Monday, April 01, 2013

Decomposition

In "Exploring Religious Ethics" today we talked about the Meditation on the Stages of Decomposition of a Corpse. Actually, we didn't talk about it - I took the class through a kusôzu, a Japanese scroll painting of the stages, screening each stage for 30 seconds. This is one of the images.
 
Grisly stuff, but helpful in understanding what happens to the protagonist of the film "The Burmese Harp" (which everyone was supposed to watch over the Break) as he encounters the uncremated remains of fellow Japanese soldiers in various stages of disintegration. Meanwhile, each week offers a different stage in the chronicle of the decomposition of Saint Vincent's Hospital at 11th and Sixth.