Living Buddha in Buryatia. Imperishable Hambo Lama Itigelov

This trip to the Ivolginsky datsan had been brewing for a long time and finally all the stars aligned, in the evening we boarded the train to Ulan-Ude. On the train we drank tea with buns and talked about spiritual practices and amazing life and no less amazing life after the death of Lama Itigelov.

In the morning we were in Ulan-Ude. The road to the Ivolginsky datsan was brightened up with an interesting and informative story from the guide about the history of the everyday life of the Buryat people.

Facts from the biography of the twelfth Pandito Khambo Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov Having been left an orphan early, Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov was brought up by Nadmit Batuev, a wealthy man at that time, in the Orongoi area - now the Ivolginsky district. Having reached the age of 16, he went to study at the Aninsky datsan of the Khorinsky Steppe Duma. In those years, this datsan was one of the most famous in terms of the level of education of its priestly lamas. There he spent about 20 years studying Sanskrit, Tibetan language, logic, and philosophy. Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov improved his knowledge of Buddhist sciences in the Tsugolsky and Aginsky datsans, and also served in the Tamchinsky datsan - the residence of the Hambo Lama. Most likely, in one of them he defended the title of gabzhi lama, which corresponds to the title of candidate of philosophical sciences. Returning to the Yangazhinsky datsan in the Orongoi area, he became a full-time Buddhist philosopher; taking this position was very difficult and at the same time honorable, because the full-time lamas were actually on state support.

In 1904, Itigelov was appointed Shireete Lama of the Yangazhinsky datsan. On March 24, 1911, he was nominated among ten candidates for the post of Pandito Khambo Lama - head of the Buddhists of Eastern Siberia. With a diploma dated April 11, 1911, the Irkutsk Governor confirmed him with the rank of Supreme Head of all Buddhist datsans. According to legend, at the time of enthronement of Khambo Lama D.-D. Itigelov, before sitting on the Khambin throne, took out the seventh one from the olbok pillows and, placing it on top of all the others, sat down on the throne. This was the head of Pandito Khambo Lama Eshizhamsuev Danzat-Gevan. Before his reign, there was a long-standing dispute among the Buddhists of Eastern Siberia about the primacy between the Khilgantuy and Tamchin datsans. Itigelov’s act was regarded as a sign that he had come to put an end to long-standing feuds.

Subsequently, Hambo Lama D.-D. Itigelov was searching for the burial place of the first Pandito Khambo Lama Damba-Dorzhi Zayaev and even, according to some sources, was recognized as his reincarnation by believers of the Khilgantuy (Tsongol) datsan. While serving as Hambo Lama, D.-D. Itigelov made great efforts for educational activities, especially in the publication of religious and secular literature for the laity. For his work, he was repeatedly awarded medals by the Russian government and the governor of Eastern Siberia.

In 1913, Pandito Khambo Lama participated, by special invitation, in the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov and in the consecration of a Buddhist temple in the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg. The initiator of the construction of this temple, the famous Buddhist figure Agvan Dorzhiev, was the closest associate and ally of Hambo Lama D-D. Itigelova. A solemn prayer service for the health and well-being of the House of Romanov was held in the St. Petersburg datsan. After D.-D. Itigelov and A. Dorzhiev took photographs for memory.

In the photo they are standing next to each other, along with them - the famous orientalist P.K. Kozlov and his wife, the later famous Buryat scientists Ts. Zhamtsarano, E.-D. Rinchino, the Mongolian prince Khanda-Dorzhi, the Kalmyk prince Tundupov. It is also known that Khambo Lama Itigelov took part in the work of the Second All-Buryat Congress, held in the Gusinoozersk datsan in July 1917. At Itigelov’s suggestion, the congress considered a new “Regulation on the Lamaist clergy of Eastern Siberia.”

Having left the post of Hambo Lama in 1917 due to illness, D.-D. Itigelov made a lot of efforts to preserve and prevent pogroms of datsans during the turning points in the history of our country. Hambo Lama died in 1927. As a true Buddhist practitioner, before his death, he gave the last instructions to his disciples and asked them to begin reciting “huga Namshi” for him, a special prayer - a good wish for the deceased. The disciples did not dare to say it in the presence of the living Teacher. Then Hambo Lama began to read this prayer himself, which was gradually picked up by his students. Reading the wish and being in a state of meditation on the Clear Light of the Mind, he left this life. Before this, he bequeathed to his students: “You will visit and look at my body in 30 years.”

In the lotus position, in which Hambo Lama was during meditation, the body was placed in a sarcophagus and buried in a bumkhan - a mausoleum in the Khukhe-Zurkhen area, where famous lamas were buried. One of them, who was sitting in the same cell with Agvan Dorzhiev during his arrest in 1938, recalled that back in 1921 Itigelov warned Dorzhiev, who at that moment returned from Mongolia: “You shouldn’t have returned here. It would be better if you stayed abroad. Soon the arrests of lamas will begin. If you fall into their hands, they will not leave you alive." Agvan Dorzhiev asked in response: “Why don’t you go abroad?” To which Itigelov replied: “They won’t have time to take me.”

On September 11, 2002, the opening of the sarcophagus with the ashes of Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov took place in the Ivolginsky datsan
(1852-1927).

The body was removed from the bumkhan - the lama's burial place in the Khukhe-Zurkhen area in the presence of the leadership and clergy of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia. Everyone was surprised that 75 years after the burial, the body of the Great Lama was preserved in excellent condition - in the same lotus position that Itigelov took when he passed away while meditating.

Even among very advanced Buddhist practitioners, achieving an incorruptible body is a rare case, according to representatives of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia. Only great Teachers, when passing away, can enter a state of meditation-samadhi and purify their body so that it is preserved after death.

This happens because the process of death - the extinction of the vital functions of the body - is under conscious control. But not every body can remain incorruptible, says the oldest Buryat Lama, Gelek-Balbar. One can only assume that Hambo Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov was a practitioner of the highest level who achieved direct comprehension of the Emptiness - the Great Reality of all phenomena.

“From early childhood, I heard from old people and relatives about Khambo Lama Itigelov,” says unzad lama, leader of prayer readings, Bimba Dorzhiev, who has served in the Ivolginsky datsan since 1988 (he is originally from Khuramshi, a village located not far from the former Yangazhinsky datsan , where Itigelov served, - Author). - I remember the story of how the parishioners of the Tsongol datsan turned to Khambo Lama Itigelov with a request to determine a new place for the construction of the datsan, since the previous one was flooded with water during floods.

Itigelov pointed out the place, saying that the bell and vajra of the first Khambo Lama Damba Dorzhi Zayaev were buried there. And there they really discovered these objects and subsequently built a new dugan of the Khilgantuy (Tsongol) datsan. Believers mistook Itigelov for a reincarnation of Khambo Lama Zayaev." They made sure of the safety of his body according to the will. In fact, in 1955, a group of lamas led by Khambo Lama Lubsan-Nima Darmaev opened the sarcophagus with the body, put it in order and returned it to the bumkhan.

Most likely, this was done secretly from the authorities, and, of course, in those years there could be no question of returning the body to the datsan. “I kept in my mind all the time the idea that the current generation of Buddhist clergy needs to again find the sarcophagus of Hambo Lama and check the condition of his body,” continues Lama Bimba Dorzhiev. “Even in a dream, I saw how we open the sarcophagus, and I became even more confirmed in the faith “that if you make the incorruptible body of Khambo Lama Itigelov an object of veneration for believers, this will become the greatest blessing.”

Dorzhiev found a man who knew about the burial place of the Teacher - grandfather Amgalan Dabaev, born in 1914. He saw Itigelov during his lifetime, and his father-in-law participated in the opening of the sarcophagus in 1955. Bimba Lama and a group of believers turned to Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev with a request to organize excavations. And on September 10, with a group of lamas and relatives of Khambo, Lama Ayusheev went to the burial site. With the help of grandfather Amgalan, the exact burial place was determined. “Our rational mind says that preserving a dead body in more or less good condition is impossible.

After all, 75 years have passed since the departure of Hambo Lama,” says Damba Ayusheev. - I asked everyone to move away from the sarcophagus at the most crucial moment. Medical expert E. Mandarkhanov approached him and, when some time later he confirmed that the body was safe, I experienced great relief and joy. But at the same time I felt a burden of responsibility for further
the fate of this precious body for us."

On the evening of September 10, with a large crowd of believers, the sarcophagus was greeted in the datsan with the honors of the highest Buddhist hierarch. Under the reading of prayers and the sounds of ritual instruments, he was placed in Divazhin-dugan, where there is a model of heaven - the pure land of Buddha Amitabha, as well as the mandala of the highest deities. Excitement, doubt, a sense of involvement in a historical event - these emotions were experienced by each of those present at the opening of the sarcophagus. Experts I.A. Vologdin and D.A. Gorin compares the lifetime photograph of Hambo Lama D.-D. Itigelova with an exhumed body, dressed in a yellow terlig, and they say with confidence: “This is him.”

From dawn to night in Divazhin-dugan, lamas and huvaraks read a special prayer every day - “Dambrel dodbo” - “Praise to interdependent origination” - the root text on the emptiness of all phenomena. The central spiritual administration of the Sangha of Russia decided to build a special sarcophagus from double-glazed windows, to create all conditions for the further preservation of the precious relic. One of the main initiators of the opening of the burial site of Hambo Lama D.-D. was appointed responsible for the “Collection of the Precious Body of the Teacher”. Itigelova unzad lama of the Ivolginsky datsan Bimba Dorzhiev.

Worshiping the body of a yogi can bring great benefit to all believers, says the respected Gelek-Balbar Lama. Since the time of the students of Tsonghawa, the founder of the Gelukpa school (XV century), there have been attempts to preserve the Teacher’s body, but not all of them were successful. But the Buddhists of Buryatia are incredibly lucky; they can witness the miracle with their own eyes. The Great Teacher was able to reveal his incorruptible body to the eyes of his followers after 75 years to remind us of our frailty, impermanence and death, and the great power of the Buddha’s Teachings.

MOSCOW, December 01, 2003 - Sensational results of research into the incorruptible body of a Buddhist lama were made public on Wednesday in Moscow.

“Samples taken 75 years after burial showed that the organics of the skin, hair and nails of this deceased person are no different from the organics of a living person,” said Galina Ershova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities.

We are talking about the body of a famous religious figure named Dasha-Dorzho Itigelov, who was the head of Russian Buddhists from 1911 to 1927. Before his death, he bequeathed to get his body out of the ground in about 30 years. Since then, exhumation has been carried out twice: in 1955 and 1973, and both times it turned out that the body of the Hambo Lama was not subject to decay. The same thing was discovered the third time, in 2002, after which doctors decided to study Itigelov’s body. “His joints bend, soft tissues are pressed through like a living person, and after opening the box in which the lama rested for 75 years, a fragrance began to emanate from there,” Ershova said.

According to her, “this completely contradicts the idea of ​​​​what should happen to a person after 75 years of burial.” Ershova also noted that not a single similar fact has yet occurred not only in the history of Buddhism, but also in the history of mankind in general. The body of the late lama has been an object of worship among Buddhists in Buryatia for two years now. It is located in the Ivolginsky Temple of Ulan-Ude - the main Buddhist temple in Russia.

A fragment of an interview with the current head of the Buddhist traditional sangha (community) of Russia, Damba Ayusheev, was also shown, who noted that this phenomenon “gave even more faith to believing Buddhists, removed doubts from doubters, and made atheists think.” Interfax reports this.

I'M BACK AS I PROMISED
("TVNZ")

His great-niece Yanzhima Vasilieva tells for the first time about the miracles around the Buryat saint.

Two and a half years have already passed since the body of the former head of Russian Buddhists, Khambo Lama Itigelov, who died 78 years ago, was dug up in a cemetery near Ulan-Ude (KP wrote about this on October 19, 2002, December 2 and 4, 2004) . Then, in September 2002, the medical experts present at the exhumation were shocked. Itigelov had all the signs of a living body: soft skin without any signs of decay, his nose, ears, closed eyes were preserved in place (the eyeballs were in place, they had not leaked out), his fingers and elbow joints were mobile. The body smelled fragrant. There is no unpleasant smell to this day. The Lama did not lie like a mummy, but sat in a cedar box in the lotus position.

Itigelov died in an unusual way,” says Yanzhima Dabaevna about his unique ancestor. - After he resigned as head of the Buddhists of Russia in 1917, he spent ten years improving his spirit. And on June 15, 1927, he gathered his students, sat in the lotus position and asked them to read the Buddhist prayer “Good wishes for the departing,” which is usually addressed to the deceased. The disciples were surprised: “Why should we read this prayer to you, the living one?” Then he read it himself and stopped breathing.

This amazed even the monks initiated into the secrets of meditation. “Before leaving, Itigelov said: Come to me in 30 years. Look at my body. And in 75 years I will return to you.” The monks dug up the lama in 1957. And, seeing that the body had not decomposed, they buried it again. If it had decomposed, then according to Buddhist laws the body would have been burned.

In September 2002, the lama actually returned. Now he sits under a glass cover in the Ivolginsky datsan (monastery). And it has not yet rotted - at normal room temperature.

Yanzhima Dabaevna is not only a relative of the great saint, but also the director of the Pandito Khambo Lama Itigelov Institute, created in 2002, whose goal is to preserve the legacy of the “resurrected god.” And as a leader, she considered it correct to scientifically record the phenomenon, but without opening the body. They collected hair that had fallen from the llama's head, peeled skin, and trimmed four milligrams of a toenail. These samples allowed the head of the personal identification department of the Russian Center for Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Viktor Zvyagin, and professor of the Russian State Humanitarian University, Galina Ershova, to examine them. The results obtained stunned the experts themselves: spectral analysis did not reveal anything in the organic tissues of the body that would distinguish them from the tissues of a living person!

“He’s just like you and me, only his eyes are closed,” Itigelova’s great-niece convinces me.

Professor Ershova, for example, touched his hands and felt their warmth. And the monk who accompanied Ershova, in her presence, took off the hat from Itigelov’s head, wiped the sweat from his forehead (!) and wiped it on Ershova’s hand with the words: “The Teacher is sweating...” The woman was shocked. There are even witnesses who claim that the lama opened his eyes.

It appears that the internal organs are intact, experts say. But the blood changed from liquid to jelly-like. But it is there, which a person who died 78 years ago should not have. And the very famous chiropractor Alexey Azheev, who has been observing the body since 2002, even felt the pulsation of the brain in his own special way. In his opinion, in the living, the cerebral hemispheres produce 3-4 “bursts” per minute, and in the motionless Itigelov - 1 per minute.

A unique phenomenon that has no analogues in the world, of course, haunts scientists, laments Yanzhima Dabaevna. “And after they had already established that his cells were alive, they decided to examine the body even deeper: x-ray and do tomography. When Itigelov left, he did not give any instructions in his will for the examination of his body. And we, Buddhists, obey the word of the Teacher. Therefore, on January 3, 2005, all experiments in the “Itigelov case” were officially closed.
- But why don’t you allow research to be carried out that might just confirm the miracle?

Itigelov is not an exhibit for experiments. And we don’t need to prove anything: we know that he is alive.

The monument to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the founder of the Soviet state, was unveiled on November 5, 1971 on Soviet Square. The authors of the project are sculptors G.V. Neroda and Yu.G. Neroda. The architectural part was developed and carried out on site by architects A.N. Dushkin and P.G. Zilberman. The project was exhibited in Paris and Montreal. At an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the implementation of the image of V.I. Lenin in painting, graphic and sculptural works, the authors were awarded the State Prize. The monument is located in the eastern part of Soviet Square in front of the Government House of the Republic of Buryatia. The sculptural image of V.I. Lenin’s head, cast in bronze, is installed on a polished granite pedestal. The sculpture rests on the pedestal in the front part, as if at one point, since it is limited from below by an oblique cut. The height of the sculpture is 7.7 meters, weight - 42 tons, height of the pedestal - 6.3 m. The sculpture was cast at the Mytishchi stone-cutting plant.

Odigitrievsky Cathedral is an Orthodox church, the cathedral of the Ulan-Ude and Buryat diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, the first stone building in the city of Ulan-Ude. Monument of Siberian Baroque architecture. The uniqueness of the cathedral also lies in the fact that it was built in an area of ​​high seismic activity. Located in the city center, on the banks of the Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga.

In a conversation with an NI correspondent, the director of the Mesoamerican Center named after. Yu.V. Knorozova Russian State University for the Humanities, professor Galina Ershova spoke in detail about the phenomenon of the body of the Buryat lama, about what the researchers saw during the exhumation. And not only about this...

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Note from the editors of the “Missionary-Apologetic Project “Towards the Truth”

This article is of interest that the incorruptibility of Lama Itigelov’s body is a consequence of deliberate (!) human efforts to preserve this body, but not as an act of God.

Firstly, the lama took certain drugs before his death. Thus, an analysis of Itigelov’s skin, carried out in 2004, showed that the concentration of bromine in the llama’s body exceeds the norm by 40 times.

Secondly, during exhumation it was discovered that Itigelov’s sarcophagus was filled with salt, which “in some places harmed his skin - dried it out” (according to Dr. Zvyagin, there was no salt in the sarcophagus until 1973). After the llama's body was on the surface, it began to gradually dry out (hence the sweating of moisture on the glass in his glass sarcophagus) and mummify, while, according to scientists, it decreased in weight by 15 kg. As a result, all his “liveness”, the mobility of his joints, which journalists and his admirers so admired, disappeared.

Opening of the sarcophagus of Lama Itigelov. His disciples did not really hope for a miracle, so they sprinkled salt on the body...

By the way, there is a tradition of artificial self-embalming in Buddhism, for example, in Japan, the monks of Sokushinbutsu, after a certain diet and work, ate embalming and poisonous plants, after which they died, and the accumulated plant poisons and resins preserved them.

See also on the topic:

• About the incorruptible bodies of Islamic martyrs(answer to question) - Maxim Stepanenko

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Why do people worship incorruptible relics and believe in their miraculous powers, even if they have never seen them and have no idea where they came from?

This phenomenon, by the way, is well understood for Russian culture, where the worship of “incorruptible relics” as a guarantee of the expected revival acquired special significance back in the period of Kievan Rus. The emergence of the cult of incorruptible relics was formed, perhaps, due to the special climatic conditions of the catacomb caves in combination with the specific diet of the inhabitants of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

As Archpriest Alexander Men commented, the word “relics” means “the body of the deceased.” The relics of saints may be in varying states of preservation. The remains of the ascetics of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra are incorruptible (naturally mummified), and in the tomb of Seraphim of Sarov in 1903, only bone remains were discovered. However, the popular belief in “absolute incorruptibility” subsequently led many to disappointment in faith - when it turned out that most of the relics were just bone remains. However, to justify this popular belief, I would like to note that the facts of perfect incorruptibility - like the case that happened in Buryatia in our time - are so rare, short-lived and incredible for ordinary consciousness that a paradoxical situation arises: people keep the memory of a real event as an almost myth the preservation of the body, which indeed, over time, naturally turns into a complete mummy. But anyone who has not observed this unique state himself is simply unable to believe in it.

Khambo Lama Itigelov (1853-1917). Lifetime photography

- Is it true that the body of a Buddhist lama was exhumed at his own request?

Yes. All this came true only because Itigelov himself ordered that his body be retrieved 75 years later before his “departure.” And on September 10, 2002, an exhumation took place on the territory of a cemetery near Ulan-Ude - on the initiative of the head of the Buddhist Church of Russia, Hambo Lama Ayushev, as well as with the permission of relatives, in the presence of official authorities and forensic experts.

In a box raised from the ground, there was an elderly man, covered with silk fabrics, sitting in the lotus position. At the same time, his body turned out to be completely intact - with soft muscles and elastic skin, bending joints. Information about the Buryat lama, who was removed from his burial, hit the media. The public took this news differently: some people simply did not believe it, deciding that it was a “journalistic joke” or a “Buryat falsification”; others thought that it was an ordinary mummy. Many publications were therefore written in a sarcastic style.

- What indicates the reality of the Buryat “miracle” phenomenon?

The fact alone is that the body after exhumation turned out to be completely intact, and there were no signs of mummification or embalming. Hair and nails are preserved. When pressing on the skin and muscle tissue, the depressions restore their normal state. There are no cadaveric spots, the skin is without signs of decomposition and the presence of fungi. No aromatic, resinous or putrid odors were detected from the contents of the box or from the body. After extraction, the body maintained its position without special devices.

The skin on the lower leg and hand was slightly damaged when undressing. In the opened wound in a photograph published in Geo magazine, red, uncoagulated blood is clearly visible. And witnesses stated that the blood had a jelly-like appearance.

The unusual condition of the body was such that the forensic medical examiner, 3.M., who was at the exhumation. Mandarkhanov refused to examine the body himself and demanded the creation of a special commission.

- Well, isn’t this a miracle?

I was lucky enough to participate in the study of biological samples. We were allowed to take samples of the exfoliated epidermis from the feet, two sections of the nail edge and hair. So, the results showed that Itigelov purposefully, but not constantly, used bromine (bromine-containing plants), which led to an excess content of this element in the skin. In large doses, bromides inhibit excitation processes in the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, but have almost no effect on the centers of the medulla oblongata, which controls oxygen respiration, blood circulation, and partly the somatic nervous system.

We assumed that Itigelov achieved his state by turning off the vital energy exchange functions of the body and entering into deep meditation. In this way, he was able to simulate a suspended animation-like state - a temporary cessation of vital activity. In itself, this phenomenon in wildlife is not new.

Since the 19th century, it was discovered that after a state of “waiting”, microscopic rotifer worms, fish and newts, frogs, and warm-blooded animals such as hamsters and mice can return to life. Even hypothermic monkeys were revived when they were no longer breathing and their hearts were no longer beating. There are many known cases in different countries when even frozen people returned from such a state. Russian folk medicine books contained entire sections devoted to the revival of those frozen alive. Long-term refrigerated storage of viable sperm and other living components is no longer a “miracle”.

- What happened to the body after it was removed from the grave? Hasn't it changed?

The fact of the matter is that the changes were visible after two years. Itigelov was placed in the sacred part (on top of the altar) of the main temple of the Ivolginsky monastery. After some time, certain changes began to be observed. Firstly, moisture was initially released from the mouth. A few months later, there was a fairly noticeable release of moisture that settled on the walls of the glass cube in which the body was initially kept. A little later, salt began to actively secrete on the skin - on the face and the rest of the body. The skin color began to gradually darken.

Repeated examination (organized by me as part of the project) in the presence of a doctor of medical sciences. V.N. Zvyagina, head Department of Personal Identification of Forensic Medical Examination (Moscow) and Ph.D. K.M. Yugov, who examined the body during exhumation (Ulan-Ude), was carried out in November 2004. In general, the tissues became more elastic, characteristic depressions no longer formed when pressed, although the muscle tissue still retained elasticity. There was no longer any mobility in the joints. There were salt deposits all over the body, causing the skin to burst in some areas. Upon contact there was a rather pleasant smell. The line of the mouth, like the eyes, is no longer different. According to the subjective assessment of D.A. Gorin, body weight decreased by approximately 15 kg compared to the moment of exhumation. An official “Protocol of examination of the body of Khambo Lama Dasha-Dorzhi Itigelov” was drawn up, where it was noted that in the two years that had passed since the initial forensic medical examination of the body of Khambo Lama Itigelov (09/11/2002), the first minor signs of mummification appeared, expressed in parchment density skin, loss of elasticity, lack of movement in joints (this was noted in the Protocol).

If you still don’t believe in miracles, it’s time for you to visit Buryatia: there, in the Ivolginsky datsan, 40 minutes drive from Ulan-Ude, a man who died back in 1927 sits under a glass bell. He sits in the lotus position with a straight back, not supported by anyone or anything. Scientists have no idea why the body not only does not decompose, but for some reason exudes a fragrance. And most importantly, why anyone, even the last skeptic, feels awe when standing nearby and at the same time feels a huge surge of spiritual strength. Buddhists know that Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov, their beloved Hambo Lama, as he once promised, returned to the world of the living and again began to work miracles.

One of the main shrines of the Ivolginsky datsan is the bodhi tree, or banyan tree, which is revered by all Buddhists - according to legend, it was under it that Buddha achieved full enlightenment. The monastery even built a special greenhouse for this tree. Anyone can find healing here, spiritual or physical - the monks treat parishioners with Tibetan medicine and conduct ceremonial rituals.

There are rumors that the datsan can also give healing - they say that the incorrupt body of Khambo Lama Itigelov has such a miraculous gift, which can be worshiped in the Ivolginsky datsan. It is kept in the Pure Land Temple, which attracts Buddhists from all over the world. As the legend says, Lama Dasha Dorzho Itigelov, already a very old man, sat in the lotus position and left his body at the beginning of the last century, commanding his disciples to bury him, but take him out of the grave when he was 70 years old. The disciples followed his instructions and today, more than eighty years after his “death,” Lama Itigelov still sits in the lotus position in the main dugan (temple) of the Ivolginsky datsan.

The incorrupt body of the former Head of Buddhists in Russia, Lama Dash Dorzho Itigelov, who died 90 years ago, is one of the cases of energy-informational transformation of the highest level of practice of self-development of the Spirit. Expert research demonstrates amazing results: Itigelova has all the signs of a living person - soft skin, movable joints, and weak brain activity. Every six months Lama even gains or loses up to half a kilogram of weight.

On strictly certain days, long queues of people line up to see the lama, “sitting” under a glass bell, wanting to touch the shrine; according to rumors, healing and fulfillment of desires are not uncommon here.

Who is Lama Itigelov? In 1911-1917 this man was the head of all Buddhists in Buryatia. But people of various faiths came to see him, including Nicholas II himself and his family: the fame of Dasha-Dorzho Itigelov’s healing abilities reached St. Petersburg. But Hambo Lama did not tell the sovereign what a terrible end was in store for himself and his entire family. For what? You can’t escape fate... He knew in advance what times were coming, what to prepare for. He exhorted other lamas to leave Russia - to save themselves. At the same time, he himself was in no hurry to leave, remaining in absolute calm: “They won’t have time to take me.” In general, he knew and was able to do a lot, this unusual lama. He wrote a great many works on Buddhism. He thoroughly studied Tibetan medicine and left a huge treatise on pharmacology. All of Buryatia was hunting for his blessing. This is understandable - how could it be otherwise when all the soldiers who received Itigelov’s blessing before leaving for the Russo-Japanese War returned home safe and sound? He could also walk on water, move in space and predict future events. But most importantly, he managed to subjugate time!

In 1917, he resigned as head of the Buddhists of Russia and spent 10 years improving his spirit. On June 15, 1927, he called all his students and told them: “Come to me in 30 years - look at my body. And in 75 years I will return to you.” The students stood around the teacher, confused. They were even more surprised when he sat in the lotus position and asked them to read the Buddhist prayer “Good wishes for the departing.” They refused - after all, this prayer is read only to the dead. Then Itigelov himself said it and at that very second stopped breathing. The lama's body was placed in a cedar coffin and interred. And they dug it up 30 years later - in secret from the authorities. The monks made sure that the body remained incorrupt, performed the necessary rituals, changed clothes and buried it again. The second time the monks were convinced of the safety of the body in 1973, but they extracted Itigelov from the ground only on September 10, 2002 - exactly 75 years after his death - in accordance with the will of the teacher. This is where the most interesting things began - for people far from Buddhism, of course. The forensic expert who was present at the exhumation examined the body and asked to convene a commission: he had never seen anything like this before! After all, the lama was not only recognizable in appearance - he retained all the signs of a living creature: he remained warm and still had soft, elastic skin. A man who had been in a coffin for 75 years still had ears, eyes, fingers, teeth, eyelashes and eyebrows in place! All his joints, without exception, bent! Itigelov was transferred to the Ivolginsky datsan, specially built for him, dressed in new clothes and placed under a glass cover, which, if it protects from anything, is only from dust. The Buddhists did not undertake any other tricks to preserve the Lama. But since then, the body has undergone virtually no changes - except that the skin has become a little rougher. The Lama is not an exhibit, Buddhists treat him as if he were alive, and therefore only Itigelov’s fallen hair, skin flakes and a tiny fragment of a nail were “torn to pieces” by scientists. For researchers from the Russian Center for Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, this was enough to admit the incredible: “The condition of the tissues is such that it fully corresponds to the intravital characteristics. We are not aware of cases of such preservation, this is a kind of scientific mystery... In many respects, the body of Khamba Lama gives the impression of the body of a living person..."

Needless to say, the Ivolginsky datsan has become the longed-for dream of every pilgrim. True, you can get to the lama only a few times a year - on major holidays. In 2013 it will be held on July 12, September 9, October 26 and November 28. Don't try to get to the datsan before the opening - there will be a crowd of people. It is best to come here at four o'clock in the evening, when the flow of pilgrims has somewhat dissipated. And yet, be prepared for a long wait - many people crave the lama’s blessing, including the powers that be. Vladimir Putin himself visited Itigelov twice - is that why he became President of Russia twice? Whatever the road that leads you to the lama, remember a few simple rules for visiting the datsan. Stock up on a hadak in advance - a dedicatory scarf: you will touch the Teacher’s scarf with it and receive a certain blessing. In principle, you don’t have to do this, just as you don’t have to try to reach the Hambo Lama’s hands at all costs: he will already notice the one asking and reward him according to his faith and merits.

The monastery itself is located in the middle of the steppe. It is surrounded by a mountain range on four sides from human eyes. Despite the fact that the republican center is located very close, and the highway to Ulan-Ude is not far away, city residents avoid this place, as there is an opinion that shamans live here. This is not surprising, because already at the entrance to the datsan, multi-colored scarves hang on the bushes, which are believed to keep the souls of deceased monks. In the courtyard of the monastery, which is surrounded by an ordinary wooden fence, there are several pagodas, which gives the impression that this is not Russia, but at best China. In one of these temples the body of the incorruptible Lama rests. “The very fact of the appearance of Dasha-Dorzho on earth is a mystery,” says the head of the project to study the Itigelov phenomenon, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities, Galina Ershova. “As a nine-year-old boy, the future monk came to be hired as a work for one of the local farmers, holding a staff in one hand and a skull in the other. Buddhists consider this a sacred symbol. Until the age of 15, Itigelov tended sheep, and when he grew up, he reached the Aninsky datsan in Buryatia, where he studied Buddhism for 20 years.”

Having become an enlightened monk, Dasho-Dorji studied medicine and philosophy, gaining fame as a healer known throughout Russia. Legends say that the monk, like Christ, could calmly walk on water. In 1911, Itigelov was elected Pandito Khamba Lama of the Buddhist clergy of Russia. During his lifetime, the schema-monk enjoyed great respect, and was a close acquaintance of Emperor Nicholas II. The autocrat even allowed the lama to open a Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg.

After the October Revolution, Itigelov, foreseeing repression, resigned as spiritual leader and retired to his native datsan. Not long before his departure, foreseeing the destruction of the clergy, the lama called on his supporters to leave the country of the Soviets. And when asked why he didn’t leave himself, he answered, “They won’t have time to take me.”

In the summer of 1927, the monk gathered his followers, announced that he was leaving, and began preparing for death. Before this, Itegelov ordered his students to bury him in a cedar box in 6 days. “I’ll come back to you in 30 years, then you dig me up,” the schema-monk said in parting. Then the lama began to meditate. On the seventh day, Hambo Lama's head dropped to his chest. This was a signal to the students that the consciousness of the great teacher had moved to Nirvana.

The monks opened the grave as the teacher ordered in 1955. Itigelov's body remained unchanged. After changing the schema-monk’s clothes, they buried him back. Khamba Lama was recovered again in 1973. After making sure that the body was safe and carrying out the necessary rituals, they buried it again. The monk was finally raised in 2002. Representatives of the authorities and forensic medical experts were present during the exhumation. The relics of the Buddhist saint have not been touched by time.

“We carefully examined the llama’s body, drew up a protocol, as required, and signed it,” says the head of the personal identification department of the Russian Center for Forensic Medicine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Viktor Zvyagin. “The body is in such a condition as if he had died quite recently. The mobility of the joints, the turgor of the skin - everything corresponds to the parameters of a person who died, maybe a day or two ago. Any falsification is excluded. not only because believers would consider it sacrilege, but also because we had the opportunity to compare our observations with materials from two years ago, when the exhumation took place. There are no artificial methods known to science to maintain this state of the body, such as mummification, embalming, etc. were not used in this case. There are no traces of an autopsy, removal of the brain and internal organs, we did not find any injections, cuts or similar influences.

From the Certificate of external inspection of the exhumed body of Dasho-Dorzhi Itigelov, carried out on the premises of the Ivolginsky datsan:
“The skin of the body is light gray in color, dry, pliable when pressed with fingers. The soft tissues of the corpse are elastic, mobility in the joints is preserved. “No traces indicating a previous opening of the body cavities for the purpose of possible embalming or preservation were found.”

After conducting a study of skin particles, scientists came to sensational conclusions. The llama's cells not only did not die, but continued to divide. In other words, most likely all life processes in the monk’s body continue, only they are slowed down millions of times.

“In world practice, this is the only officially recorded case of such preservation of a body,” says Zvyagin. “Of course, there are known cases of mummification and embalming of bodies. For example, in St. Petersburg it was fashionable at the end of the 19th century. Nikolai Pirogov himself prepared a solution for storing his body, which has been preserved near Vinnitsa for more than 120 years. But for this, internal organs were removed and special chemicals were used. It is not uncommon to find bodies in permafrost, but they quickly disintegrate upon contact with the outside environment.”

20.01.2011 - 13:16

When the body of the Great Lama was removed from the burial place, everyone was surprised that 75 years after the burial it was preserved in excellent condition - in the very lotus position that Itigelov took when he passed away while meditating.

A unique operation to freeze people. A cryoprotector solution is injected into the human body so that the fluid in the body does not turn into crystals that destroy cells. The body is then placed in liquid nitrogen and cooled to minus 196 degrees. An already frozen person is transferred to a special chamber in which it will be stored for decades until scientists learn how to defrost and revive such people. This is exactly what the whole procedure is done for. Such a person will be able to wake up and live in a different era, meet his descendants. This pleasure costs 30 thousand dollars. But today there is a person who was able to do the same thing only without the help of freezing and a refrigerator.

Khambo Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov at the beginning of the twentieth century was the head of the Buddhists of Russia and was famous among believers for his unearthly origin. According to eyewitnesses, Itigelov knew how to move in space; as soon as the door was closed behind him, he immediately found himself a kilometer away from it. According to legend, he once even rode a horse across the surface of White Lake. In 1927, the Great Lama died and bequeathed to raise his body from the grave after 75 years. In June 2002, the Lama's will was fulfilled. The forensic experts present at the exhumation were shocked: soft skin without signs of rotting, movable fingers and elbow joints, the nose, ears and eyes were preserved. For the study, experts took hair, skin particles and nail plates of the llama. Over the course of several months, all sorts of tests were carried out in the laboratory. The results shocked everyone: Lama Itigelov is alive.

Yanzhima Vasilyeva, granddaughter of Lama Itigelov:
A study was carried out and it turned out that the organic component of the body of Hambo Lama Itigelov has not undergone any changes and has all the lifetime characteristics.

Lama Itigelov is breathing, his heart is beating, but he is not showing any external signs of life. In the 8 years that have passed since his exhumation, he has not eaten or drunk anything, but he can live, not just live, but also participate in Buddhist services. At such events, Itigelov even sweats.

Yanzhima Vasilyeva:
The moment he takes part in the service, he sweats profusely. Several times we simply wipe away these large drops that flow, the clothes become wet. But the most surprising thing is how does it gain moisture back?

According to scientists, the llama’s state is ordinary suspended animation, something like deep sleep. But the surprising thing is that before him this state was not inherent in humans. Previously, scientists observed this condition only in microorganisms; they fall into suspended animation during environmental disasters: severe frost or heat, high pressure or radiation. As soon as living conditions change, they come to life again. But if microbes fall into suspended animation due to weather conditions, then in the case of a llama the opposite is true: it is not his body that controls him, but he controls his body. He accepted this state of his own free will. Before his death, he gathered his disciples and ordered them to read a prayer of good wishes for the deceased. He fell into a deep trance and passed away, he programmed himself to wake up someday.

The fact that the power of self-hypnosis works was proven back in the last century. A concept has appeared in medicine - the placebo effect. It was discovered by Henry Beecher, who worked as an anesthesiologist during World War II. One day, after another heavy battle, many wounded were received, and Henry ran out of morphine for pain relief; in order to calm the patients on the operating table, he injected a regular saline solution as an anesthetic - and it worked. The wounded really did not feel pain and underwent complex operations without morphine. Scientists have not yet discovered the placebo effect. If this can be done, then a person will be able to command his body to do anything he wants.

Vyacheslav Zvonikov, Doctor of Medical Sciences:
Special studies have been conducted that show that ordinary ordinary people have pronounced extraordinary abilities, because they allow them to more easily adapt, endure stress, and extreme conditions.

This possibility of the human body interested the military. Research into the processes of self-hypnosis is being conducted in laboratories; such a discovery will make it possible to create an invincible army. Soldiers will be able to order their body not to feel hunger and thirst, so as not to take supplies of food and water on long marches. They will be able to tell themselves not to get tired and to march hundreds of kilometers without rest or sleep. They will even be able to use their thoughts to warm their body in 40-degree frosts.

People in the material:

"Provides a better quality of life." For the first time in Belarus, an innovative pacemaker was implanted

News of Belarus. On October 18, the first operation to install a pacemaker of the latest generation was performed at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Cardiology,” as reported in the “24 Hours” News program on STV. The technology appeared only in 2019, so such operations are rare in the world, and in the CIS countries they are not practiced at all.

Correspondent Camilla Shah found out what the advantage is for patients.

A 32-year-old young man became the first patient to whom surgeons installed the latest pacemaker. His heart disease is acquired - it developed within a month due to inflammatory processes. It was accompanied by a rare pulse, only about 40 beats per minute. As a result, dizziness, lightheadedness and risk of death. But tomorrow the guy will get back on his feet, and in a few days he will return to his family. Healthy.

Oleg Kovalenko, X-ray endovascular surgeon, Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Cardiology”:
The new technique makes it possible to achieve a physiological contraction of the heart the way it should contract. We achieve this by implanting a pacemaker that synchronizes the functioning of the atria and ventricles.

The newest technology has many differences from the previous one. Firstly, it does not require abdominal intervention. The operation is performed using a minimally invasive method. But the main thing is that the electrode is now installed in the patient’s heart so that both valves operate synchronously. This relieves the patient from shortness of breath and heart failure, which in turn significantly prolongs life.

Dmitry Goncharik, X-ray endovascular surgeon, Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Cardiology”:
Conventional pacemakers that were inserted before, from any company, are attached to a special electrode. The same stimulant behaves completely differently. It provides the patient with a better long-term outcome and a better quality of life for many years to come.

It’s not for nothing that the technology is called the most modern. It appeared this year and only a few clinics in the world have begun to use it. Belarus is the first in the post-Soviet space.

Alexander Mrochek, chief cardiologist of the Ministry of Health of Belarus, director of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Cardiology”:
Literally a new technology that was invented in the United States of America, and now our country has been chosen as the conductor of this technique. All this allows us to primarily help our residents who need this kind of surgery.

Surgeries to install pacemakers are among the most popular. About 4,000 of them are performed annually in Belarus. Specialists from all regional centers monitored the implantation today. They will undergo training at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Cardiology” so that every Belarusian has a chance for a healthy heart.

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On October 9, a video surveillance camera in the Ivolginsky datsan recorded movement in the Residence of Khambo Lama Itigelov. In the footage at 20:05, a man is sitting on the floor on the carpet in the lotus position. The same shot from the same angle, but a day later - there is no one on the floor anymore. Who or what is in the footage? They tried to answer this question for three days. They discussed it not only in Buryatia, but throughout Russia. The Buddhists themselves remained silent until the very end. It was only broken the night before.
Damba Ayusheev, Khambo Lama of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia: We still need to understand for ourselves whether this is an image of the protector angels of our Khambo Lama, who came in this guise, but the lamas and I think that after all it was Khambo Itigelov himself.
Khambo Lama Itigelov is a legendary man and now a shrine. Born in the middle of the 19th century. At the age of 15, he walked on foot to the Aninsky datsan, where he studied the teachings of Buddha for 23 years. Afterwards he became the supreme head of all datsans of Buryatia. Legends were made about him. They said he could levitate, walk through walls and even on water.
- When there was an uprising, a rebellion in the monastery on Goose Lake, he was able to walk across Goose Lake and calmed down this uprising.
Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov also passed away mysteriously. He gathered his disciples, sat in the lotus position and, praying well to the deceased, went into nirvana. He first asked to visit the body after 75 years. In 2002, Hambo Lama Damba Ayusheev, together with a group of lamas, raised the sarcophagus. The body remained incorrupt. Scientists have concluded: XII Pandito Khambo Lama Itigelov is a phenomenon.
- It seems to bring relief to people who are sick. If someone is mistaken, he points them on the right path.
Footage of the residence where the incorrupt body is kept. It was the same carpet on which, according to the lamas, Itigelov sat on October 9th. Usually his place is on the altar. It's hard to imagine that he could have moved as much as eight meters. The clothing is also surprising: in the footage from the video camera, the man is wearing something strongly reminiscent of camouflage.
Belikto Dugarov, lawyer of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia: The fact that some passing person with two string bags in camouflage uniform walked there, as they write on social networks, is impossible. The palace was locked.
The temple closes exactly at six in the evening and sets the alarm system. There are three CCTV cameras inside, they were installed in 2010. Registration is carried out around the clock. The presence of outsiders is excluded. So who could it be?
- In principle, it’s true that he gets up, walks or something.
- Well, anything can happen if such a phenomenon...
Lawyers and programmers of the traditional Sangha of Russia intend to continue studying data from video cameras. The lamas themselves intend to watch Itigelov. They suggest that its appearance may be repeated on the auspicious days of duisen, which fall on the 2nd, 8th, 29th and 30th of each month according to the lunar calendar.