Throughout northern Japanese Yamagata Prefecture you can find about two dozen mummified Japanese monks known as Sokushinbutsu, who caused their own death in this way, which leads to self-mummification. This was the first practice. used about a thousand years ago by a monk named Kuukai in Mount Koya Temple Complex, in Wakayama Prefecture. Kuukai was the founder of the Buddhist sect, Shingon, in the center of which lay enlightenment by physical punishment. Successful self-mummification took ten years. According to rumors, many hundreds monks tried to reach her, but to date only bodies from 16 to 24 of them. 
Photos from open sources
The process began with the fact that within 1000 days a person ate a special diet consisting only of nuts and seeds, combining her with extreme physical exertion that was removed from his body all stores of fat. Then for another 1000 days he ate only bark of trees and roots, and he began to drink poisonous tea from shoots of urushi tree, extracts from which are commonly used for varnishing dishes. It caused vomiting and rapid bodily loss. liquids, and more importantly, made the body too toxic to be eaten by worms. And finally, the self-mummifying monk sealed himself in a stone tomb the size of his body, in which he could not move from the lotus position. His only connection with the outside world was a ventilation pipe and a bell. everyday he rang the bell to let people outside know that he was still alive. When the bell stopped ringing, the receiver was removed, and the tomb was sealed. Then the monks in the temple waited another 1000 days and opened the tomb to see if the mummification was successful. If the monk mummified, he immediately recognized Buddha and transferred to the temple for all to see. However usually inside it turned out only a decomposed body.
A photo from open sources
The mummies also relied on the accessories they owned. in life. Their eyes were removed, but it was believed that they were capable to see living people in the souls and perceive reality absolutely distinctly.
A photo from open sources
This practice is outlawed in the modern world. the government of Japan and is not practiced today by any Buddhist sect. Cowanchee translation
