--- title: Mummified Monk Discovered in Mongolia 'Not Dead,' Buddhists Say description: He's in a deeply meditative state. canonical: https://time.com/3698318/buddhist-mummified-monk/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-06T00:48:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:16:35.685Z og:title: Buddhists Say a Mummified Monk Discovered in Mongolia Is Just Meditating og:description: They think he might be the next Buddha. og:url: https://time.com/3698318/buddhist-mummified-monk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Buddhists Say a Mummified Monk Discovered in Mongolia Is Just Meditating twitter:description: They think he might be the next Buddha. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Buddhists Say a Mummified Monk Discovered in Mongolia Is Just Meditating by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 6, 2015 12:48 AM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 6, 2015 12:48 AM CUT Buddhists are not convinced a recently discovered mummified monk is actually dead. In fact, they say he’s in a deep meditative state known as _tukdam_ and could potentially be the next Buddha. The monk’s remains were discovered in Mongolia in late January. “’If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha,” Dr. Barry Kerzin, a famous monk and physician to the Dalai Lama, [told](http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0105-mummified-monk-is-not-dead-and-in-rare-meditative-state-says-expert/ "undefined") the _Siberian Times_. “Reaching such a high spiritual level the meditator will also help others, and all the people around will feel a deep sense of joy.” Remains of the monk, who was found seated in the lotus position, are expected to be about 200 years old. \[[_Siberian Times_](http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0105-mummified-monk-is-not-dead-and-in-rare-meditative-state-says-expert/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3698318/buddhist-mummified-monk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3698318/buddhist-mummified-monk/"},"headline":"Buddhists Say a Mummified Monk Discovered in Mongolia Is Just Meditating","datePublished":"2015-02-06T00:48:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:16:35.685Z","description":"They think he might be the next Buddha","url":"https://time.com/3698318/buddhist-mummified-monk/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre","World","faith"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3698318/buddhist-mummified-monk/","name":"Buddhists Say a Mummified Monk Discovered in Mongolia Is Just Meditating"}}]}] ```