NATURAL MUMMY RESTS IN PEACE IN HIMACHAL

Himalaya Pradesh is not Egypt nor there are pyramids, But high in its Gue village in Lahaul & Spiti district lies a surprising more than 500-year-old mummy. The mummy is seated in a temple today, with his mouth open, teeth intact and visible, and hollow eyes.

It is believed to be the mummy of a Buddhist monk named Sangha Tenzin and is one of the most astonishing things one can ever see. One more stark difference is that while mummies are made after death this monk mummified his body himself when he was alive. The old Buddhist process is known as Sokushinbutsu.

It is said to be the result of a natural self-mummification process which strips the body away from its fats and fluids. It is attributed to Buddhist monks in Japan’s Yamagata. the process could take up to ten years. The monks go into slow starvation, with a diet of poisonous nuts, roots, herbs, and tree sap. Seated in a meditating posture, the monks die without any moisture in the body, but having all essentials preserved.

Gue is a typical village thrugged mountains, d’picturesque views. The mummified body of the monk was found after an earthquake in 1975 opened an old tomb. It was excavated much later in 2004, and has been a point of interest for archaeologists, and curious travellers ever since.

A mummy is a dead human whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. But the term Sokushinbutsu refers to the practice of Buddhist monks observing asceticism to the point of death and entering mummification while still alive. They are seen in several Buddhist countries.

The monk was likely a Tibetan dzogpa-chenpo practitioner and similar mummies have been found in Tibet and East Asia. The preservation of the mummy for at least five centuries was possible due to the aridity of the area and cold weather.

According to Paul Williams, the Sokushinbutsu ascetic practices of Shugendõ were likely inspired by Kükai—the founder of Shingon Buddhism, who ended his life by reducing and then stopping intake of food and water, while continuing to meditate and chant Buddhist mantras. Paul Williams was Emeritus Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy at the University of Bristol, England until his retirement in 2011.

Ascetic self-mummification practices are also recorded in China but are associated with the Ch’an (Zen Buddhism) tradition there. Alternate ascetic practices like Sokushinbutsu are also known, such as public self- immolation practice in China, such as that of Fayu Temple in 396 CE and many more in the centuries that followed. This was considered as evidence of a renunciation of Bodhisattva.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle