Note 22 — INTRODUCTION

For an objective account of immuring as the climax of religious practice see vol. II, chap. 1, Sven Hedin’s Trans-Himalaya, 1909. The following is his account of an immured monk who was brought out from his cell after a long time. “He was all bent up together and as small as a child and his body was nothing but a light-gray parchment-like skin and bones. His eyes had lost their color, were quite bright and blind. His hair hung round his head in uncombed matted locks and was pure white. His body was covered only by a rag for time had eaten away his clothing and he had received no new garments. He had a thin unkempt beard, and had never washed himself all the time or cut his nails.”