The Forbidden Practice of Self-Mummification
A video on YouTube. In True Crime & Mysteries, a Krater category.
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An explainer detailing the historical Buddhist ascetic practice of self-mummification (Sokushinbutsu) in Northern Japan, outlining the rigorous preparation steps and the few documented cases that succeeded.
From the video
Answers: What is self-mummification in Buddhism and how did monks achieve it?
- Sokushinbutsu
- self-mummification
- Japanese Buddhist ascetics
- Shugendo practices
- meditative mummification
What it concludes
- Sokushinbutsu is a historical Buddhist practice where select monks in Northern Japan attempted to mummify themselves while alive through rigorous fasting and meditation.
- The multi-step process involved Mokujiki (eating only forest-foraged bark and needles to eliminate body fat), fasting on saline water and Urushi tea, and being buried alive in a pine box with a breathing tube and bell.
- While thousands attempted self-mummification, only about 17 to 28 Sokushinbutsu are documented to have successfully remained uncorrupted by decomposition.
- Emperor Meiji banned the practice of self-mummification in 1879, classifying it as a form of assisted suicide or glorified suicide.
- The final officially successful case of Sokushinbutsu was completed by the monk Bukkai in 1903.
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