“Lobsang and 66 fellow monks were imprisoned in 1959. When released 21 years later, he was one of only three survivors. While in prison his best friend, a rinpoche, died in his arms. Tensin was later discovered to be the reincarnation of that friend. Lobsang said there are so many characteristics of his old friend in the young boy”. (Photo and caption by Phil Borges)

“Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. The location of the sky burial preparation and place of execution are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator, which literally means, «giving alms to the birds»”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A burial master chops bones of a body to feed vultures during a celestial burial ceremony on April 19, 2006 in Dari County of Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, northwest China. Celestial burial is a traditional funeral of Tibetan people, which began in the 7th century. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Workers attach 288 new Waterford Crystal Triangles on the 2012 Times Square New Year's Eve Ball at One Times Square on December 27, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Koreans spin fire cans during “Jwibulnoli” a South Korean folk game at Han River on February 5, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. The event is part of a “Daeboreum”, a Korean holiday that celebrates the first full moon of the lunar new year. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Spectators pass through security screening ahead of the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square in New York, on Sunday, December 31, 2017. (Photo by Peter Morgan/AP Photo)

A Tibetan woman displays her Qing Dynasty family dress in Zhailong Village on April 24, 2005 in Danba County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight on January 1, 2012 in London, England. Thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames in central London to see in the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

In this Saturday, March 21, 2015 photo, a porter rests carrying supplies for the upcoming climbing season, near the Everest Base camp, Nepal. Nepal has cleared more than 300 mountaineers to climb Mount Everest after they had to abandon last year's efforts when an ice avalanche killed 16 guides in the mountain's deadliest disaster, an official said on March 20. The three-month climbing season for Everest, the world's tallest mountain, begins in March. (Photo by Tashi Sherpa/AP Photo)