Talk:Sokushinbutsu

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How many? Article conflicts itself
The introduction says 24 mummies found, the first section, "Shugendō practice", says 100s. I can't access full text of either citation for those statements. Which is correct? Or am I misunderstanding the article? Fritzophrenic (talk) 04:46, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Why do they do this?
The article doesn't say. Hires an editor (talk) 03:50, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

Perhaps links to general discussion of ascetic practices should be added. Metafnord (talk) 01:07, 24 January 2022 (UTC)

And sure enough, asceticism is already hot linked in the first paragraph of the article. It's fair to expect readers to consider investigating any links to associated topics which the writers/editors considered important enough to place as color links in the opening section of any wiki article. I would not complain if a short additional section were added specifically addressing common motivations for this act, but if such a section did much more than refer the reader to the article on asceticism, it would probably be unnecessary duplication of writing effort. Metafnord (talk) 01:12, 24 January 2022 (UTC)

In order to gain a type of immortality: "Seeking redemption for the salvation of mankind, monks on a path toward sokushinbutsu believed this sacrificial act — done in emulation of a ninth-century monk named Kükai — would grant them access to Tusita Heaven, where they would live for 1.6 million years and be blessed with the ability to protect humans on Earth.

Needing their physical bodies to accompany their spiritual selves in Tusita, they embarked on a journey as devoted as it was painful, mummifying themselves from the inside-out to prevent decomposition after death." https://allthatsinteresting.com/sokushinbutsu

According to the belief, Kükai did not actually die, but through this method achieved a type of suspended animation, allowing his return in the distant future: "In the 11th century a hagiography of Kūkai appeared claiming that, upon his death in 835, the monk did not die at all, but crawled into his tomb and entered nyūjō, a state of meditation so profound that it induces suspended animation. According to this hagiography, Kūkai plans to emerge in approximately 5.67 million years to usher a predetermined number of souls into nirvana." https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sokushinbutsu

Hope this sorted it out. :) Okama-San (talk) 20:37, 25 January 2023 (UTC)

Was this ritual only practiced in Japan?
Was this ritual only practiced in Japan, or were Buddhist monks in other countries also practicing this ritual? I understand the practice is illegal in Japan, but would it be legal in other countries? 68.67.243.148 (talk) 03:52, 6 August 2023 (UTC)

Non-Japanese examples?
Should the non-Japanese examples be moved to the Buddhist mummy page, and have this page specifically for the Japanese practice of self-mummification? Amadeus1928 (talk) 01:06, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

Merge proposal
Propose merging Sokushinbutsu to Buddhist mummy. Heavy scope overlap, neither page is long enough to merit separate pages per WP:SPLIT. Also, given that sokushinbutsu-like practices were done outside of Japan too, using the Japanese-lang title may irk some people; this merger pushes that issue down the road, likely for a long time at current rate. 211.43.120.242 (talk) 14:27, 11 July 2024 (UTC)