Japanese Self-mummificated Buddhist Monks

Check this out in Japan for two dozen of self-mummified Japanese monks which is also called as Sokushinbutsu, the followers of an ancient form of Buddhism called Shugendo.

They starving themselves over a period of 3-6 years included exercise daily and eating special diet of nuts or seeds, tree barks and roots and drink poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree which caused vomiting and a rapid loss of body fluids. They would be entombed alive in a stone room leaving only a small air tube which would be removed while the tomb would be sealed after the bell that was used for alerting other people of the monk was alive has stopped ringing.

Not all monks were successful, but those who did were raised to the status of Buddha, put on display, and tended to by their followers.

The Japanese government outlawed Sokushinbutsu in the late 19th century, though the practice continued into the 20th.

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