A Japanese tradition dating to the 11th century, Sokushinbutsu is a years-long process where Buddhist monks slowly mummify themselves before death.
Between 1081 and 1903 , around 20 living Shingon monks successfully mummify themselves in an attempt atsokushinbutsu , or becoming “ a Buddha in this consistency . ”
Through a strict dieting foraged from the nearby Mountains of Dewa , Japan , the monastic worked to dehydrate the trunk from the inner out , ridding the ego of fat , muscleman , and moisture before being lay to rest in a pine box to excogitate through their last day on Earth .
Mummification Around The World
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While this event may seem especial to Japanese Thelonious Monk , many cultures have practiced mummification . This is because , as Ken Jeremiah writes in the bookLiving Buddhas : the Self - Mummified Monks of Yamagata , Japan , many religions around the world greet an enduring corpse as a score of exceeding ability to connect with a force out which transcends the strong-arm kingdom .
While not the only religious faction to practice mummification , the Japanese Shingon monastic of Yamagata are among the most famed to practise the ritual , as several of their practitioners successfully mummified themselves while still live .
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Seeking redemption for the salvation of mankind , monks on a path toward sokushinbutsu consider this sacrificial number — done in emulation of a 9th - century Thelonious Monk named Kükai — would grant them access to Tusita Heaven , where they would live for 1.6 million years and be blessed with the ability to protect humans on Earth .
Needing their strong-arm bodies to accompany their ghostly ego in Tusita , they embarked on a journey as devoted as it was painful , mummify themselves from the interior - out to preclude decomposition after destruction . The process take at least three years , its method acting perfected over centuries and adapted to the humid climate commonly unsuitable for mummify a body .
How To Turn Oneself Into A Mummy
Wikimedia Commons
In decree to set out the self - mummification appendage , the Thelonious Monk would take over a dieting have it off as mokujikigyō , or “ tree diagram - eating . ” Foraging through nearby woods , practitioners subsisted only on tree roots , nuts and berries , tree diagram bark , and pine needles . One source also reports findingriver rocks in the venter of mummies .
This extreme diet served two intention .
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First , it began the body ’s biological preparation for dry gangrene , as it eliminated any fat and muscularity from the underframe . It also prevented succeeding rot by divest the consistency ’s course - occurring bacteria of life-sustaining nutrient and moisture .
On a more spiritual level , the extended , isolated quests for food would have a “ hardening ” gist on the Thelonious Sphere Monk ’s morale , condition him and encouraging contemplation .
This dieting would typically last for 1,000 days , though some Monk would repeat the course two or three times to best train themselves for the next phase of sokushinbutsu . To get down the embalming process , monks may have added a tea brewed of urushi , the sap of the Chinese lacquer Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , as it would render their bodies toxic to insect invaders after death .
Shingon Culture/Flickr
At this point not drinking anything more than a small amount of salinized water supply , the monastic would continue with their speculation practice . As death approached , the devotees would roost in a small , tightly halter pine box , which fellow votary would bring down into the ground , about ten feet below the Earth ’s surface .
fit out with a bamboo rod as an respiratory tract for external respiration , monk cover the coffin with charcoal , exit the eat up monk a pocket-sized gong which he would ring to notify others that he was still alive . For days the bury monk would meditate in total darkness and ring the Melville Bell .
When the ringing stopped , above - ground monk assumed the hush-hush monk had die . They would carry on to seal the tomb , where they would leave the corpse to lie for 1,000 days .
Shingon Culture / Flickr
After unearthing the casket , followers would inspect the soundbox for sign of decay . If the bodies had appease entire , monk believed that the at rest had reached sokushinbutsu , and would thus dress the body in robe and place them in a temple for worship . Monk gave those showing decay a modest burial .
Sokushinbutsu: A Dying Practice
The first attempt at sokushinbutsu took place in 1081 and ended in failure . Since then , a hundred more monastic have undertake to hit redemption by self - dry gangrene , with only around two dozen succeeding in their mission .
These days , no one do the human action of sokushinbutsu as the Meiji governing criminalized it in 1877 , viewing the drill as anachronous and depraved .
The last monk to go of sokushinbutsu did so illegally , passing class later in 1903 .
His name was Bukkai , and in 1961 researcher at Tohoku University would disinter his stiff , whichnow rest in Kanzeonji , a seventh - century Buddhist temple in southwest Japan . Of the 16 existing sokushinbutsu in Japan , the majority lie in the Mt. Yudono neighborhood of the Yamagata prefecture .
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