Thailand Buddhism Funeral Culture - Literature review Example

Analysis of Thailand Buddhism Funeral Culture By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Title: Analysis of Thailand Buddhism Funeral Culture Abstract Buddhism is a religion which is practiced in many Asian countries such as Japan, china, India and Thailand. Different atheistic beliefs and rituals that determine the religiosity of the believers characterize the religion. The ritual is of various significances to the Buddhism since they are to strengthen the relationship between the Buddhists. Among the ritual and practices are the numerous funeral rituals and practices that are when a relative or family member dies. In many cultures, death is a transition from one life to another. Some cultures believe that when people die they have a life after death while others believe that there is no life after death. Buddhism has varying rituals that are performed during the funeral of one of their own. In Buddhism, death is as one of the most significant occasions in the life of an individual. Death rituals are the centre of focus when it comes to Buddhism. Many cultures and religions have documented their funeral ritual while practices that are performed during funerals among the Buddhism have not been researched. This research has analysed a wide range of the various practices and perspectives on Buddhist funerals. In this paper, various ethnographic materials, texts, histories and theoretical accounts on Buddhism funerals has. Buddhism funerals are with a diversity of activities and ritual performances. From the research is been learnt that the ritual in Buddhism funerals are not universal. This is because different Buddhists in different countries have a different interpretation of the Buddhism culture. Different localities have different rituals, which are acceptable in the Buddhism culture. The research will offer an explanation on the origin of the Buddhism funeral ritual in various parts of Thailand. It will also offer an insight on the role of Chinese culture in influencing the ritual in various parts of Asia including Japan. Therefore understanding the various ideas that surround the Buddhism culture helps us to understand the salient facts regarding deaths and funerals. In Buddhism culture deaths has several significances. It offers an understanding to the relationships of the various classes of people in the society. This is because different social classes have different funeral rituals and practices. This means that rituals performed in a high-class individual are different from the rituals that are during the death of a low class individual. In addition, funeral rituals are by some economic aspects such as agriculture, fertility, and cults. Therefore, most Asian countries have always believed that Buddhists are experts when it comes to deaths and funeral rituals. The research paper offers an understanding of the various religious practices, rituals, and ceremonies among the Buddhists in Thailand. It also gives an impact on the significance of the funeral ritual to the religiosity of the Buddhists in Thailand and other parts of Asia. This paper seeks to address the various funeral rituals in Thailand, which are performed by Buddhists. Annotated Bibliography Barrow, R 2011. What to expect in a Buddhist funeral. Buddhism in Thailand. (Online). Available at: http://www.thaibuddhist.com/what-to-expect-if-you-are-invited-to-a-thai-funeral/. Accessed on 30-03-2013. This online article by Barrow explains a personal experience on the various funeral rituals and practices in Buddhists communities in Thailand. In this article, the author points out some of the fundamental rituals that range from the dress code to performances. In addition to dress codes, the author also observed that the funerals are taking too long that usual. For the Buddhism rituals, they can extend up to one week. In this article, the author has included some pictures and photographs of ritual performances and the various dress codes in the funeral. Cremation ceremonies are a common ritual among the Buddhists in Thailand. During the cremation, some of the family members of the deceased are to watch while others leave before the process is over. Therefore, this article gives a general overview on how the rituals are and what time of the funeral these rituals are. The picture and explanations in this article aids in the understanding of the various ceremonies and rituals during a Buddhist funeral in most parts of Thailand. Falk, M 2010. Recovery and Buddhist practices in the aftermath of the Tsunami in Southern Thailand. Religion, 40(2): pp. 96-103. Monica Falk used interviews in collecting the data, which she used to compile this article. In this article, the author has focused on the various ways in which the people in Thailand views death. In a more central focus, the author uses the tsunami experience in explaining the Buddhism practices that were performed during the funeral of the victims. The articles concentrated on the various rituals and ceremonies that accompany an individual after death. The article explains the various beliefs, histories, and interpretation of the Buddhist practices in Thailand. In this study, the author made particularly valuable findings on the ceremonies in the Buddhist culture, which were known, to many people. This ethnography is based on anthropological research, with an in depth in life stories, interviews, and participation in practice in southern parts of Thailand. Horstmann, A 2009. The Revitalization and Reflexive Transformation of the Manooraa Rongkruu Performance and Ritual in Southern Thailand: Articulations with Modernity. Asian Journal of Social Science. , 37(6): pp.918-934. In this article, Alexander Horstmann considers various ritual ceremonies and practices in Thailand. In this article, Horstmann used data from fieldwork to document about the changing genres of traditional arts and various religious and communal cycles. His study is based on the interreligious ritual that makes various religious groups in Thailand to communicate with the dead. He reflects on the public performances in various parts of Thailand that attracts numerous individuals during funerals and other functions. It gives an insight of the general rituals, which are the basis of religiosity among the Thailand Buddhists. Langer, R 2007. Buddhist Rituals Death and Rebirth: Contemporary Sri Lankan Practice and Its Origins. London: Routledge. Langer Rita is an experienced researcher fellow in Buddhist studies at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. In this book, she has focused on the death rituals among the Theravada in Thailand. In this book, she has explained the various Buddhist practices, which are part of the Buddhism religiosity. She has considered historical texts and bibliographies in deaths ritual among the people in southern Asia including china. The most prominent rituals that are in this text are the fact that Buddhism in southern Asia including china treats their people differently during funerals. People of high integrity in society are differently when they are dead, and those who are common Buddhists are in their own way. For example, people who had greater value to the community are washed with clean pieces of clothes and they wrapped before burning them. Lobra, S., Youngblut, J., Brooten, D 2006. Cross-cultural Beliefs, Ceremonies, and Rituals surrounding Death of a Loved One. Paediatric Nursing, 32 (1): p44-50. In this article, the authors discuss the various funeral rituals and practices that surround the death of a loved one. In this study, the information was gathered form focus group discussion of student from Asian American, European and Caribbean countries who were from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. In the group discussions, the main information in focus was the ceremonies that surround death of an individual among various religious groups. This offers an understanding of some Buddhist rituals in Asian countries including Thailand. The authors are able to show the relationship between death and ritual performances of the Buddhists, which creates stronger cultural beliefs among families. Schedneck, B 2007. Buddhist Life Stories. Contemporary Buddhism, 8(1): p57-68. This article explains the various connections between life and death among the historical Buddhism and modern Buddhism. The author uses contemporary memoirs to document his understanding of the Buddhism religious practices. In this article, the reader gets an understanding of the various choices in modern Buddhism that relates to their religious practices. The life stories of various individual offers a wide explanation of the various ceremonies and rituals during different function in Buddhism. It offers the difference in traits of historical Buddhism and modern Buddhism in various parts of the world. The author offers a connection between the rituals and life after death. Shu-min, H 2009. Religion as a means of cultural reproduction: popular rituals in a Yunnan Chinese village in northern Thailand. Asian Ethnicity, 10(2): p155-176. The author has discussed the importance of various rituals in northern Thailand and the reasons as to why such rituals exist. The rituals that are in funeral are to achieve cultural reproduction among the Buddhism community in Northern Thailand. The findings in this article were from the author’s empirical fieldwork studies, which analysed the various rituals, performed during funerals and their impact on cultural reproduction. The author offered a connection between the funeral and other rituals with the militias in the 1960s in this part of Asia. These local militias were preservers of Chinese culture hence the Buddhism funeral ritual were influenced by the Chinese in the region. Since the local were in favour and liked the Chinese culture, they also practiced the rituals. Read More