Cross-Cultural Perspectives - Essay Example

MIH 514 Cross Cultural Perspectives Mod 4 SLP Death Rituals Death Rituals Many Eastern Indians are Hindu. They believe that humans are born again and again and according to what they call karma, until they gain the pleasure of moksha. This is done essentially by living a life without sin. The hope is that you will make moksha happy and this will allow you to be born into a higher form in the next life. As death approaches, the family lifts the member out of bed and places the body on the floor with their head to the North. This is because when Buddha died his head was facing North. Each of the family members dips a sweet basil leaf in water from the Ganges or milk and places them on the lips of the dying person and everyone sings until the person passes. The families have very specific rituals based on who leads the rites. If it is a father who died, the oldest son takes on that responsibility and if it is the mother, the youngest son (Samskars, 2010). Once the chief mourner is established they perform what is then called arati which is a ritual in which an oil lamp is passed over the body and then flowers are palced. THe body is then carried to the back porch, where it is bathed and dressed in white. THe remaining ritual is very complicated with children moving around the body with insence and then the females etc. The body is eventually placed in a coffin and the coffin is carried by the family to the crematorium Once everyone reaches he crematorium a bowl of barley flour is placed on the head as moving toward the crematorium, the second is placed on the chest during the procession, and the third on the stomach after reaching inside the crematorium. Many other small rituals are carried out by the chief mourner and the family and the body is then placed in the crematory and the switch is thrown by the chief mourner. The whole family then returns home and bathes and everyone shares in cleaning the house. In 24 hours, the family returns for the ashes. If they are in the US at this time, the ashes are shipped to India to spread in the Ganges, if they are in India, it is done by the chief mourner. The ritual of loss never is truly ended as after each year a rice ball is offered with a bowl of water in the memory of the person who died. Sons will hold a memorial service and women will erase their marriage mark and wear white for a year after a husbands death. Bereavement Bereavement for everyone in the family goes on for at least a year. There is the establishment of a shrine on the day of crematory and pictures and flowers are placed there as well as rice balls to assure that the person is not hungry on their journey. Every year there after the family offers rice balls as above and the chief mourner performs rituals. The wife is expected to mourn for at least a year. Spirituality Religious practices There are actually several different kinds of religious practices in India. These include Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, and Islam. The most often practiced religion, however, is Hinduism. The Indian tradition includes many rituals. Note in appendix A, the different deities that are involved in the Hindu religion. Almost all of these require some kind of practice or ritual to stay in their favor (Cline, 2009).There are religious ceremonies for weddings, deliveries, males reaching 6 and 12 and if you are rich, even more. The spirituality and mystical charm of India has brought it many visitors. This is ever more true as the world becomes even more capitalistic and confused (loveindia.com). Use of Prayer Prayer wheels are placed in many areas of most communities and in particular around the temples in which people can make contributions to the temple or spin the prayer wheel for prayers and this happens many times throughout the day. The Indian people believe that prayer is a constant thing in some ways, one in which they participate in consistently and may involve many different deities (appendix A). There are saints and sprits to be included and each has a message of peace, power, brotherhood, and existence that is rooted in their culture. There is a supreme being that is the supreme creator who is compassionate, carrier and loving and this is the message to the people. Meaning of Life Life is meant to be spent achieving Dharma. This is done by positive living and by consistently seeking to do better. When one is reborn each time they are given another chance to achieve Dharma. All possessions, ego, power, and learning will end when one dies and the person who discovers the truth of that is able to turn their eyes toward God which is the ultimate goal. Faith and gratitude and the understanding of the lack of importance of physical things will take the person along the path of Dharma. Individual Strength Individual strength is considered eventually a sin. It is believed that man has a mistaken belief that they are individual selves but they are really part of the ultimate. They believe that God exists in the soul of each individual and that each person is responsible to act in that manner. Kharma is the belief that good begets good and evil begets evil and in practicing either we are acting as part God and part person but not as a individual. Spirituality and Health Many believe in the traditional Indian system of medicine called Ayuiveda. There is a the three doshas which make up each individual and those three doshas relate to the physical, mental, and spiritual parts of the soul. When one exceeds the other, there is illness and that dosha must be treated. This illness may spread to the other dosha but may start in one. There is a complicated medical system in which herbs, prayer, and many rituals are used to hopefully cure the dosha with that is excessive. The Indian people that live in the US presently have the largest number of heart disease and diabetes in an immigrant population. Unfortunately, many are very ill by the time they are treated by a physician as Ayuivda is always tried first. In India women have breast cancer at the rate of 1:60 and in the US, it is 1:4. Many die for lack of treatment early enough (Alagiaterstnan, & Chopra, 2008). References Alagiatristnan, K, & Chopra A. (2008). Health and Health care of the Asian Indian Americans Retrieved on Sept. 22, 2010 from www.strnford.edu/groupnethnoger/asianindian.html. Cline, A. (2009). Hindu Rituals in India. Country Studies, Library of Congress Samskars A. (2010). Rituals related to Death in Hindu family. retrieved on Sept. 22, 2010 from http://www.religiousportal.com/HinduDeathRItuals.html http://www.iloveindia.com/spirituality/index.html. Appendix Spirituality in India Hindu Goddesses Durga Durga Chalisa Names of Durga Ganga Ganga Legend Parvati Lakshmi Lakshmi Chalisa Names of Lakshmi Kali Maa Kali Aarti Sita Radha Legends of Radha Krishna Radha Ashtami Saraswati Basant Panchami Ashrams in India     Art of Living Foundation Asaram Bapu Ashram Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute Auroville Baba Ramdev Ashram Bihar School of Yoga Brahma Kumaris Chinmaya Mission Isha Foundation Iskcon Temple Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram Ma Anandamayi Ashram Missionary of Charity Nirankari Mission Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Centers Nityananda Ashram Osho Ashram Radhasoami Satsang Ashram Ramakrishna Mission Ramana Maharishi Ashram Sathya Sai Baba Ashram Shankaracharya Peethas Sivananda Ashram Sudhanshu Maharaj Ashram Vaswani Ashram Vipassana International Academy Yoga Institute Mumbai Hindu Gods Ganesha Ganesha Chalisa Names of Ganesha Legends of Ganesha Ganesha Mantra Krishna Krishna Aarti Krishna Chalisa Names of Lord Krishna Hanuman Hanuman Aarti Shri Hanuman Chalisa Names of Hanuman Legends of Hanuman Shiva Lord Shiva Chalisa Lord Shiva Legends Names of Shiva Lord Rama Legend of Lord Rama Names of Lord Rama Vishnu Avatars of Vishnu Bhairav Brahma Surya Indian Gurus     Adi Shankaracharya Andal Bharat Thakur Bikram Choudhary BKS Iyengar Sri Aurobindo Avvaiyyar Chinmayananda Dayanand Saraswati Guru Nanak Dev Gyaneshwar Sant Kabir Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Mata Amritanandamayi Mira Alfassa Mother Teresa Namadeva Nammalwar Osho Rajneesh Paramahansa Yogananda Patanjali Pandurang Shastri Athavale Ramakrishna Paramahansa Ramdev Baba Sathya Sai Baba Shirdi Sai Baba Shri Yogendra Swami Sivananda Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Surdas Swami Vivekananda Swami Satyananda Saraswati Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Swami Yogeshwaranand Saraswati Tukaram Valmiki Vishwamitra Mantras Brahma Mantra Dhanwantari Mantra Durga Mantra Ganesh Mantra Hanuman Mantra Hare Krishna Mantra Kali Mantra Krishna Mantra Kuber Mantra Lakshmi Mantra Mantra Power Mantra Chanting Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra Ram Mantra Saraswati Mantra Shanti Mantras Shiva Mantra Surya Namaskar Mantra Vishnu Mantra Slokas Bedtime Sloka Bhagavad Gita Slokas Durga Sloka Early Morning Sloka Ganesh Sloka Holy Bath Sloka Krishna Sloka Parvati Sloka Rama Sloka Saraswati Sloka Shiva Sloka Sloka While Eating Vishnu Sloka Sloka While Lighting Lamp Pujas Budha Puja Chandra Puja Guru Puja Hanuman Puja How to do Puja Kali Puja Ketu Puja Mangal Puja Rahu Puja Satyanarayan Puja Shani Puja Shukra Puja Surya Puja Tulsi Puja Read More