scattered around buddhist temples in the tohoku region of japan there are mummified bodies enshrined in . practitioners of an ancient set of rituals known as shugendô, these monks actually mummified themselves in a prolonged act of asceticism. believing that they could attain enlightenment in a mere ten thousand days (about 8 years, 2 months, and 19 days) by adhering to a strict diet, keeping a strict schedule of meditation and exercise, and slowly poisoning themselves.
the process is broken down into three stages. for the first thousand days, the devotee would only eat nuts and seeds found in the immediate vicinity of their temple. if that wasn’t bad enough they were expected to do full calisthenics and fulfill their duties while following this crash diet.
the second stage, lasting one thousand days, involved further restricting the priest’s/cenobite’s diet to pine bark and roots. this further depleted any remaining fat stores, causing the body to start digesting its muscle and other tissues for energy. near the end of this period, the eremite would also begin drinking tea made from kiurushi tree sap (usually used to lacquer bowls). this tea contained the chemical compound urushiol, the same combination of molecules which is the source of irritation caused by poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. this compound, when drunk, caused profuse vomiting, diarrhea, and persistent urination. as it built up in the blood and tissue it would cause the body to become poisonous to insects. in the end this diet would leave the person emaciated but would also make his body extremely resilient against rotting. most any source of decomposition was taken care of, external bacteria would leave the water starved body alone, the diet would kill most of the digestive bacteria within the body, the lack of oxygen in the tomb would further hamper decomposition, and bugs and animals would not come near it.
the third stage involved the ascetic, by now resembling a holocaust victim (if he had survived), would enter into a tomb barely large enough for him to sit in a lotus position. if you didn’t notice the pattern yet, this would also last for one thousand days. he would be given a bell and and a tube to supply him with air. each day the anchorite’s entourage would visit him and listen for the bell ringing. when the bell stopped they would remove the tube and seal the tomb for the remainder of the predetermined period. when one thousand days had past, the monks would exhume the corpse and check to see if the mummification had taken. if the experiment in human suffering had been a “success” the deceased would be declared a buddha, taken out of his grave, and be venerated in his home temple. if the man failed, the tomb would be sealed and the dead left to posterity.
if all went well the shriveled buddha would look like this…wait he reminds of something…but what?
oh yeah, that’s right
who knew that buddhas looked like the scary stories illustrations that gave me nightmares as a child
the practice seems to have its origins with a priest, civil engineer, secretary of state, inventor of kana, and general over achiever named kuukai who, either through empirical observation (i don’t want to know on what), esoteric knowledge (ancient chinese secrets), or serendipity (who knew that eating tree bark would pay off) discovered a way to preserve his mortal remains. his body now rests on mt. koya where monks still “feed” it and change the corpses clothes on a daily basis.
a millennium since its conception, the practice was effectively outlawed in the 19th century. it did however, only find extinction in the 20th. perhaps the ideal died. perhaps the monks were becoming more moderate in their pursuit of the middle path. perhaps the threat of unions stopped them. or perhaps they finally realized the ridiculousness of it. after all, if starving and eating poisoned food (#5, also take a look at #2) were the path to buddha-hood then the north koreans would be some of the most enlightened people on earth.
an interesting question raised on the site i stumbled upon on was whether these monks could truly be considered buddhists. after all didn’t buddha extreme asceticism as a way to achieve to achieve enlightenment, favoring the middle path between rampant decadence and extreme self deprivation? is this derivation from a central tenant of buddhist philosophy merely a regionalism of the religion, or a completely different faith in itself complete with idols, masochistic rituals, and mountain hermits? an interesting perspective i thought.
a second thought that struck me was the parallel of the veneration these buddhas received as compared to incorrupt saints in roman catholicism. the only difference that struck me, aside from the faith, is the difference in appearance. another interesting fact behind these saints was the length of time they were interred before exhumation. most were buried and only found to be in this state decades later during church renovations where the floor and tombs beneath had to be removed.
it has been about 800 years since st. zita stopped breathing, it is said her limbs are still flexible, amazing
st. francis xavier, the first man to preach the gospel in japan, while not the best picture he seems in a little worse shape that the others
and they didn’t even to drink the poison ivy tea…
some other scientific explanations of these preservations include saponification, or the phenomena of fat being drawn out of a corpse in alkaline soil and forming adipocere or “grave wax” over the deceased sealing out water and preventing further composition. in addition there are some of the more modern incorruptibles (st. margerette, pope paul XIII) who were actually were embalmed.
feel free to discuss if you’d like.
hit tips to…
wikipedia
thethinkingblog
flickr
listuniverse
gnokr
*edit, due to further info i removed the saint vincent depaul picture as the body has been thoroughly waxed up, st. silvan likewise has had a wax job. odds are underneath it all they look more like st. rita
**thanks to wikipedia for setting me straight and thanks to tranzic for fulfilling a poster’s solemn duty and making the reason for the removal clear to everyone.
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