| 23 January |
Buddhist Funerals – Importance And Traditions |
In a Buddhist funeral, the followers of the religion are particular about performing elaborate rites and rituals during the funeral service. The ceremonies performed during the Buddhist funeral are expected to set the person’s soul free from the chains of life and enable it to find a new and better life thereafter where it comes closer to Moksha.
In a typical Buddhist funeral, the body of the departed is cremated and monks in the presence of family members carry out the funeral rites. When a person has passed away, Buddhist monks read sutras from scriptures to allow the good energies to be set free from the soul. Meanwhile, the body is made ready and embalmed so that even if the cremation happens after few days of the death, the body doesn’t get decayed. After washing the body, it is put in a coffin with candles, bouquets, fragrant incense sticks and a photograph of the deceased.
The Abhidharma, a sacred Buddhist text is read daily by visiting monks during the funeral period even when the cremation is deferred to wait for the visitors from far away places.
On the day of the funeral, Buddhist monks perform the final rites and the chief monk expresses his condolences to the family and speaks words of encouragement to them along with tribute to the dead person recounting his life. Other rites like wrapping the casket with a white cloth during the religious incantation and Pansakula, a ritual of passing on blessings and virtues to the soul of the deceased are also carried out.
Just before cremation, a member of the family or a near and dear one is asked to make a brief speech about the deceased. After the cremation, a special meal is arranged for the people gathered at the funeral.
A great number of people in Thailand, Tibet, China and some other Asian countries with a large Buddhist population follow the Buddhist funeral system with some variations according to the local customs.
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