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Buddhism After Death Beliefs

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There are hundreds of cultures all of the world who have different views, traditions, and beliefs. One of the major parts of a lot of cultures is the death aspect and certain things they believe about it. Although everybody dies eventually, people have different ideas about what should happen to the body left behind, what happens to the soul, and even different ways people the deceased left behind should mourn. A very big religion throughout the world is Buddhism. According to a website on buddhism, it “originated in North West India some 2,500 years ago, with the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha (the Awakened One)” (Buddhist Society). They have very different views on life and death from other major religions …show more content…

Buddhist believe that what happens after the death of a person to their body relies on them. They have the ability to donate their organs if they want to, and it is known as a generous deed and receives good karma, but if a person chooses not to do so then whoever is dealing with the body post-death must respect their decision. There is typically a funeral service following a person’s death. It can happen before or after the burial or cremation of the body but it usually happens before. A person has to be complete cold before the preparations for the funeral can take place. The dead is not buried in nice or fancy outfits like many christians do, but instead are buried in their normal everyday clothes. The decision of cremation is explain by Buddhist Society, “Most Buddhists are cremated, following the example of the Buddha, but this is not invariably the case. Some Buddhist traditions say that at least 4 days should pass before the body is cremated and that embalming should be avoided if at all possible”. There is a portrait of the deceased and also of Buddha. The family of the deceased and the guest who attend wear white and have white or yellow flowers around. It is seen as rude to wear bright colors such as red. Family and friends sing songs and pray during the funeral and are suppose to send good thoughts to help move the spirit into a better …show more content…

There is a state of being described as hungry ghost or preta where someone with bad karma is sent to suffer. In this state, a person is constantly hungry and thirsty and searching for food and drink but never find it. They spend their time in there suffering and trying to relieve their wants until they are reborn into another life. Another thing that you can experience if you have bad karma is being reborn as an animal. Being reborn as an animal is something you would not want to experience because animals are lesser than humans and usually at their disposal. They are farmed and hunted by people. The last and worst thing possible to happen after death is Hell. People come here and suffer for their time there. They go through very intense pain and there are different realms of torture. People who are sent here can suffer for as long as their karma earns them and it could be thousands of

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