http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial

“Sky burial and open cremation may initially appear grotesque for Westerners, especially if they have not reflected on their own burial practice of embalming. For Tibetan Buddhists, sky burial and cremation are templates of instructional teaching on the impermanence of life.”

when i first saw this i was kinda shocked, etc. but if you think about it it’s actually a pretty elegant way to return someone’s body to nature…no wasting land/resources making coffins and maintaining cemeteries or wasting wood/fuel for cremation. plus you’re providing food for animals