. It is more for the living. But then the living quickly becomes the dead anyways and then everything is forgotten. |