{"id":452,"date":"2022-03-23T07:39:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T07:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/buddhist-monks-who-mummified-themselves-while-living\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:53:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:53:36","slug":"buddhist-monks-who-mummified-themselves-while-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/buddhist-monks-who-mummified-themselves-while-living\/","title":{"rendered":"Buddhist Monks Who Mummified Themselves While Living"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>There are various practices in Buddhism that differ from other religions.  fourth largest in the world<\/strong> <strong>one of the aims of the religion of Buddhism;  It is to live the cycle of birth and death in a painless and peaceful way.  One of the biggest goals of those who believe in this religion is to reach Nirvana.  Many applications have been tried for this.  One of these practices, Sokushinbutsu, is when Buddhist monks mummify themselves while they are alive, through a meditation ritual.  This application is a very difficult method that spans thousands of days.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1856\" width=\"841\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu.jpeg\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1856\" width=\"841\" height=\"473\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>Sokushinbutsu was a common practice between the 11th and 19th century.  The monk who wants to reach Nirvana;  withdrawing himself from the pleasures of the world, he is slowly starving and then completely giving up the consumption of food and water.  The monks saw this practice as a way to achieve enlightenment.<\/p>\n<p>The body of one of the monks who succeeded in mummification was found in the Himalayan region.  The mummy, which belonged to the monk Sangha Tenzin, dates from the 14th century and has a history of 550 years.  Although 5 centuries have passed since the mummification process, it is still in good condition.  This situation is thought to be caused by the cold weather conditions of the region.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1854\" width=\"839\" height=\"457\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/himalaya.webp\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/himalaya.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1854\" width=\"839\" height=\"457\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"h-mumyalama-islemi-nasil-yapilmaktadir\"><strong>How is the mummification process done?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It is thought that the person who started the practice of Sokushinbutsu was the Japanese Buddhist Kukai.  As Kukai approached the last moments of his life, he went into meditation, cutting off food and water completely.  When his grave was opened after he died, he was found almost alive.<\/p>\n<p>In Buddhism, which is widely believed in many parts of the world;  It is known that the practice of Sokushinbutsu was made in Japan centuries ago.  The mummification process can take between 8 and 10 years after the application starts.  Although it is a prohibited practice in Japan, there are still monks who try to reach Nirvana this way today.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1855\" width=\"840\" height=\"472\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Kukai.webp\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Kukai.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1855\" width=\"840\" height=\"472\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>monks who went into seclusion to carry out the mummification process;  They chewed pine needles, resin, and seeds found in the mountains.  With the consumption of these, the fat in the body is completely destroyed and the person begins to mummify.  The body, which is completely purified from oil and fluids, gets rid of substances that increase decay after death.  After this process, the body becomes resistant to insects and bacteria.  In addition, the monks drank poisonous plants and arsenic water to prevent bacteria from forming in the body.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1859\" width=\"839\" height=\"629\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu3.jpeg\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1859\" width=\"839\" height=\"629\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>After intense hunger and meditation, the monks entered the small tombs next to them and took a rest.  They spent time here by entering the coffins, which were about 3 meters below the ground and covered with coal.  In order for them to breathe, a small space was left for the bamboo stick to enter and they breathed from there.  The monks standing in the meditation position rang the bell to indicate that he was alive.  When the bell stopped, people realized that the monk was dead.  The monks died singing hymns.  Thus the monks;  It is accepted that they have reached the pinnacle of purity and peace, namely Nirvana.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1857\" width=\"841\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu1.webp\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu1.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1857\" width=\"841\" height=\"473\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>After the death process, the tombs are sealed and left for 1000 days.  After 1000 days, it is checked whether the corpses excavated and unearthed completely decompose.  The fumigation process is carried out in order to ensure the longevity of the removed body.  An exorcism session was held, and then the monk&#8217;s body was dressed in robes and placed in temples for people to see.  Placed monks have their eyes removed, but people believe they can see through living souls.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1860\" width=\"839\" height=\"629\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu4.jpeg\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Sokushinbutsu4.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1860\" width=\"839\" height=\"629\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>There is the Dainichi Shrine where mummies are exhibited.  The preserved bodies of monks with their colorful robes, which are part of the sacred ritual, are located in the temple.  It is known that about 100 brave monks tried the practice of Sokushinbutsu.  But only 28 of them succeeded.  The bodies of the monks who succeeded in the mummification process are on public display in the temple.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1861\" width=\"841\" height=\"561\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Dainichi-Tapinaga.jpeg\" data-lazy- title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Dainichi-Tapinaga.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1861\" width=\"841\" height=\"561\" title=\"\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p><h5>Share<\/h5>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are various practices in Buddhism that differ from other religions. fourth largest in the world one of the aims of the religion of Buddhism; It is to live the cycle of birth and death in a painless and peaceful way. One of the biggest goals of those who believe in this religion is to &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kasifiz.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}