From dead bodies disappearing and turning into rainbows, to monks flying and leaving their footprint in stone. This is a list of six enlightening facts about Tibetan monks.
Rainbow body
Tibetan Buddhists monks aspire to reach rainbow body. Rainbow body is a type of enlightenment, but it is also a recorded phenomena that cannot be explained by science. 160,000 bodies have reportedly received Rainbow Body. Before they died a rainbow world appear above their body, Straight after they die, many rainbows suddenly appear above their body, and then after a few days, the bodies disappear completely.
The Three Wisdom’s
Tibetan Monks believe that the Rainbow body phenomenon is what happens when a human beings obtains complete knowledge, also known as Rigpa. Rigpa has three wisdoms, Kadag which means primordial purity, Lhun grub which means spontaneous, or self caused decisions, and actions. Thugs rje is the third wisdom which refers to the inseparability of the first wisdom’s.
Saint Padmasambhava
One famous person to reach Rainbow body was Saint Padmasambhava, he could also reportedly fly in the air, and transform his body into things that could frighten malevolent spirits and demons. It seems unlikely that he had these such powers, however there is one power he supposedly had with evidence to back it up. Before becoming a Rainbow body he left his footprint in stone, which can still be seen today, online or in person.
Thunderbolt Way
One of the three routes to Rainbow body, or enlightenment is called Vajrayāna. Also known as diamond way, Thunderbolt Way, and the Indestructible Way. It’s a complicated system of Buddhist beliefs, and practice.
Becoming a Buddha
Once you achieve enlightenment which countless amounts of people supposedly have, then you are said to achieve a state of constant bliss. Once you become enlightened you become a Buddha. Buddha’s spend their whole lives trying to help others reach enlightenment, and become Buddha’s themselves. However the amount Buddhas can help people is limited by their Karma. This is the reason why people suffer, because of their past negative decisions, and actions which led to bad karma.
Meditation
There are actually many different types of meditation. Monks use meditation to gain deeper levels of realization, and eventually gain enlightenment. Before mediation monks will learn through oral transmission, it’s possible to even gain enlightenment solely through transmission, however the likelihood is low. Most monks start with analytic meditation, where you think about what you’ve heard. Then once you achieve the duality of realization you move onto fixation meditation, where your mind is focused on the previous realization until you eventually become habituated to it.