# The monk is not dead!, is just pining for the lamasery!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 4, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845 "2015-02-04T23:11:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/1 "2015-02-04T23:11:34Z")
> **[Mummified monk in Mongolia 'not dead', say Buddhists](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31125338)**
>
> A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week is baffling those who uncovered him, with senior Buddhists saying he is still alive.
Is this an ex-monk?
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/2 "2015-02-04T23:18:43Z")
It just so happens that your friend here is only _mostly_ dead.
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/3 "2015-02-04T23:20:50Z")
Are there ROUSSes in Tibet?
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/4 "2015-02-05T02:38:07Z")
Mummified monks have been something of a “thing” for quite a while. [Shítóu Xīqiān](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shitou_Xiqian) (Wuji Dashi) is a rather storied example from the Tang Dynasty era, although there are claims that the mummy is not actually him but that of (and I can hardly believe I’m using this phrase seriously) another monk of the same name. The [Sokushinbutsu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu) of Japan actually set out to mummify themselves while still alive, though only a fairly small number succeeded.
Ascetic dietary practices, conducive environmental conditions, and a habit of spending so much time in a meditative mudra that odds favored them dying in it probably all played a part.
> [@Frodo](#):
>
> Are there ROUSSes in Tibet?
[http://www.marmotburrow.ucla.edu/himaly.html](http://www.marmotburrow.ucla.edu/himaly.html)
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/5 "2015-02-05T15:52:40Z")
That is a Rodent indeed, but it’s Size is not so Unusual, I don’t believe Rodents of Unusual Size exist…
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### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/6 "2015-02-06T20:12:42Z")
It’s just a flesh wound.
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### Author:  [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/7 "2015-02-06T22:01:03Z")
“He’s not dead yet!”
_pop_thud_rollrollroll_
“Um, someone go his head and put it back on.”
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/8 "2015-02-07T02:33:56Z")
I’m not sure what it would take to wake him up.
Still, if you are taking votes, dressing him up in Haute Couture Spring Fashions and putting him in MACYs window on 6th might be just the shock he needs…
…any chance he could be tied to the back of a Vespa & driven around the village by Andrew McCarthy?
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### Author:  [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/9 "2015-02-07T03:43:57Z")
This reminds me… has there been any updates on that Indian guru that was not-dead but kept in a freezer until he chose to wake up?
Anyway, I’ve seen one or two monks kept in glass boxes in monasteries in Thailand, it seems to be a thing; although I don’t recall those being expected to pull off an impersonation of Michigan J. Frog any time soon.
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### Author:  [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2015, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monk-is-not-dead-is-just-pining-for-the-lamasery/711845/10 "2015-02-07T07:51:43Z")
What really calls my attention from the BBC report is this:
“The monk was discovered after being stolen by a man hoping to sell him on the black market.”
Who knew that there is a thriving black market of possibly-mummified Buddhist monks and _ **no I don’t want to know or even think about what the buyer would be doing with him thankyouverymuch!!!** _ _shudder_