Jeremiah - Eternal Remains: World Mummification and the Beliefs that make it Necessary

Death is inescapable. Once the life essence dissipates from the body, decomposition begins. The corpse stiffens and cools, and enzymes destroy tissues: a process called autolysis . Bodily acids consume the flesh, while external bacteria and insects assist in the destruction. When putrefaction begins, the body rots and reeks. The skin takes on various shades before blackening and then rotting away, and eventually, nothing but bones remain. Given enough time, even bones disappear. A Biblical passage reads, You will sweat and work hard for your food. Later you will return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and when you die, you will return to the dust (Genesis 3: 19).1 This is the natural course of destruction, which accords with creations complementary process. Perhaps for this reason, mummies fascinate people. They cause them to ponder historical enigmas, and the greatest mysteries of life and death.

I began studying mummies about ten years ago, although I had no inherent desire to do so. For years, I led tour groups through major Japanese cities such as Tokyo , Kyoto , and Hiroshima . When possible, I spent extra time in the countryside near Kyoto and Nara . One year, after my work in the Tokyo area had ended, I decided to explore northern Japan. My original plan was to travel through Yamagata Prefecture and head to Aomori . From there, I planned to see Hakodate , and then Sapporo , before going to Asahikawa and finally Wakkanai , the countrys northernmost town, where I would catch a boat to Siberia .

My plans changed, however, while on a train from Sapporo to Asahikawa . A man seated next to me asked why I was in Japan, and I told him. We talked for a bit, and he understood that my interests lie in worldwide history and culture. He asked if I had seen the mummies in Yamagata Prefecture. I responded that I had not, and he explained that numerous bodies were displayed in the regions temples. They had mummified, but the way in which they did so was unique, unknown in other countries. These individuals had mummified themselves. After regulating their diets for almost ten years, they buried themselves alive in underground tombs, where they meditated until their deaths. Intrigued, I stayed in Asahikawa for one evening only, and then got back on a train and returned to Yamagata the next morning, abandoning my plans to explore Siberia . That first year, when I began investigating Japanese mummies, I only saw one body. It had belonged to a priest named Shinnyokai . Time had removed most of the flesh on his face and head, but it still covered his hands and chest. He was in a special temple hall, dressed in an orange and red sacerdotal robe.

For the next several years, I constantly returned to Japan, visiting all the mummified bodies I could find. Speaking to priests who cared for the remains, I learned as much as possible about this unique phenomenon. Since there were no books about the subject in English, I translated all the Japanese texts I could find . Eventually, I compiled some of the pictures I had taken, information regarding how these individuals mummified, and the incredible reasons behind the act. This information appeared in the book Living Buddhas: The Self-Mummified Monks of Yamagata, Japan . This book, Eternal Remains, contains some previously unpublished pictures of the monks and their temples, alongside newly translated information about them. Together with Living Buddhas, it provides the most comprehensive explanation of self-mummification written in any language besides Japanese.

Monks who engaged in this unusual practice adhered to the Shugendo religion, which (at the risk of oversimplification) was a combination of Buddhism , Shinto , and mountain asceticism . They also used some Daoist practices. When researching this form of mummification, I became aware that bodily preservation is common in Buddhism, even though the faiths teachings oppose physical attachments. I also continued to research world religions as a whole, and realized that in the first century, Buddhism and Christianity were remarkably similar (Hanson, 2005). Buddhism was the most popular foreign faith in Judea during the first century, so this is understandable; the two likely influenced each other (Gruber & Kersten, 1995). I found it interesting that mummification also exists in Christianity, even though the religions scriptures seem to oppose it.