Is there any real spiritual value here? It appears to me to be misguided if the objective is to preserve oneself for later reanimation.
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.
Suffering (and ritual suicide, too) is very much a part of Taoism.
Read any book about Daoist monks in China and you will surely come across some of their suffering and other antics. The ending of the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a popular reference to such a suicide.
Interesting, it's certainly not found in the 'classics' of Taoism. Where exactly does it come from?
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.
The first time I entered a Taoist temple I was shocked. They didn't teach me about Xi Wang Mu in my college classes!
I'm just curious if the suffering aspect comes from Taoism......extreme asceticism and suffering is certainly a part of Vajrayana and Mahayana sects
Good questions. Ideas certainly have intermingled over the millennia. When I think of Vajrayana suffering, I think, "I am going to sit here and let leaches suck my blood so I can clarify my mind" or "seek out that which bothers you. If graveyards scare you, go sit in a graveyard."
Whereas Daoists will break their legs and suck the marrow out of their bones, or chop their arm off to show they are sincere about learning. Buddhists typically won't starve themselves to death.
I'm not sure what part of extreme asceticism and suffering you were referring to, but if you'd like to discuss it, I'll hear it.
Interested to find out more about this... Any links?
Guess it's kind of like Hinduism, you think it's all vegetarianism and non-violence, then you discover there's gurus engaging in human sacrifice and black magic.
It's strange, I admit, but no stranger in my view than something like taking communion.
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.