Funeral (Buddhism)

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In Buddhism, death marks the transition from this life to the next for the deceased.

Among Buddhists death is regarded as an occasion of major religious significance, both for the deceased and for the survivors. For the deceased it marks the moment when the transition begins to a new mode of existence within the round of rebirths. When death occurs all the karmic forces that the dead person accumulated during the course of his or her lifetime become activated and set about determining the next rebirth. For the living, death is a powerful reminder of the Buddha's teaching on impermanence; it also provides an opportunity to assist the deceased person as he or she fares on to the new existence.[1]


Contents

[edit] Theravada traditions

For the non-Arahant, death is a time of transitioning to a yet another rebirth; thus, the living participate in acts that transfer merit to the departed, either providing for a more auspicious rebirth or for the relief of suffering in the departed's new existence. For the living, ceremonies marking another's death is a reminder of life's impermanence, a fundamental aspect of the Buddha's teaching.[2]

In Sri Lanka, funeral customs include:

  • "Offering of cloth on behalf of the dead" (mataka-vastra-puja):
    Prior to a cremation, at the deceased's home or cemetery, the funeral's presiding monastics are offered a white cloth to be subsequently stitched into monastic robes. During this ceremony, the following verse is recited:

Impermanent alas are formations,
subject to rise and fall.
Having arisen, they cease;
their subsiding is bliss.

Anicca vata sankhara,
uppadavayadhammino.
Uppajjitva nirujjhanti
tesam vupasamo sukho.
  • "Preaching for the benefit of the dead" (mataka-bana):
    Within a week after the funeral (usually on the third day after), a monastic returns to the deceased's home to provide an appropriate hour-long sermon for surviving relatives and neighbors.
  • "Offering in the name of the dead" (mataka-dana):
    Made three weeks after the funeral and then annually afterwards, the deceased's survivors hold an almsgiving on their behalf.[3]

[edit] Mahayana traditions

See also: Japanese funeral.

In China, numerous instructive and merit-transferring ceremonies are held during the forty-nine days between death and rebirth. The recitation of the Amitabha Sutra and the name of Amitabha is also an important part of the ceremony.[4]

[edit] Tibetan traditions

A person who is dying and who is recently dead will have for example the "Tibetan Book of the Dead" read to them (in the Nyingma tradition) to help guide them through the transition period (Tib.: bardo) between lives, easing attachments to this life and deepening bodhisattva wisdom. The corpse is either cremated or dismembered and fed to vultures (Tib.: jhator).[5]

Other Tibetan traditions have other special texts read and rituals performed, which may also be personalized to the specific (vajrayana) practice a person focussed on during his/her life. As the bardo is generally said to last a maximum of 49 days, these rituals will usually last 49 days also. Death and dying is an important subject in Tibetan Buddhism as it is a most critical period for deciding which karma will ripen to lead one to the next rebirth, so a proper control of the mind at the death process is considered essential.

Great meditation masters can even stay a long period (sometimes weeks or even more) in a state between what we would call clinical death and the separation of the mind and the body (the moment of death in the Tibetan tradition), during which they meditate on the special appearance of the 'clear light mind'. Using this special, very subtle state of mind, it is said in the Vajrayana teachings that great spiritual progress can be made, if one has the capacity to be clearly aware of it. In this state of meditation, the body will not show any ordinary signs of death, decay or even smell. After this prolonged meditation, the meditator continues into the bardo or even towards enlightenment. Great masters are often cremated, and their ashes stored as relics in stupas.

In Tibet, firewood was scarce, and the ground often not suitable for burial, so the unusual practice of feeding the body to vultures or other animals developed. One can see this also as an offering to these animals, a last act of generosity and detachment to one's own body.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kariyawasam (1995), ch. 5, "Almsgiving and Funerals."
  2. ^ Kariyawasam (1995), ch. 5, "Almsgiving and Funerals." Also see, for example, in the Pali Canon, awareness of another's death is often referred to as one of the "messengers" from the lord of the Underworld meant to spur one onto a more wholesome life.
  3. ^ Kariyawasam (1995), ch. 5, "Almsgiving and Funerals."
  4. ^ Harvey (1990), p. 212.
  5. ^ Harvey (1990), p. 212.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Harvey, Peter (1990). An introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, history and practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University. ISBN 0-521-31333-3.
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