A Thai monastery is under investigation after authorities found 41 bodies allegedly used for meditation

A Buddhist a monastery in Thailand is under investigation after authorities found more than 40 bodies at a suspected meditation site, police said on Sunday.

Forty-one cadavers were found at the Pa Nakhon Chaibovorn monastery in Thailand’s Phichit province on Saturday, a police chief told AFP.

“The bodies were accompanied by death certificates and corpses,” he said, adding that so far no charges have been filed.

He said the police contacted the relatives of the deceased to ensure that the bodies were donated voluntarily.

“We are trying to make sure that no body has been stolen,” said a police officer who asked not to be named.

The search took place days after police found 12 bodies in another monastery in neighboring Kamphaeng Phet province on Wednesday, according to Thai media.

The head of the monastery in Phichit province, Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito, told Thai PBS television station that the use of corpses was part of a “meditation technique” he developed.

“Many people who come to study are abbots and all these monks… pass on knowledge,” he said. “I don’t know how many people have used my technology.”

He also told another local television station that “doctors are pondering over coffins that hold human remains.”

Kom Pattarakulprasert, director of the Phichit Office of Buddhism, told the Bangkok Post that the inclusion of bodies in meditation was unusual.

“I asked Phra Ajarn Saifon Phandito if there were any cadavers and I was told that there were none,” Kom told the media. “But when the journalists found these 41 bodies, I was surprised by these conflicting stories. I will discuss whether this practice is appropriate with the head of the local clergy.”

Police in Phichit said they are working with authorities in other provinces to investigate how widespread this practice is.