[nabla9]

Tendai "Marathon monks" in mount Hiei finish 1,000-day kaihōgyō with 9-day period without food, water, and sleep but they have to walk only 400m in those last 9-days. Only 46 men have finished.

If I remember correctly the 9-day period was shortened to something like 6 or 7 days, because too many of them died.

[samstave]

I'm willing to bet that whomever originally came up with the 'auspicious' 9 days never did it themselves.

[giraffe_lady]

Since it seems like a group that already practices and values feats of fasting and endurance it's probably most likely that it commemorates a single particularly notable fast attributed to a specific individual in the community's history. It's possible that that individual didn't actually succeed and it was based on a myth. But I seriously doubt some guy decided one day to try to trick his peers into doing a brutal fast that had never been done.

[singron]

In the origin legend of the marathon, the runner dies upon completion.

[lambdaba]

I'm into dry fasting, and I know people that did up to 20 days no food/water, and obviously little (but some) physical activity like slow walking.

[Loughla]

Legit question: What's the draw to that? Why do you do that to your body?

[lambdaba]

See my other replies. But I can speak for others a bit, prolonged fasting, even just water fasting, is a spiritual experience. It has unique health benefits. I do it for health, mainly, although I enjoy the experience itself, I'm functioning very differently during a fast, obviously I'm physically weakened, sleep patterns are dramatically altered, but the mind is sharper than ever, in a way that's frankly indescribable. Water fasting does this to a lesser degree, it can be a preview for those that are not ready or interested in something as "extreme" as dry fasting, as even water fasters look upon us as crazy.