sokushinbutsu means A Buddhist monk observing austerity to the point of death and mummification. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
sokushinbutsu is pronounced /ˌsɒkuʃɪnˈbʊtsuː/.
Why “sokushinbutsu” is a great word
SOKUSHINBUTSU — [Noun] A Buddhist monk who, through extreme ascetic practices, achieves death and subsequent mummification, or the mummified remains resulting from such a practice. From Japanese 即身仏 (sokushinbutsu), from 即 (soku, "immediate") + 身 (shin, "body") + 仏 (butsu, "Buddha"), literally meaning "Buddha immediately [in] this body." Unlike a "mummy"—any preserved corpse, often a product of chance or secular embalming—or an "ascetic"—one who practices self-denial but not necessarily unto this singular, terminal transformation—a sokushinbutsu is the achieved artifact of a willed apotheosis. It is the thousand-day diet of bark and nuts; the final seated meditation in an underground stone cell with only a breathing tube and a bell; the lacquered, venerated figure discovered centuries later. The word speaks of a terrifying patience—the belief that enlightenment can be so concentrated, so willfully achieved, that it petrifies the very vessel that sought it.
noun
- A Buddhist monk observing austerity to the point of death and mummification.