A Thai Buddhist monastery is under investigation after 41 bodies were found at the site. The police do not exclude that they could have been used for meditation practices.
The bodies were discovered on Saturday at the Pa Nakhon Chaibovorn monastery in the central province of Phichit, a police official told AFP. “The bodies were accompanied by death and donation certificates,” he added, specifying that no charges had been brought so far.
Investigators must verify with the families of the deceased that they donated their bodies of their own free will. “We are trying to make sure that none of the bodies were stolen,” said the officer, who requested anonymity.
The search was launched days after police discovered 12 bodies at another monastery in neighboring Kamphaeng Phet province on Wednesday, according to local media.
The head of the monastery in Phichit province, Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, told PBS television that the use of corpses was part of a “meditation technique” he had developed. “Many of those who come to learn are religious and all these monks pass on this knowledge,” he says, “I don’t know how many of them have adopted my technique.”
Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito also said that “practitioners meditate in pavilions that contain coffins with human remains.” Phichit police said they were working with authorities in other provinces to determine whether the practice was widespread.
This method of contemplative meditation on corpses in different stages of decomposition appeared in Thailand in the 18th century and was widespread until the 20th century before running out of steam.
