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Is there any real spiritual value here? It appears to me to be misguided if the objective is to preserve oneself for later reanimation.

• M_Grey 10y ago
  They believed they would go to a very desirable heaven, with the ability to help people on Earth, but only if their body remained intact. They never believed they would be reanimated, in fact, they didn't even believe that they were escaping the cycle of death and rebirth, but that they could live in that heaven for over a million years, helping humanity. It's strange, I admit, but no stranger in my view than something like taking communion.
• javajosh 10y ago
  At it's core, Buddhism is about learning non-reaction to both pleasure and pain, treating both as mere sensation. I suppose this practice could be defended in that vein. However, it reminds me more of the Buddha's early ascetic practices, that he himself renounced, declaring that there is no point in actively harming oneself, and that one should instead work to reduce craving and aversion (the two fundamental types of reaction). There was another article about a small sect of Japanese Buddhist monks that had some horrible practices, like screaming at each other in the morning, and so on. Even stranger (and more horrible) practices exist. But I would not call them Buddhist.
  • contingencies 10y ago
    Shingon is a Vajrayana-style mystic tradition of Buddhism: more similar to Tibetan Buddhism than more popular East Asian forms. Also, it has been basically isolated in Japan since about the year 800. Although there is a Chinese school, contact was apparently limited.
  • praptak 10y ago
    The screaming might be part of Zen training. They scream at disciples to focus their mind on whatever they are doing right now. No daydreaming or you get screamed at.
• AlexCoventry 10y ago
  I don't know, what's an example of something of real spiritual value? Based on having read a fair chunk of the earliest Buddhist records, my guess is that he would probably have ridiculed or at least discouraged this practice. Obviously anyone capable of going through with it has tremendous spiritual strength, though.
  • ktRolster 10y ago
    This probably comes from Taoism, not from Buddhism. There's a lot of Tao in Japanese Buddhism, because it came there by way of China. Suffering (and ritual suicide, too) is very much a part of Taoism.
    • Mikeb85 10y ago
      > Suffering (and ritual suicide, too) is very much a part of Taoism. Interesting, it's certainly not found in the 'classics' of Taoism. Where exactly does it come from?
      • ktRolster 10y ago
        The 'classics' of Taoism you read in college (Tao te Qing, Chuangze) don't cover a LOT of what monks do in practice. I assume those are the books you are referring to when talking about 'classics'
        • Mikeb85 10y ago
          Fair enough. I'm just curious if the suffering aspect comes from Taoism, or the various Buddhist sects which have come through the region. Even though Theravada certainly emphasizes the 'middle' way the Buddha spoke of, extreme asceticism and suffering is certainly a part of Vajrayana and Mahayana sects (especially the former). I'm familiar with the classic texts of both Taoism and Buddhism, as well as with Buddhist sects, but know little about contemporary Taoist sects or popular Taoist religion.
          • 10y ago