Sokushinbutsu
Sokushinbutsu are a kind of Buddhist mummy. The term refers to the practice of Buddhist monks observing asceticism to the point of death and entering mummification while alive. It is believed that many hundreds of monks tried, but only 24 such mummifications have been discovered to date.
About Sokushinbutsu in brief
Sokushinbutsu are a kind of Buddhist mummy. The term refers to the practice of Buddhist monks observing asceticism to the point of death and entering mummification while alive. It is believed that many hundreds of monks tried, but only 24 such mummifications have been discovered to date. There is a common suggestion that Shingon school founder Kukai brought this practice from Tang China as part of secret tantric practices he learned, and that were later lost in China. At least one “self-mummified” 550-year-old corpse: that of a Buddhist monk named Sangha Tenzin in a northern Himalayan region of India, visible in a temple in Gue village, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
The monks would slowly reduce then stop liquid intake, thus dehydrating the body and shrinking all organs. They would die in a state of jhana while chanting the nenbutsu, and their body would become naturally preserved as a mummy with skin and teeth intact without decay.
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This page is based on the article Sokushinbutsu published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 01, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
