Sokushinbutsu, The Buddhist Self-Mummifying Monks
Wikimedia CommonsThe body of a monk who underwent self-mummification.
Between 1081 and 1903, around 30 living Shingon monks underwent the process of sokushinbutsu — or self-mummification.
In order to complete this macabre process, the Japanese monks adopted a diet known as mokujiki, or “tree-eating,” by foraging in nearby forests and subsisting exclusively on tree roots, bark, pine needles, nuts, and berries. The purpose of the extreme diet was to prepare the body for biological mummification by removing any fat and muscle from the frame. It also helped the body avoid decomposition by depriving it of its naturally-occurring bacteria formed from vital nutrients and moisture.
This spiritually-imposed diet could last up to 1,000 days. Then, according to the Penn Museum, the monk would move on to the next phase: sanrō, or “confinement” on the mountain. This could go on for 4,000 days.
Finally, the monk was placed into a pine coffin and buried ten feet underground with nothing more than a bamboo rod to breathe through. He would ring a bell periodically to let his followers know that he was still alive, but otherwise, the monk did nothing but meditate until he died of starvation.
When the bell stopped ringing, the monk’s followers would remove the bamboo rod and seal the tomb for 1,000 days. After those three years and three months had passed, they would remove the monk from the ground and examine him. If his body showed signs of decay, they would simply reinter him. If not, he was considered a true sokushinbutsu, dressed in bright robes, and enshrined.
The mummified bodies of 21 sokushinbutsu survive in Japan to this day. In a way, they indeed succeeded in achieving immortality.
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