[Buddha-l] Extreme practice

[Curt Steinmetz]

Finger burning is also found among Korean Buddhist monks, although the 
practice is officially prohibited. Robert Buswell discusses it in his 
"Zen Monastic Experience", in which he devotes a chapter subsection to 
"Finger Burning":

"One of the most severe ascetic practices, which involves actual 
self-mortification, is finger burning. Many Korean monks have burned 
their fingers as an ascetic practice or as an offering to the Buddha, 
not in association with any ordination procedure, as the Chinese used to 
do. The fourth finger of the left hand is the digit most commonly 
sacrificed, moving then to the last finger of the left, to the fourth 
finger on the right, and so forth...." [pp. 195-196]

Buswell follows the section on finger burning with one on "Self-Immolation".

My own opinion is that there is nothing inherently wrong with most 
extreme practices, as long as we are talking about people who are 
serious practitioners with no (other) signs of mental illness, and also 
as long as we are not essentially talking about suicide. Anything that 
directly results in cutting one's own life short should be put in a 
separate category, because of the great value that needs to be placed on 
not only being born human, but being born under circumstances conducive 
to practice.

Curt

Christopher Fynn wrote:
> The Theravada vipassana teacher Anagarika Munindra who lived in Bodhgaya 
> told me that, when the Tibetan refugees first arrived in India, he 
> several times saw Tibetans at the Mahabodhi stupa hold fingers up and 
> burn them as offerings, like offering butter lamps.
>
> Other fairly extreme forms of practice include Tibetan pilgrims going 
> right across Tibet and round Mt Kailash doing full length prostrations 
> all the way.
>
> - Chris
>
> Alex Wilding wrote:
>
>   
>> If I remember correctly, Jigten Sumgon was supposed to have done this.
>>     
>
>   
>> All the best
>> Alex Wilding
>> Blog: http://chagchen.org /
>>     
>
>   
>>> Erik Hoogcarspel
>>> No, but I remember stories told by Akong Rche about old Tibetan monks
>>> burning their fingers off.
>>>       
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>