emperor-erebus: remnantsofwhatoncewas: Slow death: Sokushinbutsu (即身仏) - the art of Self-m
emperor-erebus:remnantsofwhatoncewas:Slow death: Sokushinbutsu (即身仏) - the art of Self-mummification.(When seppuku (切腹, “stomach-cutting”) just isn’t enough…)For three years the priests would eat a special diet consisting only of nuts and seeds, while taking part in a regimen of rigorous physical activity that stripped them of their body fat. They then ate only bark and roots for another three years and began drinking a poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree, which contains Urushiol (same stuff that makes poison ivy), normally used to lacquer bowls. This caused vomiting and a rapid loss of bodily fluids, and most importantly, it made the body too poisonous to be eaten by maggots. Finally, a self-mummifying monk would lock himself in a stone tomb barely larger than his body, where he would not move from the lotus position. His only connection to the outside world was an air tube and a bell. Each day he rang a bell to let those outside know that he was still alive. When the bell stopped ringing, the tube was removed and the tomb sealed.GO HARD OR GO HOME. -- source link