Sunada Tetsu was born in Tsuruoka in 1768 (Hijikata, 1996; Matsumoto, 2002). His parents were poor, and although their ancestors were samurai, they worked as farmers and day laborers. They named their son Tetsu (iron) in the hope that he would become strong and powerful.
When he was 25 years old, he killed two men after a disagreement. According to one legend, Tetsu saw that two samurai who were in charge of flood control were drunk, and he charged them with negligence. They became angry, drew their swords, and attacked him. Tetsu protected himself and killed them with a fire hook (Hori, 1962; Hijikata, 1996). However, the truth of this story is doubtful. The more likely account involves his affair with a woman.
According to Matsumoto (2002), Hijikata (1996), Ando (1961) and Raveri (1992), Tetsu fought with the samurai over a prostitute who worked in Akagawa, the pleasure district of Tsuruoka. Apparently, he fell in love with the woman. After a disagreement that involved her, he killed both of the samurai with his bare fists, while they wielded swords.
He fled to Yudono to escape from his pursuers, and he joined the seminary at Churen Temple the next day.25 Adopting the religious name Tetsumonkai, he began training in austerities at the Swamp of Immortals, perhaps praying for the souls of the samurai that he had killed. While he was training, the prostitute that he had fallen in love with came to find him. She cried, wondering how he could leave her and never look back, and she wanted to know why he did not love her any more. He explained that he did still love her, but he was dedicating his life to religion — he was training in austerities to develop his spirit for all of humankind (Ando, 1968; Matsumoto, 2002).
She knew the type of man that he used to be, and it is possible that she did not believe his statement. He perhaps understood her incredulity, and he said, “Please wait a moment” (Matsumoto, 2002, p. 24). Then he turned and
Tetsumonkai’s hand scroll (Churen Temple).
Walked away. He returned shortly with a package for her. In order to demonstrate his sincerity and the conviction that he now held, he had cut off his own penis and presented it to her, wrapped in paper, stating that he was through (Matsumoto, 2002). When he handed her the package, he said, “Forget about me” (Matsumoto, 2002, p. 24).26 After he had walked away again, she unwrapped it, exposing the bloody object. Discovering what it was, she fled down the mountain in tears. The object, which was not only his penis,
But also his testicles, made its way around the pleasure quarters of Akagawa. Eventually, having been dried and naturally preserved, it was sent to Nan-gaku Temple, where it was preserved as a saintly relic, much like bones and entire bodies are venerated in Christian religious traditions (Ando, 1968).
Tetsumonkai was seen as an especially holy man, and he was known for his miraculous accomplishments. Many ascetics came to learn from him. In 1799, at age 32, Tetsumonkai and his disciples left the Swamp of Wizards and Dewa Sanzan. They traveled through Shonai, Tohoku and Hokkaido, building and repairing temples, roads, and bridges in order to make life easier for Japan’s inhabitants. According to existing accounts, he cared deeply for all people, and he wished to do everything he could for the sake of humankind. He wanted to give all of himself to others.
While traveling through Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Tetsumonkai saw an outbreak of an eye disease that was making people blind. He was educated in the use of herbal medicine, but he was unable to assist people through secular means. His ascetic training had given him the strength and determination needed to mutilate his body in an attempt to cure the disease. He cut out his own left eye and threw it into the Sumida River, praying for a cure.
Historically, in religions worldwide, self-sacrifice or self-mutilation was almost always required before requests were granted. In the ancient Mayan civilization, for example, the gods required royal blood, so the king and queen would cut themselves. They pierced their tongues and dragged a rope of thorns through the hole, and they cut their genitals, offering the blood to the deities. The blood was collected on leaves and burned in a sacred pyre as an offering to the gods. They believed that this was necessary to ensure rain, crops, and the happiness of the people (Schele and Miller, 1992).
Simply praying for something does not demonstrate sincerity. An action performed in conjunction with prayer that evinces pain, however, may reveal a sincere, unselfish wish. This sincerity is most important, and it demonstrates itself in fanaticism. There are many examples of this phenomenon in religious traditions all over the world, including Japan. The following example, involving a Buddhist priest, is found in Hagakure: The priest Daiyu from Sanshu went to visit a sick man whom he knew, but upon his arrival he was informed that the man had already died. The priest did not think that the man should have already died, as he had looked okay some time before, and he asked if the death was due to insufficient medical treatment on the part of the doctor. The doctor was still in the house, and he overheard the statement. He emerged and said, “I heard Your Reverence say that the man died from insufficient treatment. Since I am a rather bungling doctor, this is probably true. I have heard that a priest embodies the power of the Buddhist Law. Let
Exterior of Churen Temple.
Me see you bring this dead man back to life, for without such evidence Buddhism is worthless” (Yamamoto, 1979, p. 145).
The priest was concerned with this challenge, and he did not wish to give Buddhism a bad name, so he replied that he would demonstrate to everyone the power of Buddhist faith: he would bring the man back from the dead. He left the house, claiming that he had to return to the temple and prepare himself for what was to follow. When he returned, he sat in meditation next to the corpse. Soon, the dead man began to breathe again, and he continued to live for another six months. Others asked the priest how he accomplished this miraculous feat. The priest replied, 'This is something not practiced in our sect, so I didn’t know of any way of prayer. I simply set my heart for the sake of the Buddhist Law, returned to the temple, sharpened a short sword that had been given as an offering to the temple, and put it in my robe. Then I faced the dead man and prayed, ‘If the strength of the Buddhist Law exists, come back to life immediately.’ Since I was thus committed, if he hadn’t come back to life, I was resolved to the point of cutting open my stomach and dying embracing the corpse” (Yamamoto, 1979, p. 146).
View of Dewa Sanzan from inside of Churen Temple.
This resolve is evident in the actions of many individuals who dedicate their lives to a cause: people who are resolute in their beliefs and unshaken in their sincerity. Tetsumonkai was one such individual, and his ascetic training had no limit. In 1819, after he and his disciples had returned to Churen Temple after an extended period of travel, Tetsumonkai decided to endure even more difficult practices than he had in the past. He vowed to undergo a 3,000-day period of severe asceticism, traveling three times daily to the shrine on Yudono, a trip that takes four hours each way by foot. He completed this training period in 1827, at age 60, and he then decided to become a Living Buddha.
According to temple literature, he thought, “As long as I have a body, even if I work myself to the bone, I can still bring salvation to mankind. But if I die, I can’t. In order to continue bringing salvation to mankind, I must leave my body in this world and become a sokushinbutsu” (Churenji, n. d.).
On December 7, 1829, Tetsumonkai got together with a number of his disciples, and they had a large banquet. They ate and joked around, and he remarked that it was great to enter nyujo surrounded by so many happy
People (Raveri, 1992). The next day, he entered the inner temple of Churenji, where he would attain nirvana. There was a hole dug in a clearing, and a coffin was placed inside. Tetsumonkai stepped down into the hole and sat in meditative posture. He held prayer beads in one hand and a bell in the other. The coffin was sealed while he rang the bell, praying, and a tablet detailing the event was erected. It is said that he used all of his strength to speak to those that surrounded his tomb. He took a deep breath and spoke his last words: “To all those who prayed for me, I won’t let you down” (Matsumoto, 2002, p. 27).
After his death, the body was removed, and it was dried using candle fires and incense smoke. Then, it was reinterred.
Three years later, the body was removed from its enclosure and enshrined at Churen Temple, where it remains today. The body is 162.1 cm tall and weighs 5.0 kg, and there are long ligature marks on both sides of his chest that were possibly caused by the use of a cord to tie up kimono sleeves (Sakurai et al., 1998). Tamotsu Ogata, one of the researchers that examined the body, wrote:
This mummy has suffered serious damage.
The remaining skin is black brown and hair also remains. There is no evidence that the brain and viscera were extracted. Part of the diaphragm and the left lung remain. Temple records report that he body was dried using big candles immediately after his death.
This suggests that the color of the skin may possibly be attributable to soot. A distinctive feature of this mummy is that the soft part of the face, from the frontal to the mandible part, has disintegrated and seems to be mended with something black. It was painted over with yellow paint, then probably with black Japanese lacquer [Sakurai et al., p. 321].
The yellow and black paint are not easily visible to visitors anymore, since the body
Painting of the self-mummified monk Tetsumonkai Shonin, located next to his remains at Churen Temple, in Oaminaka. (artist unknown)
Is enclosed in an unlit glass case. However, one eye-socket is empty, while the other seems to be covered with mummified flesh. According to temple priests, the empty socket is evidence that Tetsumonkai had in fact extracted his own eye, as his hagiographies report. Due to this evidence, as well as items found in a special hall on the first floor of Nangaku Temple that are in conjunction with written records, it is likely that all of the available information about the life of this self-mummified monk is accurate. He is considered to have been one of the most holy individuals in the Yudono Sect, and he is remembered even today for his piety and devotion to humankind, evidenced by the severe ascetic practices and self-torture that he endured.
World History
