Burial Methods

For some strange reason, I've had a slight interest (well, more than the average person) in the manner on how I'd like to be buried when I die. Warning: morbid subject if you haven't already guessed by now.

The interest started when I when to a photography exhibition some years back. One of the photos shown was of a sky burial, with the priest (if I'm not mistaken) using a parang to slice the flesh off the deceased person's arm with flying vultures at the background.

To me, I don't think I'd need my body once I'm done on this earth so why should it not benefit those who are still left behind?

So I started thinking of how I'd like my body to be disposed. First, organ donation for every part that is still good enough to be given away. Then scraped of all my flesh to be fed to whatever creatures (sky burial). And finally, soak my remaining bones etc in a tub of liquid nitrogen and then crushed into powder before being poured into a hole in the ground. (I read about some folks trying this out on a cow many years back and apparently all was needed to smash the carcass into smithereens was tap it with a mallet. No pollution from cremation and fast.)

Then I read that feeding the vultures actually give them more illness and therefore kill the species. And that it's not so easy to come by liquid nitrogen for this purpose and I doubt if this method will ever come to Malaysia. Plus, I'm not sure being soaked in liquid nitrogen would have any adverse effect on the ground where the particles would be placed eventually.

So when I recently went into Ted.com and heard Jae Rhim Lee talk about the Mushroom Death Suit, it pricked my interest again. It's basically a suit filled with mushroom spores which will quickly  disintegrate the body in a biodegradable manner.

So now I want one. And since the mushrooms are edible, I told KS he can harvest and eat them with a potential wife replacement if I'm the one to go first. Just being practical.