The Sokushinbutsu were
Japanese Buddhist monks who successfully
mummified themselves by progressively limiting their diet, and ingesting poisonous substances. Due to their sparce distribution over northern and central
Japan, the exact number of remnant Sokushinbutsu
mummies is unknown, but it is believed to be between 16 and 24. Self-
mummification has not been legal in Japan for over a century, so no Sokushinbutsu have existed since the early 1900s.
Background:
The Sokushinbutsu technique of
suicide and self-
mummification was developed by a man called
Kuukai over one millennium ago.
Kuukai was the
Buddhist monk who founded the
Shingon sect, the first school of
Buddhist thought to endorse physically self-destructive behavior as a method of
enlightenment. He practiced and trained at
Mount Kooya in the
Wakayama Prefecture, in central
Japan.
Kuukai's method of self-
mummification came into use as his
philosophies became more popular. Until the advent of the
Shingon school,
suicide might have been considered contrary to
Buddhist philosophy, as it might demonstrate a passion against the
material world, where indifference was generally considered to be the superlative Buddhist's attitude.
Kuukai, however, professed slow, self-induced torture to be an effective way of divorcing onself from
material life without actively rejecting it, and that the terminal quality of the Sokushinbutsu technique made it particularly
spiritual. Although it probably was not the intention of
Kuukai himself, it also came to be, ironically enough, that the Sokushinbutsu
mummies were exemplified as religious
relics, which for some justified the practice all by itself.
Sokushinbutsu tended to be elderly
Shingon monks (although there were
Zen Buddhists who became Sokushinbutsu, as well), for whom the
mummification technique was designed, and those who were successful at preserving themselves were raised to the status of
Buddha, and put on public display.
The Technique:The process of Sokushinbutsu suicide and self-
mummification took in excess of 3000 days (over 8 years) and consisted of four stages. The first and second stages were particularly concerned with eliminating all fatty tissue from the body. This is essential to self-
mummification because fat decomposes very readily, and preserving fat for a long period of time is almost impossible. The first stage was a 1000 day diet of nuts and seeds, which, at expiration, turned to another 1000 day diet of
Pine tree roots and bark (the second stage). This new diet not only accelerated the elimination of fatty tissue, but also contained less moisture than the nuts and seeds, so that after death, the monk's body would be
dehydrated, and therefore decompose very slowly. The third 1000 day stage was the addition of a tea made from
Urushi tree sap to the monk's diet of roots and bark.
Urushi tree sap is
toxic, and has been used for centuries to
lacquer wooden bowls and furniture. It would induce vomiting, sweating, and frequent urination, further
dehydrating the monk, and the poison from the sap would accrue in his organs, so that after his death insects and maggots could not infest his corpse.
The monk would be living his otherwise normal life during the first 3000 days of this process, training and teaching every day. He would stop this for the fourth stage, however, as it entailed entombing himself with just a bell and a tube that ran to the outside to provided him with fresh air. In the tomb, the monk would not eat or drink, just sit in a
lotus position, and ring the bell once every day to indicate to his fellow monks that he was still alive. When the bell no longer rang, the tomb was opened, and if the preservation was perfect (the monk was still sitting in his
lotus position) his body was removed from the tomb, and put on display. Those who failed to preserve themselves were sealed into their tombs.
Although it was not included in
Kuukai's instructions on self-
mummification, it is speculated that one of the factors that affected whether or not a
mummification was successful was the water that the concerned monk drank. Many Japanese mineral springs, such as those on
Mt. Yudono in
Yamagata Prefecture, contained high levels of
arsenic, but were consumed because they were believed to be
medicinal. It is possible that those monks who consumed water with high
arsenic levels were better preserved than those who did not.
References:
http://www.jref.com/culture/japanese_buddhist_mummies.shtml
http://www.geocities.com/gabigreve2000/mummiesinjapan.html
http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/2007/06/27/sokushinbutsu-the-self-mummified-monks-of-japan/