Buddhism Customs Differences Between Death And Death

This research explores the literature across cultures on death and dying in order to highlight the impact of culture on reactions to death and the dying process. A theoretical framework is established, using Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s five stages of dying, followed by a succinct discussion of the reactions and attitudes toward death and the dying process of four cultures (Buddhist, Hindu, Native American and American). By illustrating the different reactions and attitudes toward death of these cultures, it is revealed that through increased cultural understanding health care workers can provide more personalized care to the dying.

How do different religions handle grief and loss? Choose two different groups and research (make sure you do a bibliography) how they approach the loss of a loved one. How are they similar? How do they differ?

As humans we understand that unfortunately part of life, is indeed death. We have one chance on this Earth to find meaning and to fulfill our wishes and desires. With that being said each and every person chooses to deal with death in different ways. In chapter three one of the most interesting topics we learned and discussed about was how the Chinese culture dealt with the passing of their loved ones in ancient times. The Chinese held the belief that their ancestors went to a place like heaven and once they reached that destination their ancestors became mediators between heaven and Earth. For this reason the Chinese made graves for their loved ones in which they would often bring food and wine as offerings and they even went as far into making sacrifices for their ancestors.

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because

“‘The sense of the dead is that of the final,’ says a Vietnamese proverb, meaning that funeral ceremonies must be solemnly organized,” as stated in the Vietnam Tourism website. The way a funeral is organized in Vietnam is strongly influenced by Chinese; as stated in the article “Culture of Vietnam,” ones with various rites and activities. Most funerals in Vietnam consist of three stages. In the tourism website they also state that, “The date and time for the funeral procession, le dua tang, must be carefully selected.” This is an important factor, as the mourning process of a loved one in Vietnamese customs the funeral goes on for two years. The length of a Vietnamese funeral is after three

The Buddhist has a view of life after death that is completely contradicting towards the Catholic Church’s view.

In the funeral world there are a lot of different styles of funerals. For example, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic funerals. Both very different, but at the same time they have several things in common. In funerals there is an abundance of things to compare and contrast. We will be looking at different ways the notification of death is handled in both of these religions, removal, embalming, dressing/casketing, visitation requirements/rituals, and interment or cremation.

Today the Chinese population still follows these traditions with a few small exceptions of modern times. All elders are given respect in the Chinese society, those living or deceased. There is a question that still remains in this culture on how to prepare a funeral of unmarried adults and children. No respect is given to a person who died as a bachelor or bachelorette, or if they did not have children. They are not considered an elder and do not have children that prepare the funeral for them. Children are also shown no respect because they do not have anyone to prepare their death ritual. They are left at their funeral home and the family members preform these burials in silence. The children in Chinese families prepare funerals for elders. It is considered proper for the children of the deceased to go into debt in order to pay respect for the older people at the funeral. The body of the dead must be washed with care, dusted with talcum powder, and dressed in the nicest clothes from the personal wardrobe before being placed in the casket for burial. All of the other clothing that belongs to the deceased elder must be burned. The deceased is never dressed in red because it is believed that it will turn the corpse into a ghost. The body is placed on a yellow cloth with the face covered, and then the body is covered with a blue cloth. All statues of deities are covered with red paper and all mirrors are removed from site in the home when preparing the home for the death ritual. The mirror is removed so that no one sees the coffin in the mirror. If someone sees the coffin in the mirror, it is believed that you will have a death within your own family soon. A white cloth is hung in the doorway and a gong is placed outside the door of the home of the deceased. If the person who is deceased is a male, it is placed on the left side; if female, it is placed

Death is never an easy thing to deal with. When a loved one dies, people will naturally go through a system of mourning wherein they laud and appreciate the person who is now gone from their lives forever. There are times when deaths are more difficult to deal with, such as when a death is unexpected or when the deceased is a young person who should have had a long life ahead of them. Although death is never necessarily a happy event, there are occurrences where the passing away of a friend or loved one can be quantified as a good, if not pleasant event. According to the text, there are three conditions wherein a death can be considered a "good death." First, there is the medically-based good death. In this scenario, a person has been ill for a considerable length of time. Their illness is chronic, painful, and incurable. Thus, when that person finally passes away from that disease, their death is good because they are no longer in the position where they are suffering. The second type of good death is the sacred death wherein a person dies for some sort of religious purpose. In many ancient cultures, there were civilizations which used the practice of human sacrifice for a variety of reasons, including honoring the gods and ensuring a strong harvest of crops. Modern cultures do not usually include sacred deaths nor sacrificial deaths and often prosecute those who choose to participate in such events. Thirdly, a

They used a hard vocabulary to contain the terrible softness. Greased they 'd say. Offed, lit up, zapped while zipping. It wasn 't cruelty, just stage presence. They were actors. When someone died, it wasn 't quite dying, because in a curious way, it seemed scripted, and because they had their lines mostly memorized, irony mixed with tragedy, and because they called it by other names, as if to encyst and destroy the reality of death itself. "

Death is inevitable part of human experience, which is often associated with fear of unknown, separation, and spiritual connection. Death is an individual experience, which is based on unique perceptions and beliefs. Fear of death and dying seems to be a universal phenomenon, which is closely associated with apprehension and uneasiness. Death is allied with permanent loss, thus personal experiences of grief are similar in many different cultures. There are different mourning ceremonies, traditions, and behaviors to express grief, but the concept of permanent loss remains unchanged in cross cultural setting. With this paper I will identify cross-cultural perspectives on death and dying, and will analyze

According to (Liming & Dickenson 2011., p.3) “thanatology is the study of dying, death, and bereavement.” I believe that the study of death will be a topic to be discussed and forever researched. There are many different aspects of death that I believe people can study, rather it be cultural believes, medically researching different processes of death, or even just what your own personal discovery of what death exactly is or what happens after death. No one can interview the dead. No one can find out if death is peaceful, or if there is life after death, or what death feels like. So for this topic of defining thanatology I wanted to look at the studies of peoples near death experiences, interviews from people who are experiencing death, the different cultures behind viewing death, and lastly the communication skills needed for health care professionals to develop in order to discuss death and dying amongst the patient and their family

Firstly, on the day a Hindu Indian dies, the dead Hindu is brought home or right outside the home by friends and family members, and the dead is laid on a floor covered in cow feces because cow feces are seen as a sacred purifying agent. Secondly, one designated family member will sprinkle the dead body with water and cover the body with new clothes. Thirdly, the dead body is placed on a rope bed and carried by loved ones to the burial site. Yet, only the men are allowed to go to the burial site, and the women stay home to mourn. Fourthly, crying is not allowed at the burial site because it believed that the dead will accidentally take in the tears and mucus from the mourners, and that can have corrupting effects on the dead. Fifthly, the body will usually then be cremated, and while the body burns, the lead mourner will smash the skull of the dead. Opening of the head will release the soul and allow it to go to its new residence (Bregman, 2009). These are the main events that happen in a traditional Hindu Indian

These events are taken to extreme measure, making sure every step is taken with care. Theorist Terence Lovat’s theory of the five step approach can be delivered in a Islamic death ritual through the series of events in the lead up and post of the funeral. The preparation of the funeral happens before the death of the person. When the Muslim is dying, someone must firmly but gently prompt the person dying to say the holy declaration prayer, this is called the Shahaada. People can then offer their condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased, this in Islam is an important act of kindness. The next important factor is the physical cleansing of the body. The bathing of the corpse is an important part of ‘Sunnah the Prophet’, this is a part of the Islamic Shari’ah. The method, the style and the accessories that are used may vary from time to time and from place to place. After the body has been cleansed, the corpse is then wrapped in a plain simple cloth, this cloth is called ‘Kafan’ and the process called ‘Takfeen’. The main factor while wrapping the body is to respectfully cover the private part, so they aren’t visible to others. Islam traditions state that the cloth must be a material must be a gaudy style as well as the cloth not being too flashy, it is for this reason that most muslims pick a white cotton cloth. Perfume is often used on the cloth (Amjad,

When a patient dies, the eyes are closed, the body is placed on the ground and covered, and then candles are lit around the body. Also there should always be someone present with the deceased body as a sign of respect, this is usually a family member if not most Jewish communities have people called shomerim who volunteer to stay with the deceased until after burial, to say prayers for the