100-Year-Old Monks Mummify Themselves in Japan and Thailand; How Did They Do It?

Several monks in Northern Japan have succeeded in mummifying themselves. However, the number could be far greater because it's possible that several mummies were never discovered from the mountain graves.

One of the mummified monks in Thailand is one of TikTok's most popular users. In fact, the subject of everyone's attention is a very old monk who is resting in his hospital bed. According to The Tab, the monk's name is Luang Pho Yai.

However, he is not precisely young; when a fan asked on TikTok how old Yai is, his granddaughter responded that he is 109 years old.

Many commentators on the video speculate that Yai is undergoing Sokushinbutsu. In Japan, Sokushinbutsu is a common Buddhist tradition where persons are mummified while still living.

Unfortunately, in a separate report, Yai died last March 22, The Tab said. His granddaughter also shared a heartbreaking footage on TikTok three days before he died.

Yai wasn't the oldest person alive before he passed away. Kane Tanaka, who is 119 years old and lives in Japan, holds the record.

However, Jeanne Louise Calment of France is the oldest person to have ever lived. She was born in 1875 and died in 1997 at the age of 122.

(Photo : KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Cairo, EGYPT: CORRECTING BYLINE The mummified remains of Queen Hatshepsut, ancient Egypt's most famous female pharaoh, lie in a glass case under the national flag moments before being unveiled at the Cairo Museum 27 June 2007. The discovery is considered as the most important find since the discovery of King Tutankhamen?s tomb. Hatshepsut, who ruled for 21 years from 1479 to 1458 BC, was one of the most powerful female monarchs of the ancient world, who declared herself pharaoh after the death of her husband-brother Tuthmosis II.

Sokushinbutsu: Japan's Mummified Monks

Nippon said the veneration of sokushinbutsu, or Buddhist ascetics' mummified bodies, extends back millennia in Japan. The tradition, which dates back to the late 14th century, is still practiced in a few Shingon Buddhist temples around Japan.

The esoteric teachings of Shingon founder Kūkai (774-835) influenced the development of the macabre custom. Kukai, also known as Kōbō Daishi, preached that anyone might become a Buddha "in the body"-in this life, rather than aiming for Buddhahood after rebirth-through rigorous practice, a concept known as sokushin jōbutsu. Followers believe the famous priest lives within his mausoleum, the Okunoin, at the Kyasan temple complex in Wakayama Prefecture, where monks still serve him daily meals.

There are 18 sokushinbutsu distributed around Japan, with the biggest concentration in Yamagata Prefecture's Dewa Sanzan, including the three sacred summits of Mount Gassan, Mount Yudono, and Mount Haguro. Six mummies lived in the Shōnai region, which runs from the Dewa peaks to the Japan Sea, while two more lived in the Okitama area to the south. There are four sokushinbutsu in neighboring Niigata Prefecture, and one each in Fukushima, Gifu, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Kyoto, and Nagano Prefectures.

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How The Mummification Works

According to the Daily Star, the devout monks died through "the ultimate act of self-denial" and began the transformation by eating seeds and drinking deadly tea.

After completing at least a thousand-day cycle, practitioners were considered spiritually qualified to reach the following step.

Although many people were ready at the time, some took longer to prepare, including a monk who spent two decades following the rule.

The monks would fast for 100 days before concluding their last cycle, only drinking a small amount of salinized water.

The monk's students would place him in a pine box at the bottom of a three-meter deep trench whenever they sensed death was approaching.

The monk would be forced to remain motionless while in the lotus position, with only a tiny bamboo air tube and a bell for help.

The bell would ring to let everyone know that the monk was still alive. The tube would be withdrawn and the tomb would be shut once no further sounds could be heard.

Unfortunately, the method did not work for everyone, and some of the bodies were discovered to have decomposed after the tombs were eventually excavated.

Meanwhile, the victorious monks were elevated to Buddha rank and paraded in front of their devotees.