Sokushinbutsu: The Buddhist Art Of Mummifying Yourself

Sokushinbutsu is a brutal ritual that was created in 835 AD. Since then countless monks have tried to do it. However, only 24 have ever actually been successful. 

There are three phases. 

Phase one is called MOKUJIKI GYO, which roughly means "tree eating training". Monks will only eat byproducts of trees, things like seeds, nuts, tree bark, tree roots, and they will collect all this food on their own. At the end of the 1000th day of phase one, if the monk has survived, they are ready to move on to phase two. 

Phase two is significantly more challenging.

Phase two is called NYUJO. And it roughly translates to deep meditation. These monks need to enter into a sort of trance-like state, almost like an out of body experience, because what they are going to go through in this phase is so physically uncomfortable. For phase two, you basically just sit alone by yourself for 100 days while simultaneously drinking a poisonous tea that causes a massive allergic reaction inside of your throat and stomach that causes an intense itching sensation inside of you that you cannot physically itch. Also, this poisonous tea gives you explosive poo and it makes you vomit alot. If you somehow manage to survive all 100 days of phase two, and unfortunately many monks don't, you automatically move on to phase three. Phase three is either the easiest or the hardest part of the Sokushinbutsu ritual depending on how you look at it. The phase-three monk has a small pine box that has no windows, built just for them. It needs to be big enough that they can sit inside of it in the lotus pose.

The monk climbs into this box. They put a lid over the top of it. But they put a bamboo shoot, like a bamboo pole through the cover of this box so there is a breathing tube for this monk inside of this box. And then they lower the monk inside of the small pine box 10 feet into this hole in the ground. And once they ensure the bamboo pole is going to be above ground so they can breathe, they fill the hole in with charcoal. Phase one, tree-eating training, serves two purposes. The first is it's kind of like a big gut check. It really shows who wants to do this ritual and who doesn't. 

The second purpose of phase one is to literally shrink the monk. The tree-eating diet removes all of their body fat and a lot of their muscle. And so they are incredibly lean by the end of phase one. And this will be significant when we talk about the end of phase three. 

Phase two, "Deep Meditation Phase", serves two purposes, as well.  The first purpose is that it puts the monk into that trance-like state. And then the second purpose it serves is that the toxin inside of this poisonous tea kills off all the naturally occurring bacteria and parasites inside of the monk.

Again, that will become significant when we get to the end of phase three. For several days, the third phase monk will sit in total darkness and meditate constantly. And each day, they have a bell down there with them, they ring the bell. That's the only thing they have to do besides meditate. And above ground, there is a team of monks that are supporting this ritual and they are listening for that bell. And the first day they don't hear the bell, it means the monk in the box has completed the ritual and now it is time to see if they have attained Nirvana. 

In Buddhism, someone whose body does not decay, a.k.a. A mummy is someone who has cheated death and to cheat death is to remove yourself from the vicious human life cycle of birth, suffering, death, repeat, meaning becoming a mummy is a way to attain Nirvana. 

Sokushinbutsu is a self-mummification ritual. 

Phase one Shrinks monk's body, removes fat, muscle, moisture and nutrients, killing bacteria and parasites that aid in decomposition. 

Phase two, poisonous tea, that toxin that they are drinking, that kills off the remainder of the bacteria and parasites that did not die during phase one. Also all the vomit and poo completely dehydrates them, which aids in slowing down degeneration after death.  

In the final phase of Sokushinbutsu, the monk is buried alive in a tomb with a bamboo breathing pole and rings a bell each day to signify they're still alive. When the bell stops, the crew removes the pole and lets the body sit underground for another 1,000 days. If there are little to no signs of degeneration, the self-mummification ritual is considered successful, and they are revered as holy beings. However, if the body is degenerated, they are just buried again and not worshipped. This practice was made illegal in Japan in the 19th century, but some monks continued it into the 20th century, and there are rumors that it might still be practiced in secret today. Sokushinbutsu is a fascinating but controversial ritual that raises ethical and moral concerns, making it a subject of intrigue for many.