Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Customs And Rituals Followed In A Buddhist Funeral

By Amy Tan

Buddhist funeral rituals and traditional ceremonies are filled with religious significance for Buddhists. The rituals carried out during the Buddhist funeral are expected to set the person's soul free from the chains of life and let it find a new and better life thereafter where it gets closer to enlightenment.

In a typical Buddhist funeral, the body of the departed is cremated and monks in the presence of the bereaved family carry out the last rites. The dormant positive energies are released from the soul by the chanting of appropriate sutras by Buddhist monks who read from the religious books. Meanwhile, the body is prepared and embalmed so that even if the cremation takes place after some days of the death, the body doesn't decompose. Once the body is bathed, it is placed along with candles, flowers and incense in a casket along with a photograph of the deceased person.

The Abhidharma, a sacred Buddhist scripture is read daily by visiting monks during the funeral period even when the cremation is delayed to wait for the visitors from distant places.

The monks complete the last rites on the funeral day and the head priest gives a speech recounting the good deeds and actions carried out by the deceased and comforting the grieving family members and friends. The Pansakula, an important ritual that is believed to carry blessings and positive energies to the departed's soul is done during the final chanting while a white cloth is being wrapped around the coffin.

Prior to the cremation, a family member or closest kin has to say something about the deceased. Following the cremation, a special meal is arranged for the people assembled at the funeral.

A great number of people in China, Tibet, Thailand and some other Asian nations with a large Buddhist population follow the Buddhist funeral system with some slight alterations based on the local customs. - 42493

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