Hinduism and Buddhism
Religious and cultural beliefs play a significant role in the processes of death and dying. These beliefs have created rituals that provide a conceptual framework for understanding the experience of death. Cultures across the world have different, unique rituals surrounding death and dying. This can be proven by comparing Hinduism and Buddhism. Their pre-death rituals, burial rites and concepts of afterlife are very different.
Hindus and Buddhists have diverse pre-death rituals. When death is imminent, Hindus are brought home to die. They are placed in either their room or the entryway of their house with their head facing east. A lamp is lit near their head, and the person is encouraged to focus on their mantra. The Hinduism religion states that a mantra is a word repeated during mediation. Family members sing hymns, pray and read scripture for the dying person. When Buddhists are dying, it is up to their family to keep them positive. Loved ones must free themselves of disturbing emotion. It is their responsibility to help the dying person accept death as a natural and inevitable part of life. Hindus rituals are scripted, religious and self-dependant while Buddhist’s rituals are low-maintenance and mostly dependant on family members. In conclusion, Hinduism and Buddhism are very different in regards to pre-death rituals.
Hinduism beliefs about the afterlife vary significantly from Buddhism beliefs. Hindus believe that humans go through a never-ending cycle of birth and death. Hindus believe in karma. Karma is “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman” (Collins English Dictionary, Web). Buddhists believe that every soul is reborn until it has been cleansed. In Buddhism, the goal is to achieve Nirvana. Nirvana is “freedom from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations, with their consequent suffering, as a result of the extinction of individual passion, hatred, and delusion.” (Collins English Dictionary, Web). Superficially, these two rituals seem similar, but differences can be found on a deeper level. Hinduism is a never-ending cycle, while Buddhism can be escaped.
The biggest difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is their burial rites. Hindu families prepare their deceased with oil and herbs. The body is carried on a wooden frame to a publically designated cremation site where mourners chant mantras. After the body has been cremated, bits of bone and ash that remain are collected and strewn into the Holy River. Ten days after the cremation, family members offer ten pindas to the river to feed the spirit of the deceased on its travels to the next incarnation. Buddhists hold simple, solemn funerals. They believe it is unnecessary to spend a lot of money on traditional ceremonies. During the viewing, an altar is set up in front of the casket. Mourners can place offerings such as fruit, flowers and candles on the altar. Images of the Buddha and deceased person are placed in front of the altar. These religions are different because Hindus burials are elaborate and expensive, while Buddhists burials are simple, practical and inexpensive. Burial rites reveal how different Hinduism and Buddhism are.
Hinduism and Buddhism have very different pre-death rituals, concepts of afterlife and burial rites. This proves that all religions have a unique set of traditions surrounding death and dying. These traditions help shape religion and create a diverse society.
Bibliography
Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. Geography of Religion: Where God Lives, Where Pilgrims Walk. Washington DC:
National Geographic Society, 2004. Print.
Berhad, Koperasi Buddhisme Malaysia. A Guide to a Proper Buddhist Funeral. Sea Park: Buddha
Dharma Education Association Inc, 2000. Print.
Collins English Dictionary. “Karma.” Dictionary Reference. 2009. HarperCo Publishers. March 6, 2013 <
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/karma>
Collins English Dictionary. “Nirvana.” Dictionary Reference. 2009. HarperCo Publishers. March 6, 2013
< http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nirvana>
Bibliography: Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. Geography of Religion: Where God Lives, Where Pilgrims Walk. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2004. Print. Berhad, Koperasi Buddhisme Malaysia. A Guide to a Proper Buddhist Funeral. Sea Park: Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc, 2000. Print. Collins English Dictionary. “Karma.” Dictionary Reference. 2009. HarperCo Publishers. March 6, 2013 < http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/karma> Collins English Dictionary. “Nirvana.” Dictionary Reference. 2009. HarperCo Publishers. March 6, 2013 < http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nirvana>
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Christianity and Buddhism are two of the most popular religions in the world today. Focusing on core values such as humility, purity of heart and charity, Christianity and Buddhism appear similar in many ways. However, Christianity is a religion that teaches there is only one God, while Buddhism is a way of life, not centered around any gods; Christianity teaches salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, whereas Buddhism believes a man’s sole responsibility is to achieve peace and harmony through reaching Nirvana, and Christianity teaches that when a person dies, they are judged by God and their soul is sent to either Heaven or Hell, whereas Buddhism teaches that one never “dies,” but recycles their soul through a cycle called Rebirth.…
- 572 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Life and death are both part of what Hindus call maya, a grand illusion; Hindus believe that when a soul dies, it gets born into a new body.…
- 1639 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
In ancient India, tribes from across India had to carry out lots of funerary practices. These practices varied from jumping into fires to hiring professional mourners. These practices were completely different to Western countries. Like in ancient Jewish culture when a family member dies, they can’t watch television for 1 whole year! In ancient India when the widow’s husband died, she would have to jump into the fire with her husband and burn to death. This was called Sati. Another practice was, when a family member died, their family had to cry (a lot).…
- 536 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
1. outline key points of theories about the emotional and psychological processes that indviduals and key people may experience with approach of death…
- 4406 Words
- 15 Pages
Good Essays -
Reincarnation is a common belief in the eastern part of the world, with Buddhism as well as Hinduism, supporting the idea of rebirth. In Hinduism each person has an essential self which is called the Atman, and is eternal and seeks unity with God. At physical death, the Atman leaves the body and enters another at birth. The physical body is gone but the Atman remains the same. The status of the body that the Atman re-enters is depended on whether in the previous life the person was morally good or bad, if good it will be in a higher status body, and if bad will be in a lower status body. This cycle of rebirth, birth and death is called Karma which Buddhism also follows, except they do not believe in a soul, but instead the five skandhas which are woven together and make a person attract karma. These two religions are heavily followed in the eastern part of the world and so therefore it may be argued that because it is an accepted belief it is therefore normal to believe in such an idea, however in the western part of the world where religions such as Christianity are followed it is not as accepted. Some would also question the fairness of suffering in this life for something in a past life which they cannot remember and that punishment doesn’t have a value unless you understand what it is for; it needs to be associated with something. However, Hindus would argue that karma is not seen as a punishment; it is just bearing out the karmic fruits…
- 1098 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The two rituals I picked are the western practice known as a funeral and the traditional practice known as the Nukil, or Hemmukuwin that is a mourning ceremony practiced by the Cahuilla, a Californian Native American tribe. In my culture, an experience of a funeral consists of first a wake the night before the service where close family and friends can look at the body and tell stories about experiences with the deceased. Then the next morning is the service that is pretty similar to a Christian church service where we praise God and sing while honoring the deceased. After that we go to the cemetery and proceed with the actual burial which is the sort of climax of the funeral process where all final emotions are being let out. After this is…
- 810 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Theories surrounding the understanding and meaning of death tend to focus on either religion or medicine. Religious attitudes to death are more abstract, while the medical world attempts to separate the living from the dead and the ill from the healthy, providing rationality in the face of demise (Seale 1998, p. 75). Seale (1998, p. 76) describes religion as a means of relieving death anxiety for the living; explaining that those who believe in an afterlife have a less dramatic relationship with death. Harding, Flannelly, Weaver and Costa (2005, p. 253) substantiate this idea with findings that show significantly less death anxiety and considerably more death acceptance amongst religious groups. Moreover Freud (cited in Koenig, 2001, p. 98) sates that “only religion can give meaning to life”. In contrast Seale (1998, p. 75) explains the medicinal outlook on death in two distinct veins, the first being the “best hope” for those who are suffering and are close to death and the second being a “reasonable account” for why all people must die. In addition Seale (1998, p. 77) places medicine and death in direct opposition stating that medicine seeks to cure the “natural death”. Contrastingly, Zola (2011, p. 487) states that the role of medicine within death is not concerned with saving lives, but instead with the controlling of terminally ill or elderly patients. This thought is ripe throughout work surrounding palliative care (see Conrad 1992), however some scholars see the implementation of medical care as simply providing support for those on the verge of passing (Zimmerman & Rodin, 2004, p. 122). In summary, both religious and medicinal approaches to understanding death by the living are still both extremely popular, however the array of works which document…
- 1519 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
A prime idea that is constantly diverse between religions is the idea of death, body and soul. Linear religions such as Christianity primarily believed that death was a punishment for the bad and wicked. This idea was adopted from the fact that human beings were created to live forever, however after the fall of man and Original Sin, man was condemned to mortality. This idea, however, was challenged by Mother Teresa who described death as ‘going home to God’ and that this life we live is only part of a journey that’s headed towards God.…
- 1136 Words
- 3 Pages
Better Essays -
Attitudes and beliefs on death and the afterlife are quite the same among the Chinese people of the late Imperial Chinese culture and the Chinese culture of today. The continuing traditions of the ritualistic burials sheds light on one way a society can be linked culturally.…
- 2730 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
According to Kart and Kinney (2001, p. 532), “Death is something that must be faced by everyone.” Despite the inevitability and universality of death and the dying process, different reactions and perceptions of death arise in different cultures, from the conventional Judeo-Christian reaction in American culture to the belief in reincarnation in the Hindu culture. Bereavement, grief, and mourning often accompany the death and dying process, but as Kart and Kinney (2001, p. 532) make clear, these aspects of the process are typically “culturally proscribed.” This discussion of different reactions to death and the dying process across cultures will focus on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages of dying with a comparison of how different cultures (Hindu, Buddhist, Native American and American) react to death and dying.…
- 1918 Words
- 8 Pages
Best Essays -
Kemp, C., & Bhungalia, S. (2002). Cultural perspectives in healthcare. Culture and the end of life: a review of major world religions. Journal Of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 4(4), 235-242. retrieved from…
- 341 Words
- 2 Pages
Best Essays -
Buddhists have a very influential belief of the afterlife which most religions view as blasphemy, and a direct defiance of their religious ideology. Buddhists believe in reincarnation. This is the belief that after death the human soul lives on in a different form, and this form is determined by the choices they make during the previous life. Apart from returning either as a human or animal, hell and many stages of heaven can also be reached depending on the karma received during a lifetime. That is not to say that there is no final resting place, Buddha taught about ‘nirvana’ (not the band). Nirvana is a place of perfect tranquility; it is to the Buddhists what heaven is to Christians. However unlike in Christianity, nirvana is thought as…
- 174 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Of all human stages of development and transition, none of them has profound effect and overwhelming disturbance as death. The surviving members of the deceased’s family and other close loved ones are always at a loss and the grieving that ensues thereafter is of untold emotional torment (Sherman et al., 2003). On the spiritual perspective, death is mourned with the recluse and thought of continuance of life after death. Death is increasingly being viewed as a rite of passage and is not a finality as previously perceived in the preceding ages of our current generations. However, this perspective is speculative in nature for there is no living human being that has marched on with the personal study of the afterlife and come back to life in human…
- 1611 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Many American Indians have a certain end of life ritual they would like to carry out before their loved one passes on. Many tribes believe they need to provide the spirit with essentials that are needed in the afterlife so they will leave their loved one with food, jewelry, tools, and weapons (Handbook of Patients’ Spiritual, 2013). Another practice is for them to leave the body open in a tree or funeral platform to natural elements and let it decompose on its’ own. There are some Native Americans that follow a different faith which makes it important to question your patient about their preferences. After the arrival of Europeans, many Native Americans were converted to Christianity (Guidelines for Health Care, 2004).…
- 1864 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Culture is always changing. Some cultures are older than others but with time they tend to change. Cultures change because generations die and newer generations might slightly change from the older generations and with time, these slight changes can completely change a culture if not completely destroy a culture. With the death of a culture a new culture is born. All cultures change, none of them are permanent as death will change the culture by the deaths of the people who hold the knowledge of the culture and the upholders of the cultures. Culture gives people a sense of belonging and a strong connection to people which empowers them by letting the feel as if they are immortal by being part of the culture. If a person is to die they might feel as if even though they have died, what they have contributed to their culture will live on for other newer generations to live by and will know who contributed to what; as such and history books and historical records hold. Each culture has a different view on different subjects and this is because some view death in different ways .Some cultures might encourage death in order to give the younger generation a chance of their own to be part of this world other culture might view death as a evil that plagues the world that they must find a solution too. When a person with a big influence on a certain culture succumbs to death, the culture is altered as a new person will lead and subtly change this culture. If the culture does not change and stays the same, the culture would eventually die as no changes it will make it become outdated in modern society. New cultures arise when there is a new need. If a mass of people are dying or under circumstances that do not encourage life, then people will form a new culture that will create balance in death in life, Once again the people will be fighting against death, death being the key factor and necessity for a culture to be born,…
- 1046 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays