Comparison between Buddhist Culture and the Jewish Culture on Death Rituals - Assignment Example

Comparative Analysis Comparison between my culture and the Jewish culture on death rituals The situation and experience of death is universally acknowledged, but the behaviours of people in times of death are culturally determined. Death and grief are normal in life all over the world. However, different cultures adopt their own ways of coping with death respectfully. Disrupting these cultural practices on death interferes with the ability of family members from coping with the problem of grief. Cultural views on the ritual of death differ on the basis of coping mechanisms, the deceased body, arrangements for burial, and ways f honoring the deceased (Gouin, 2010). Each family has its own beliefs concerning what will happen after death. My family does several things to acknowledge death. In our culture, the family acknowledges death by mourning. When an illness that may lead to death is identified, the affected person is not given the information. Instead, the family members are informed. The family members then take care of the person as if nothing is wrong. In our culture, we also consider the good of a patient as the good of the family. Therefore, the family makes crucial decisions regarding the health of the patient. The family will be upset if a physician reveals to the patient about his condition (Gouin, 2010). When he/she dies, family members come together in white clothes to mourn. Grief is an essential part of acknowledging death in my family culture. Our grief demonstrates that the deceased person is loved. We demonstrate our love for the dead by crying and wailing. Sometimes, some families in our culture hire professional wailers as a customary practice in funerals in order to show love for the deceased and send them to the next world happily. We also acknowledge death by holding funeral ceremonies intended to send the death person to the next world because in our family we belief what our culture believes – that there is life after death. Our culture also believes that the living coexist with the death. The dead (ancestors) are considered to be supernatural. Therefore, we worship our ancestors during burial in order to acknowledge death (Gouin, 2010). Worship of the ancestors involves offerings of food, blessings, clothes and money. The dead are believed to be able to curse, bless, give or take away life; so they need to be respected and acknowledged. After death of a person in the family, we also observe a ceremony known as “sweeping the grave”. In this ceremony, members of the deceased family tend to the graves of the deceased. In our culture, we do not cremate a dead person like other Buddhist and Hindu cultures. Instead we bury the dead respectfully in a colourful ceremony in order to send them peacefully to the next world. In our culture, we acknowledge death as an important transition period of a soul to a new life. Therefore, we observe specific rituals during death and handling of the body. In our culture, we are not allowed to touch the body of the deceased 3-8 hours after the dead person stops breathing. This is because the spirit stays on for a short period after death. In our culture, a funeral ceremony takes 49 days. The first seven days are the most important in this process. Family members hold prayers after every seven days for 49 days. If the family is poor and cannot afford to hold prayers for 49 days, the period can be shortened to 3 or seven days. The daughters are always tasked with the burden of meeting the expenses of the funeral. The head of the family should be present in the first funeral ceremony. The period of 49 days in our culture is a transition period between death and rebirth of the deceased (Langer, 2007). If proper prayers are offered before rebirth, the deceased will have a favourable rebirth. Furthermore, good and proper funeral arrangements should be made in order to avoid disaster and misfortunes upon the family. In our family, we also observe the tradition of lineage immediately after the death of a person. In this case, if the father of the family dies, the first born takes over as head of the family immediately. If the first born dies, the second born does not take over as the leader of the family. The eldest son of the eldest son or the father’s grandson takes over leadership of the family. This lineage in terms of leadership is a way of assuming the responsibilities and duties to the ancestors on behalf of the living members of the family. In the culture of our larger community, funeral rites and burial customaries vary according to the age of the deceased. Children and young people without children are given less respectful burials than elder people. However, this practice is dying slowly as people are starting to embrace equal treatment for all members of the family. Specifically, burial and mourning customs of our family is offered equally for all members of the family. In preparation for burial, the corpse of a deceased person in our family is cleaned using a damp towel and dusted with water before being dressed on his favourite clothes and put into the coffin. Before burial, the coffin with the deceased person is placed on two stools in the house if he died at home. If he died outside home, the body is placed in the garden. Food is placed on the coffin as an offering for the deceased. During the wake, family members gather around the coffin in order of their ranks in the family. The eldest son should sit at the left shoulder of the parent while the spouse sits on the right. Our culture also believes that the dead will return to the family seven days after death. Therefore, a red plaque is placed outside the house so that the soul of the deceased does not get lost (Langer, 2007). Within this period, members of the family remain indoors. Some special type of powder is also dusted on the floor to detect the arrival of the departed soul. The second culture that I would like to compare with our culture in terms of death rituals is the Jewish culture. Jews acknowledge death in a very special way. Jews believe that in the same way that there is a way to live as a Jew, there is also a way to die and be buried as a Jew. According to Judaism, death is natural process. It is not a tragedy but a meaningful experience. Jews believe that there is a Jew of an afterlife in a world where those who have lived a worthy life will be given some reward. When a Jew dies, the first step for a family member is to contact their rabbi or any Synagogue leader. Unlike in our culture where a family bears the responsibility of funeral and burial arrangements, the synagogue takes over many of the arrangements in a Jewish culture. There are also funeral homes that help families with funeral arrangements. They choose a rabbi or synagogue leader for a family whose deceased died outside home or does not belong to the congregation. There is also a ritual of principally honoring the death referred to as k’yod hamet. Burial is carried out immediately after death unless the immediate relatives cannot arrive home on time from far distances. According to the Jews, delay of burial arrangements is considered to be humiliation of the dead. There is a standard type of coffin recommended by the Jewish law for burial – a simple pine box. Like in our culture, embalming and cremation are not acceptable by the Jewish law. In Jewish communities, there are sacred burial societies which prepare the body for burial. Men prepare male bodies while women prepared female bodies. Preparation of a body for burial involves washing the body with warm water and dressing with white burial shrouds. The first thing is to close the eyes, cover the body, and lay it on the floor. Candles are then lit next to the body. The white burial shrouds are always made in a similar simple manner for all Jews in order to avoid distinguishing poor and rich Jews. Male Jewish bodies are buried with their prayer shawls. For those who die as a result of injury and end up with blood in their bodies, washing may be omitted because Jews consider blood as holy; hence they deserve proper burial just like the body of the deceased. Another practice associated with the Jewish death ritual is “shemira”. This refers to guarding/watching (Worden, 1992). In this case, the body is not left unguarded until burial as a way of honouring the dead. Those who stay with the body guarding it are referred to as “shomerim”. During shemira, a family member or any other person chosen by the funeral parlor passes time by reciting psalms (also known as Tehillim). While the body is being guarded, performing mitzyot, eating, or drinking is not acceptable near the body. The reason is because such actions are signs of mocking the deceased person who is not able to do the same actions. During traditional Jewish burials which are always kept brief and simple, family members tear their garments as a symbol of loss. The rabbi who presides over the burial ceremony also blesses the family members. The people who attend burial ceremonies stand until family mourners leave the mourning house. The body of the deceased is escorted by those who attend the funeral ceremony for a short distance. A Jew from the lineage of the priestly class is forbidden from coming close to a corpse unless it is their own family members. Therefore, they only attend funerals and burials for their immediate family members. The graves of Jewish dead bodies should be surrounded by tombstones. The tombstone ensures that the dead will be remembered and the grave is not desecrated (Worden, 1992). Jews place stones on the grave of a deceased person when they visit. Information of the deceased person including the name, date of death, and a short benediction are engraved on the tombstones of the deceased. This information is written in Hebrew and some symbols of the Jewish community are left on the tomb, e.g. torah scroll, tablets of the Ten Commandments, star of David, menorah, and a lion. Traditional Jewish customs also require that the people carrying the corpse should stop seven times while they carry the corpse to the grave. Family members cover the coffin with handfuls of dirt while it is being lowered into the grave. The rabbi then recites Psalm 91 of the holy bible. After the burial, non-family members form two lines and family members pass between them as the non-family members recite the traditional Jewish condolence: “May God comfort you among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.” Mourners also wash their hands before leaving the cemetery as a sign of cleansing. After burial a period of mourning follows. Mourning in traditional Jewish community is referred to as Shiva. Within this period which usually lasts for about seven days, traditional Jews cover all mirrors and sit on Shiva benches (Worden, 1992). Family and friends of the deceased pay Shiva to the place where people sit Shiva which is usually in the home of the deceased. During Shiva, friends and relatives of the deceased family bring food because the mourners do not worry or bother with preparing food. The purpose of relatives and friends visiting mourners is to help them cope with their loss. Family members also share memories of the deceased person in order to console themselves. Jewish culture on death rituals is also guided by the teachings of Judaism religion. In Judaism, death is regarded as a part of life and God’s plan. Judaism approves the extensive mourning rituals of the Jews. It is not a way of rejection or protest against death but an acknowledgement of death as part of life. In this case, Judaism considers mourning as a way of demonstrating life in general and the life of each individual. From the above discussion, various similarities and differences between my family and cultural believes on death ritual can be identified. My cultural belief on death rituals are guided by Buddhism while the Jewish traditions and customs on death are guided by the principles of Judaism religion. In terms of similarities, it is clear that both my culture and Jewish culture consider death as a transition in life, and there is life after death. However, my culture believes in the existence of the dead in form of spirits who turn to become ancestors. We believe that the souls of the dead visit the living and interact with them. On the other hand, the Jews believe that once a person dies, he/she goes to the next world where he is rewarded for the good things they did on earth. The Jewish culture does not talk about the dead being among the living. Another similarity between the Jewish culture and my culture in relation to death rituals is that the preparation of a dead body for burial involves the washing and clothing of the deceased. Both religions believe in providing a respectable sendoff for the dead as they go to the next world. Like the Jewish religion, my religion acknowledges death by sending the deceased person respectfully (Welschons, 2003). In both religions, mourning is an important ritual of showing love to the deceased and an acknowledgement of the death. Jewish culture and my culture are also similar in the context that both cultures bury the dead. Like the Jews, we do not cremate the body of a deceased person. Another similarity related to death and burial is also that in our culture, like the Jews, we organize for mourning and funeral ceremonies. During this period, the friends and relatives of the deceased person in both cultures come together and share memories of the deceased (Wolfelt, 1983). In this case, the two cultures follow a similar procedure to send the deceased person to the next world. There are also some differences between my family and cultural practices and beliefs regarding death rituals. Although the process of death ritual is almost the same in both cultures, there is a significant difference between the ceremonies or rites during the dead of a family member. In the Jewish tradition, a dead person is buried immediately. On the other hand, our culture allows the family to take some time in planning for the burial (Langer, 2007). Furthermore, burial in the Jewish culture is organized and led by religious leaders but in our culture the family of the deceased person organizes for the burial. In the Jewish culture, mourning period takes a shorter time than mourning in our culture. In our culture we take up to 49 days in mourning as we prepare for the deceased person for rebirth into the next world. Jewish mourning period takes only 3-7 days. In our culture, the dead person also visits the living within seven days, but in the Jewish culture the dead does not return to the living. In conclusion, it is evident that the culture and beliefs of my family and that of the Jewish community differ in some ways but are also similar in other ways. Both cultures are similar mainly in terms of procedures used from the death to burial of a person, but they differ in terms of the rites or ceremonies accompanying death. Both cultures acknowledge death, but the ways in which each culture acknowledges it differ. References list Klug, L.A. (n.d.) Jewish Funeral Customs: Saying Goodbye to a Loved One. Accessed April 7, 2014 from http://www.jewishfederations.org/funeral-customs.aspx. Gouin, M. E. (2010). Tibetan rituals of death: Buddhist funerary practices. London: Routledge. Langer, R. (2007). Buddhist Rituals of Death and Rebirth: A study of contemporary Sri Lankan practice and its origins. Abingdon: Routledge. Welschons, J.E. (2003). Awakening from grief: Finding the road back to joy. Little Falls, NJ: Open Heart Publications. Wolfelt, A. (1983). Helping children cope with grief. Bristol, PA: Accelerated Development. Worden, J. W. (1992) Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for mental health practitioners New York: Springer Publishing Company. Read More