Etegilov

Thanks to a connection that my Russian teacher has at Ivolginsk, the big Buddhist temple outside of Ulan-Ude, I received a rare privilege - a personal audience with Etegilov, the 14th Pandito Khambo Lama, or governmentally-endorsed head of Buddhism in Russia. He didn't have much to say.

Etegilov has quite a history behind him. He was the Pandito Khambo Lama in post-revolutionary Russia, and unlike most religious leaders at that time, actually had some staying power, in that he didn't get arrested, thrown out of office, or killed. He stayed in his position until about 1927, which was a pretty good year to leave, since it was shortly before the beginning of the purges that took out most of the country's remaining religious figures, including the vast majority of Russia's Buddhist lamas.

Etegilov went much more peacefully than his counterparts. According to the story about him that everyone in Ulan-Ude can recite, he told several of his subordinate lamas that he would slip into a deep state of meditation, and that once he had stopped responding to the world, they were to pack him up in a crate, bury him in a secret location, and disinter the crate every few decades to check on him. He then proceeded to do exactly what he said he would do. He entered a state of such profound meditation that his mind reached enlightenment, yet his body continued to live despite not responding to any external stimulus.

The secret of Etegilov's location was preserved throughout the Soviet period. The lamas who had been entrusted with the knowledge and managed to make it through the purges checked on him at some point in the 1960s, and found that he was still meditating. He was reburied and practically forgotten until 2002, when the currently-presiding Khambo Lama found the last remaining person to know his location and had the crate dug up again. Instead of discretely checking on him and placing him back in the earth, the Khambo Lama widely proclaimed Etegilov's achievement of perfect meditation. The intact state of his body, rigidly holding its lotus position, was upheld as a sign that he was still alive despite his being nearly 150 years old (he had been 70 or 80 when he entered his state of meditation). Etegilov was placed on display at the temple on holidays, with monks caring for his body and changing his garments daily.

A whole array of proof of Etegilov's continued life has been added to his story. According to several people from Ulan-Ude who I've asked about this as well as the monk who showed us around the temple, the chief coroner from Moscow came out and performed a variety of medical tests on Etegilov that demonstrated that his fingernails and hair were still growing. The word of the chief coroner is evidently deemed insufficient proof for the doubting, so a statement about his evidence is inevitably followed up by a statement that "Western scientists have done tests too, and they also think that he is alive." It's never really specified who these Western scientists were (I've heard that they were British, German, and French) or exactly how they proved that Etegilov is still alive, but he now has the stamp of approval of "Western science."

Etegilov continues to be shown on holidays, and a beautiful new temple in honor of him and intended to showcase and shelter his body has been built in the temple complex. Enthusiasm about him has waned a little - although nearly everyone that I've talked to, except for Boris, the head of the international center at the university, believes deeply in Etegilov, he no longer attracts the crowds that he once did. Kate has been to the datsan several times on public holidays when he was on display; the first time, in 2004 or 2005, entire busloads of people came from cities hundreds of miles away over the miserable Siberian roads to see Etegilov, and the crowds were far more than the monks had planned for, leading to a near stampede. Things have calmed down a little since then. Kate's husband, a Tibetologist specializing in Buddhist philosophy at Indiana University (and a "Western scientist" whose stamp of authority I will believe) says that he only knows one other situation like this when an actual body was the subject of display and worship in Buddhism, and that happened about 700 years ago in Tibet itself.

Etegilov was looking very orange and very mummified when I saw him. He reminded me unfortunately of Russia's other famous corpse-on-display, Lenin, in this respect. I'm also unconvinced by all of the medical evidence that is trooped out in favor of his miracle. Having heard from Russian doctors that being within the range of sound of a ringing silver church bell is enough to prevent HIV infection, and having seen numerous confirmations on Russian TV by "Western scientists" of all sorts of paranormal phenomena from UFOs to ghosts, I just don't find it persuasive. What I do find amazing is the level of belief in Etegilov exhibited by everyone from self-identified Orthodox to non-practicing Buddhists to monks. Everyone except for Boris, who swears that Etegilov's crate was packed with salt. The idea of meditating yourself out of the world and all of its sufferings, especially the disaster for religion in Russia that was Stalinism, is a very powerful one here. You just have to be the Pandito Khambo Lama to pull it off.