The Buddhist belief says that after your death, you are reborn. This whole reincarnation process however is believed to be linked to a lot of suffering and pain. That’s precisely why one’s withdrawal out of this cycle, the so-called “Samsara”, is kind of a salvation because you rid yourself of everything that causes this pain like your personal desires. Until the last century Japanese monks of the Shinon-sh Buddhism School (School of the true word) have undergone a gruesome endurance test– a self-mummification called “Sokushinbutsu”. At the end of this test they were dead but ranked Saints because they were seen as “living Buddhas”.
This process was divided into several parts. The first one lasted 1000 days during which the priests solely fed on nuts and seeds from their close environment. This condition was connected to hard physical work like meditating under a cold waterfall for several hours. After those 1000 days the monks already were at a stadium where they’ve lost a substantial amount of body weight. For the next 1000 days roots and bark by specified conifers replaced the seeds and nuts. Those things dried out the whole human system and pulled out any moisture left. The monks also frequently drank poisonous tea to further dehydrate the body and to intoxicate their tissues to prevent getting eaten by maggots after death. After this period of time the priests were highly weakened and dehydrated.
During the last 1000 days they were each walled in dark tombs as small as the monks themselves in the lotus position. All they had was a small trachea and a bell. Each day in which they were still amongst the living, they had to ring that bell. After their deaths the trachea got walled in, too. Upon expiration of the time period the tomb was opened to check if the priests were mummified. If that was the case they were removed from the tomb with the belief that they have stepped into Nirvana and have become the personifications of a true Buddha. In most cases however, the decomposition of the body still occurred. However, they were still worshipped for their discipline and endurance.
If you think that was creepy, wait until you hear next week’s story. I prepared the second part in which I will be telling you the tale of a Russian Buddhist, who technically died in 1927…
Copyright and Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu , http://io9.com/the-gruesome-and-excruciating-practice-of-mummifying-yo-1515905564 , http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sokushinbutsu-dainichi-temple
