[00:00.678]For a few,
[00:01.679]there is one final but essential task to perform.
[00:07.425]Buddhists believe in the concept of rebirth,
[00:10.660]and at Kailash
[00:11.678]the journey from one life to the next
[00:14.179]is marked with an ancient but outlandish ritual.
[00:19.427]Tibetans believe there's no need to keep or bury the bodies of their dead,
[00:23.670]since a departed life will already have kindled a new one elsewhere.
[00:31.427]The word for burial in Tibetan means "giving offerings to the birds",
[00:37.179]an act of generosity in line with the concept of compassion for all beings.
[00:47.174]By doing good deeds, Buddhists believe
[00:49.668]that they can contribute to the process of enlightenment.
[00:53.678]So a sky burial at Kailash contributes to a brighter future.
[01:17.171]There may be legends of mythical mountains and rivers that form the "axis of the world".
[01:23.426]But the Tibetan plateau itself,
[01:25.926]with its mountains, glaciers, and rivers,
[01:28.926]and as the engine that drives the monsoon,
[01:31.677]lays fair claim to being the real axis of the world.
[01:39.927]Apart from feeding the rivers of India and Pakistan,
[01:43.921]Tibet's glaciers are the source of even more great rivers.
[01:48.179]Vietnam's Mekong,
[01:49.926]Burma's Salween and the Yangtze and the Yellow,
[01:53.677]both of which flow into China.

For a few,
there is one final but essential task to perform.
Buddhists believe in the concept of rebirth,
and at Kailash
the journey from one life to the next
is marked with an ancient but outlandish ritual.
Tibetans believe there's no need to keep or bury the bodies of their dead,
since a departed life will already have kindled a new one elsewhere.
The word for burial in Tibetan means "giving offerings to the birds",
an act of generosity in line with the concept of compassion for all beings.
By doing good deeds, Buddhists believe
that they can contribute to the process of enlightenment.
So a sky burial at Kailash contributes to a brighter future.
There may be legends of mythical mountains and rivers that form the "axis of the world".
But the Tibetan plateau itself,
with its mountains, glaciers, and rivers,
and as the engine that drives the monsoon,
lays fair claim to being the real axis of the world.
Apart from feeding the rivers of India and Pakistan,
Tibet's glaciers are the source of even more great rivers.
Vietnam's Mekong,
Burma's Salween and the Yangtze and the Yellow,
both of which flow into China.