坐化 (zuòhuà): to die in a seated meditation p…

Meanings

1 to die in a seated meditation posture (Buddhism)
2 to pass away while seated in lotus position (of an enlightened monk)

Characters

坐

to transform / pass away

Examples

据说这位高僧最后是盘腿坐化的。

Jùshuō zhè wèi gāosēng zuìhòu shì pántuǐ zuòhuà de.

It's said that this eminent monk passed away in seated lotus position at the end.

寺院里供奉着坐化和尚的肉身像。

Sìyuàn lǐ gòngfèngzhe zuòhuà héshàng de ròushēn xiàng.

The temple enshrines the body of a monk who passed away in seated meditation.

Tips

culture

A coveted death in Chan/Zen Buddhism — taken as proof of advanced practice and self-mastery. Some monks who 坐化 are mummified and preserved as 肉身菩萨 (ròushēn púsà, 'flesh-body bodhisattvas'); the most famous is Huineng 慧能 (638–713), the Sixth Patriarch, whose body still sits at Nanhua Temple in Guangdong.

memory

坐 (zuò) = 'to sit', 化 (huà) = 'to transform' (here: 'to pass away' — same 化 as in 火化 huǒhuà 'cremation' and 羽化 yǔhuà 'become an immortal'). 'Sit and transform' — to pass into the next state while sitting.