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基本説明
This first English-language work about an ancient, esoteric tradition of self-mummifying Buddhist monks in Northern Japan.
Full Description
Northern Japan is home to an ancient, esoteric tradition of self-mummifying Buddhist monks, little known to the outside world. Long after death, these ascetics continue to be revered as Living Buddhas. This first English-language work on the subject recounts the process by which these monks starve themselves for a decade, bury themselves alive with only a small breathing tube, and meditate until death. After three years, the mummified body is exhumed and displayed. The biographies of various monks are presented within, as is an examination of the religious beliefs involved, an amalgamation of three distinct religious traditions. Also explored is the role of asceticism in religion, and beliefs about life and death shared by the Buddhist sects involved in self-mummification.
Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: Sacred Mountains and the Swamp of Immortals
PART ONE. MUMMIFICATION AND IMMORTALITY
1. Natural Mummification
2. Artificial Mummification
3. Incorruptibility
4. The Great Transformation
PART TWO. SELF-MUMMIFIED MONKS
5. Symbols of Contradiction
6. Honmyōkai Shōnin: The Samurai Who Mummified Himself
7. Shinnyōkai Shōnin: The Farmer Who Killed a Samurai
8. Tetsumonkai Shōnin: The Priest Who Loved a Prostitute
9. Myōkai Shōnin: The Boy Who Lost His Eyesight
10. Kōmyōkai Shōnin: The Unknown Self-Mummified Monk
11. Ch¨kai Shnin and Enmyōkai Shōnin: Two Monks Who Reside at the Same Temple
12. Tetsury¨kai Shōnin: The Monk Who Cut Out His Own Eye
13. Remnants of a Forgotten Age
PART THREE. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND SECRET TEACHINGS
14. Buddhist Origins
15. Apocryphal Texts and Holy Wizards
16. Chinese Immortality and the Death of Buddhism in India
17. Kōbō Daishi and Shingon Buddhism
18. Magicians in the Mountains: En no Gyōja and Shugendō Faith
PART FOUR. ASCETICISM AND THE PURSUIT OF DEATH
19. Asceticism in World Religions
20. Japanese Ascetic Practices
21. Periods of Seclusion and Cave Meditation
22. Meditation Under Waterfalls and Cold Water Ablutions
23. Abstention from Cereals
24. Self-Immolation
25. Self-Mummification
PART FIVE. DEATH AND IMMORTALITY
26. The Nature of Life and Death
Afterword
Appendix 1. Self-Mummified Monks in Japan
Appendix 2. Ch¨renji Lineage
Appendix 3. Temple Contacts
Appendix 4. Thirty-Two Bodily Marks of a Great Man
Appendix 5. Sino-Japanese Character Glossary
Notes
References
Index
