Sangha Tenzin is a 500 year old Tibetan monk mummy. But unlike traditional mummification that occurs after death, old Sang mummified himself. A rare ritual undertaken between the 11th and 19th Centuries by the most highly devoted and able spiritual masters in Yamagata, they would starve themselves to death very slowly in order to reach the highest form of enlightenment. The monks would eat a solely tree-based diet, ingesting only roots, nuts and herbs in order to completely deplete their fat reserves. This process could take anywhere from several months to 10 years. The monks also ingested poisonous cycad nuts and lacquer tree sap, which facilitated vomiting, removed moisture from the body and acted as a deterrent to flesh-eating insects after death. By the time the monk died, the body was so devoid of fat and the organs were so shrunken in size that the desiccated body wouldn’t start decomposing – thus preserving the physical form and beginning the baffling process of natural mummification.
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