Thai police found 41 bodies “used for meditation” in a Buddhist monastery.

The bodies of forty-one people were found in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand where they were allegedly used in meditation practices.

Police are now trying to identify the bodies discovered on Saturday and whether they were legally obtained by the Pa Nakhon Chaibovorn monastery in northern Phichit province.

Major General Tadej Klomkliang, Phichit provincial police chief, told the Bangkok Post that he was investigating the deceased’s death.

The monastery argued that the bodies, which police said were accompanied by death and donation certificates, were voluntarily donated by devoted followers.

Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, the head of the monastery, stated that there was abuse of corpses part of the “meditation technique”.– he elaborated.

“A lot of the people who come to learn are abbots, and all these monks… impart this knowledge,” he told Thai broadcaster PBS. “I don’t know how many have adopted my technique.”

The police raid came days after 12 mummified bodies were discovered on Wednesday at another remote monastery in neighboring Kamphaeng Phet province.

Officers found bodies, including that of a child, used during meditation practices at the Siri Chan Forest Monastery. According to local media reports, worshipers believed that the corpse could provide supernatural powers.

Ancient ritual

Corpse meditation is an ancient Buddhist ritual, largely limited to Thailand, where practitioners meditate next to corpses in various stages of decomposition to increase awareness that death can strike at any time.

The body is often a child or young adult who died unexpectedly and whose body was donated to the temple by the family.

Thailand’s population is predominantly Buddhist, but many follow beliefs outside religion that include the worship of ghosts and spirits.

Police in Phichit said they were working with authorities in other provinces to investigate the prevalence of the practice of meditation with dead bodies.

The Thai National Bureau of Buddhism also investigated whether the monastery practiced meditation with corpses contrary to Buddhist principles.

In May 2022, Thai police arrested Thawee Nanra, a 75-year-old suspected cult leader whose followers worshiped corpses and consumed bodily fluids in an attempt to cure diseases.

Police found 11 bodies in a secret forest camp, allegedly those of former supporters of Mr. Thawee, who was later accused of illegally transporting bodies.

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