The Encyclopedia of World Religions

114 S death and religion

In regard to the event of death, religion tends to provide two things. First, it usually teaches about what happens after death, often including in that teaching accounts of an after-death judg ment or rebirth, which will reflect on the choices one has made in life ( see AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELI GIONS ). Second, religions surround the experience of death itself with rites and attitudes designating it as a great experience of transition. The death practices of various religions say much about their deepest values. Devout Hindus, for example, want to die on the banks of the sacred river, the G ANGES , partic ularly in the holy city of B ANARAS . If that is not possible, they wish at least for their remains to be brought there to be cremated, and the ashes thrown into the sacred river. The funeral pyre should ideally be lit by the deceased’s eldest son. These practices teach us several things: that death is a time for returning to one’s spiritual roots and the main symbols of one’s FAITH ; that the physi cal body is not important after death and can be reverently returned to the elements from which it came: fire, water, earth, and air; that death is a time of transition in this world too, from father to son, when the social order rent by death must be symbolically restored. The same themes of individual transition, significant dispersal of the remains, and fam ily and community healing occur in most tradi tions, though the particulars may vary greatly. In T IBETAN RELIGION the words of the B ARDO T HODOL , or “Tibetan Book of the Dead,” may be whispered in the ear of the dying person as a kind of guide tell ing what will be encountered—the Clear Light, the B UDDHAS of the MANDALA —and how to respond to them in order to gain liberation or a good rebirth. The physical remains may be just cut up and left in a field for carnivorous birds to consume to show their unimportance. But memorial services to help the deceased through the transition and bring the family together continue afterward. In J UDAISM , the dominant theme is the impor tance of each individual to the community and the preciousness of each human life. When death approaches, the dying person might recite a PRAYER

confessing SINS and asking G OD for forgiveness and a place in his realm after death—the individual transition. After death, a group of volunteers from the community might care for the body, watching over it, washing it, dressing it for burial. Immediate relatives observe deep mourning until seven days after the funeral, traditionally staying at one place such as the home of the deceased during this time. A meal is given them by others in the Jewish com munity after the return from the cemetery. All this clearly helps with working through grief and rees tablishing family and society bonds after the loss. In I SLAM , death is also often preceded by an affirmation of faith. After death, the body is washed, shrouded, and buried facing MECCA in imi tation of the posture of prayer—the symbolic reaf firmation of religious roots. Funeral and memorial services follow, centering on recitations of parts of the Q UR ’ AN while the family receives condo lences—affirmation of faith and reaffirmation of family and community ties. Christian practices vary among traditions but repeat the same themes. Prayer is properly said with the dying person. In Catholic traditions these include confession of sins, absolution or forgiveness of them pronounced by a priest, final holy communion, and holy unction or anointing with oil—the “last rites.” These mark the indi vidual transition and preparation for judgment after death. On this side the family gathers for the funeral, sometimes added to by a “wake” or friends sitting up with the body in the home, and a meal given the mourning family by relatives or the church community. The body is returned to the earth by burial, or nowadays often cremated. Death is dealt with in more intimate and personal ways in religious writings. Some speak of a “good death” as something to prepare for during all of one’s life. Sometimes it is seen as a time to be particularly close to the holy figures of one’s faith, the SAINTS and ANGELS and others. Popular religious art may show a deathbed surrounded by angels, and the “Hail Mary” of Catholic piety asks M ARY , the Mother of God, as though she were our mother too, to “pray for us now and at the hour of our death.” Death is a precarious time, and yet