Sokushinbutsu (Japan) – The Self-Mummifying Monks
While the peak of this practice was centuries ago, there are still whispered reports that some modern monks have attempted Sokushinbutsu in secrecy, particularly in the Tohoku region of northern Japan. The process takes over 3,000 days of slow death: monks eliminate all body fat by eating a pine-needle and nut diet, then drink urushi tea, a lacquer made from poisonous tree sap that kills internal bacteria and makes the body toxic to maggots. Finally, they’re sealed alive in a stone tomb just big enough to sit in lotus position. They ring a bell daily until death. If the body doesn’t decay, they’re declared a Buddha. Temples like Dainichi-bo still display these real, mummified monks, eyelids closed, lips curled in eternal meditation.
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