In #2015, researchers in the #Netherlands performing a #CT #scan on a #statue of a sitting #Buddha discovered the last thing they were expecting to find. The statue contained a #monk that had been #mummified for 1,000 years. Rather than simply placing the monk inside the statue, researchers discovered that the monk was filled with scraps of paper covered in Chinese characters. In order to mummify oneself a monk would take on a special diet of poisonous tea in order to ensure that the body would be too toxic to be consumed by maggots. It’s rare that a monk could accomplish such a feat, but the few who pulled it off were revered within the community.
