Story of the Rainbow Body

In 1998 a strange story emerged from a village in the remote Kham region of eastern Tibet. It is said that a rainbow appeared one day above the cabin of Khenpo A- Chos, a devout lama who had continued to practice and teach Buddhism despite the severe restrictions of the Chinese government. He was in his eighties, but not sick. Nevertheless, he lay down on his bed, began reciting the Tibetan mantra "Om mani padme hum," and died.

Shortly after the nuns, monks and others who studied with him began the Tibetan Buddhist prayers that accompany death they noticed that Khenpo A-Chos' skin began to turn soft and pinkish. His students hurried to another lama to ask about this, and he told them to cover the body and continue their prayers. They placed a thin yellow monk's cloak over him and as the days passed, they saw his body was shrinking. By the end of the week, the students reported, nothing remained—just a few hairs left on the pillow. Khenpo A-Chos had apparently become what is known in Tibetan Buddhism as a Rainbow Body.

The story spread through Buddhist circles, making its way to the United States, where Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk, heard it. He realized that the miraculous event had implications for Christianity: "If we can establish as an anthropological fact that what is described in the resurrection of Jesus had not only happened to others but is happening today," he said, "it would put our view of human potential in a completely different light."

Brother David enlisted the aid of Father Francis Tiso, an associate director of the secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington D.C., who also has a doctorate in Buddhist studies. Father Tiso journeyed to Kham with a translator and recorded the testimony of several people who had witnessed the events.

The lama who had been consulted by the students, Lama A-Chos (no relation), told him that achieving the rainbow body "is a matter of inner realization. It's not a philosophical idea. It's not a metaphor." He also showed Father Tiso photographs of himself, indicating what looked like light radiating from his body. Jane Bosveld, Discover Magazine, June 07.

Tiso interviewed Lama Norta, a nephew of Khenpo A-Chos, Lama Sonam Gyantso, a young disciple, and Lama A-Chos.

They described the following: A few days before Khenpo A-Chos died, a rainbow appeared directly above his hut. After he died, there were dozens of rainbows in the sky. Khenpo A-Chos died lying on his right side. He wasn’t sick; there appeared to be nothing wrong with him, and he was reciting the mantra Om mani padme hum over and over. According to the eyewitnesses, after his breath stopped his flesh became kind of pinkish. One person said it turned brilliant white. All said it started to shine.

Lama A-Chos suggested wrapping his friend’s body in a yellow robe, the type all Gelug monks wear. As the days passed, they maintained they could see, through the robe, that his bones and his body were shrinking. They also heard beautiful, mysterious music coming from the sky, and they smelled perfume.

After seven days, they removed the yellow cloth, and no body remained. Lama Norta and a few other individuals claimed that after his death Khenpo A-Chos appeared to them in visions and dreams.

Shrinkage of the body occurred with another guru, Lama Thubten. His miniature-sized frame is now kept in a monastery in Manali, India. Tiso has ascertained that incidents of bodies shrinking or disappearing shortly after death were documented centuries ago, such as in the classic story of Milarepa, a Buddhist saint from Tibet who lived in the 11th century.