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Boris Dochkaev, Tachal


Type

Video

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Authors

Terbish, Baasanjav 

Abstract

Tachal refers to a state when the deceased misses his/her living relatives and develops attachment. In order to prevent tachal, people consult with lamas as to how to bury the deceased correctly – i.e. when to take the corpse out of the house, how to treat it, how to bury it etc. During funerals people have all sorts of worries. It happens that following a funeral someone among the relatives sees the deceased in their dreams. That person may think: ‘I saw the deceased in my dreams. He asks for meat. It is tachal’. So, the relatives run and buy meat. After cooking it, they bring the meat to a temple to ask the lama to help them get rid of tachal. In this case, what happened is not tachal. According to Buddhism, in 49 days of one’s death, his/her consciousness gets reborn. That is why lamas read some prayers to calm that person. After that the person goes home and feels alright. If the deceased is reborn as a hungry ghost (preta) or a similar being, then it causes trouble to the living by demanding food or drink. Whether the case is tachal or not it should be determined by a lama or an astrologist. They look at special texts or make a divination with a rosary. In most cases, people deceive themselves by thinking that they have tachal around. I heard about this from Shal’van Gegyan when he called at our prayer house during his visit to Kalmykia.

Description

Keywords

Death, soul

Is Part Of

Publisher

Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge

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Sponsorship
Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

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