BEYOND DEATH
In June, there were 4 presentations at the Quaker Interfaith Evening; 'After Death'. Here is a brief about how the night went!
Zubeda Raihman * From the Sunni Muslim Community. Secretary of the Women's Interfaith Network and treasurer of the Muslim Women's Network of Australia.
Sister Celestine Pooley - Sister of Mercy. Philosophy teacher. Social justice advocate.
Venerable Sujato * From the Thai forest Buddhist tradition. Received higher ordination in 1994. Trained in Thailand. Current resident of the Santi Forest Monastery.
Mina Singh Batra - From the Sikh faith. Mina has a deep interest in the role of interfaith, and its capacity for promoting peace. Mina is a member of the women's interfaith network.
Sikh Belief on Dying and Death.
Mina Singh Batra
All living beings, the entire creation is subject to decay and death says Sikh scripture Guru Granth or Gurvani (Jo upjio so binas hai, prio aaj ke kaal) Everything in the Universe is transitory, subject to change, or Evolution. End of life is closure of a chapter, for the new to begin.
All human beings are comprised of Body, Mind and Soul.Body and mind are subject to decay and death but Soul is immortal as it is the spark of Divinity from the powerhouse of the Supreme Divine. There is belief in the transmigration of soul into next life known as reincarnation Time and again Gurvani reminds us to be righteous, truthful with moral and ethical values, for our good in this life as well as the next, and that transformation comes through death (end) of the present to the future new life in new body,(birth). Our consciousness has not yet evolved to know what we were before and what we will be in next life. Gurvani reminds us all the time that death is inevitable, �Chinta taki kijiye jo anhoni hoe�and also that Human beings are endowed with Divinity, which is our conscience with moral and ethical values thus should not postpone that Realization till death, as there will be no recourse at that point. If we fail to realise that divinity in us and, get involved with worldly greed, dishonesty, violence, temptation and attachment, we will be bound by the cycle of birth and death and suffer through it. An absolute evil person with animal behaviour re incarnates into lower form of life. Human person is on the highest rung of the ladder of evolution, thus nearest to the supreme divine with potential to merge with the supreme by doing good deeds in the service of humanity (Wich dunyan sev kamaiye ta Dargeh baisn jaiye). Our good Karma, with the aim of Dharma will emancipate the individual from the painful cycle of birth and death when the soul (Atma) merges with the Supreme Soul (ParamAtma) known as Moksh, Mukti, Nirvana or salvation. Most of these practices are from Vedic Wisdom.
Says Guru �with preordained writ of death we come into this world, yet we get attached to material gains and comforts, by fair or foul means as if we are here for ever�. One by one, when we see bodies being cremated, we feel the heat of our calling, reminding �make the best of the remainder of your life�. �Maran likhaye mandal mein aye jiwan sehje jaee. Aik chale ham dekhe swami bhah balamti aee�.
There is also a belief that one lives according the number of breaths allocated for her/him at birth. (Jit dihare dhan warih, sahe lae likhaye) When that account of inhaling and exhaling breath is finished, no power can keep him/her alive and the circumstance, time and place coincide for that end of which we have no knowledge (kia jana kiv marenge kaisa marna hoe?)The exercise of Yoga and meditation, goes a long way to regulate our breathing to facilitate a longer and healthier life. Pranayam is one of those techniques by which you can hold each breath for some minutes, thus prolong life. Many Yogis and Rishis are known to have lived over 100 years.
Mina Singh Batra. WIN (23/6/05)
Quaker (23/6/05)
Sikh practices �After Death�
When the death is imminent, the departing soul is requesting all the dear ones, in a song, �Deho deho sajan assisiryan, mera hove sahib sion mel�(from Guru Granth) �My dear friends, bless me so that I meet my Supreme Lord� which implies to attain Moksh, and a prayer is performed to that end. Kirtan, the appropriate hymns from Guru Granth, reminds the living to improve their Karma by good deeds. Death will not give us that chance. If the dead is fairly old, there is grief, but if it is a young one with little children, crying and wailing is natural. In that case the more composed elderly relations embrace and comfort the emotionally broken relative. Dead is given bath, is embalmed and dressed up, made to lie on a board with face open for Darshan or pay respects. Because of the lack of crematoriums in many places the body is cremated over a pile of wood on the same day if the death occurred early in the morning or the next day forenoon if one died later in the day. The idea of cremation is to leave the Earth for the living. There are cremation grounds, if near the house of the deceased, people will walk behind the Arthi (dead body).The funeral pyre is lit by the eldest child. Prayers are held with utmost reverence at every stage. After the cremation too, inspiring soul searching hymns are sung and recited, every morning and evening for which lots of people congregate to listen till the last rites are performed. There is no fixed time or date for those rites, but date should be suitable for the next of kin now that every family seems to have relatives overseas as well.. Usually after a week is the norm. We call it �Antim Ardas� or the final prayer for the Mokhsh of the departed soul when lots of people gather. But Moksh is entirely dependent upon a person�s own good deeds good Karma. Belief is, after death, the five elements of which the body is composed �earth, air, water, fire and ether�, amalgamate with each of those elements (earth to earth, water to water etc), the soul (Atma) life factor is immortal, being the beam/spark of the Universal Supreme soul. On the third day of cremation, some family members again go to the cremation ground to collect the ashes and some bones, which are scattered over a nearest sacred waters, even in an ocean. For Sikhs, all nature is sacred.
Most deaths of old age are celebrated. Like my mother willed that no one should cry after her. All the people who will come for cremation and Antim Ardas (final prayer) must be looked after like VIPs,with accommodation and gourmet food for eight days as she was known for her hospitality. Willed her assets to the poor . We went from Sydney, could not make for the cremation but attended the Antim Ardas (final prayer) for which near thousand people had gathered in the Gurdwara (Sikh temple). Then Kirtan (hymn Singing) is performed each month for the solace of the close relations up to a year. Annual function is a big one too.
Mina Singh Batra. WIN (23/6/05) For Interfaith Team of Wahroonga Quakers.
Buddhist Tradition.
Bhante Sujato
In many Buddhist cultures many believe you have 7 days before you get born again after death. Now I have 7 minutes to tell you about the process of death from a Buddhist perspective!
What happens to the person after death? Well from the Buddhist perspective there is no 'person' even in the here and now so there is nothing there that 'dies' We have words to describe a 'process'. What does 'soul' mean? We need to be careful to avoid using words we can't relate directly to our experience. So Buddhists don't talk about God or soul�.but talk about our consciousness. This is a direct experience.
If there is such a thing as a body with the soul leaving it at the point of death, is the soul immaterial? How can that be? Life is an experience. Life is a mental experience, and a physical experience. You can describe the experience of death using the same terms as you describe life � as a movement through space, feelings of bliss, of seeing people, of recognizing people or memory. Right now we have memory, consciousness and feelings. They are still continuous in death. The idea of having one life and that's it � that's irrational. Everything is a cause and effect. Science agrees with this. The Key is to look at the causes and effects. Our choices, to do good or bad, provides energy in the consciousness.
There is no such thing as eternal life, but an 'uncountable' incalculable life. Samsara is the ongoing cycle of rebirths. This is parallel to many Indian religions. We are born many many many many many many many times. This is similar to the views of Plato and Socrates. They held the view that we are born many times and that life is a process of learning, the process of remembering what we have forgotten. This process is fueled by our choices. We make way for many different kinds of choices and we are reborn in many spheres of existence. The scriptures talk of many realms � the animal, ghost, heaven and hell realms. There are better, more refined heavens, there are countless variations in the kinds of realms it is possible to be born into. Nirvana is not the goal of death. Nirvana must be experienced it in the here and now, not when we die.
Q: Is there an improvement in our situation with each life?
A: Buddhism doesn't believe there's an automatic improvement. There is an idea of directing, an impetus of the mind of improving. For instance, there is a character in the scriptures - "Devadatta" a Judas type of figure. In the far distant future even this character may get enlightened.
Q: I thought Nirvana was a state of nothingness. Is nothingness what we're aiming to get to?
A: If there's a state then there's still something there. As soon as we start putting labels on it, you limit it. Teflon labels. They keep coming off, changing, illusive. Labels Limit our understanding of the ultimate truth. The Buddha was careful that his portrayal of Nirvana was described in a delicate way, as a place of refuge, peace, love.
Q: Other incarnations � implied there are a myriad of possibilities, is that similar to parallel universes?
A: Yes. Sometimes like that. How it�s conceived is up to us. Can be described in crude terms too. Buddhism sees there's countless world systems.
Q: You spoke about nothingness. But you also spoke about Nirvana as being bliss, refuge, happiness�.but surely, isn't that something? So is there something to aim for?
A: For most Buddhists, the idea of wanting to 'attain' Nirvana does not figure in everyday life. You do good to feel good. You don't really aspire to realise Nirvana. Maybe just get reborn into a nice heaven realm. The nature of Nirvana is an unanswerable question. You can say what it is not. Buddha spoke in metaphors about what it is. Understand is reached in a gradual way, a developing of faith. It's a conditioned, reasoned faith.
Q: Buddhism stresses that the present moment is so important. Why?
A: Buddhism is about truth and reality. There is a focus on the present moment because it's the really true, most true moment.
Catholic perspective -
Sister Celestine Pooley
Our view on the process of death overlaps with that of Islam. I would like to stress that I'm not speaking as an academic tonight but from a faith perspective. I feel that across faiths we all start on an equal footing on this topic since we are all working in the realm of mystery. Heaven and Hell for instance, are symbolic terms of concepts we are trying to portray without having experienced them. Our Christian faith is based in Revelation through the scripture, from tradition handed down, and through insights coming out of contemporary scholarship. From these sources comes our firm belief in life after death. Based on the resurrection of Christ, we believe that after death those who lived a good life will live forever with Christ. God�s plan is for all humanity to enjoy this eternal happiness. With that promise we live our lives as pilgrims on a journey to eternal life. This Christian hope underpins our beliefs because it opens us to the mystery of what can�t be fully known � the mystery of life and death. There is also the cosmic dimension. Through the resurrection, not only humanity but the whole world, will be transfigured in a renewed creation at the end of our history. Christians believe we are more than our material makeup � we have a spiritual nature or soul and together these two elements essentially constitute the whole person. Only in this body-spirit composite can we properly talk about the human person, with heart and and conscience, mind and will. In death, the body decays while the soul goes to meet God. In the final resurrection of the world, the soul and body are reunited. Our life as we lead it here shapes and prepares us for our final meeting with God, when we come to the full realisation of the truth about ourselves. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of our deepest human longings. It is to live a life of love, in communion with the Trinity, Mary, the Saints and all who have gone before us into eternal life. This relationship with God is the core of what heaven is. It is like a homing instinct at the heart of our selfhood, life longing for its fullness. Heaven is the point when all the graces of life/death come together. "After this life God is our environment"(St Augustine). This mystery of blessed union with God is beyond all human understanding and description. Often our images trivialise the essential mystery of heaven. Rather than some ethereal state designed as a reward for the devout, a more contemporary consciousness is to imagine this final fulfilment of life from the perspective of a vigorous social engagement within the world. Immersed in the struggles of the poor and oppressed we can imagine eternal life already begun in the works of justice and love. While the gift of heaven is God himself it comes to us by means of creatures. Scripture tells us that loving our neighbour who we can see is the best preparation for meeting the God of love whom we can�t see. There is also the authentic image of heaven as liberation from like�s miseries: old age, hopeless poverty, persecution and torture. The suffering of innocent people in our world has always been, for me personally, a compelling reason to believe in a life after death � to right this imbalance of injustice. God created us for love and desires all persons to share in his life. This promise of heaven holds true not only for Christians, but every person of good will who lives cooperatively within God�s creation and works towards transforming history into a reign of justice and love. They will experience directly and consciously what God�s reality is � even if he/she has never heard of God. Hell as a symbolic expression is a conceptual idea about which we know very little. God�s plan is for everyone to enjoy eternal life. But the manifold degradation of our time confronts us with evil, so we must take seriously human freedom and its demonic capacities. If through evil actions, freely chosen, anyone separates themselves from God�s love, and dies without repentance, then they write their own judgment, as it were. Hell is of our own making, and this self-exclusion from communion with God is the state we call �hell�. In my childhood the punishment of hell was preached to excess, giving the image of a God to be feared, but today we emphasise the God of love who created us for eternal union with him � only we, by our deliberate choice can choose to reject that. While the Catholic Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity as a symbol of ultimate judgment, whether or not anyone dies with this evil fixed in their hearts, we simply don�t know. And neither can we judge for we could never rule out the inexhaustible possibilities of God�s ultimate mercy.
Q: (Our) 'desire' that aims at heaven or God. How do we experience this longing?
A: It�s something deep within us. Like a feeling we want to be something more than we are; to achieve a perfection that is beyond us in this life. Evil is a perversion of good, so a person who persists in evil actions will not experience this longing. But only God sees into the heart of human being. I believe that we all have this longing originally implanted within us, and our actions and intentions nurture it or kill it.
Q: I've noticed a theme across both speakers so far: everyone has the opportunity to be saved, even those who looked like they're irredeemable. Eg. Hitler, he was a vegetarian. Nice to animals. So is he redeemable?
A: I guess again, humanly speaking we would say Hitler is a lost cause, as with Judas. But it is not up to us to make that moral judgement � that�s God�s role. We don't know the spiritual state of the person at the final judgment, when we see our true selves. And God�s merciful love is always on offer. In the 1960�s this view was referred to as "the fundamental option".
Q: You mentioned something about the 'final judgment'. Can you explain more about what this means?
A: - 'Judgment' of each person comes at the moment of death � in terms of our acceptance or rejection of God. Catholics also believe that God comes again at the end of history to bring about a final completion of the resurrection when we are embodied in a larger process of cosmic transformation.
Q: Does that involve the resurrection of the body?
A:- Christians believe the body is resurrected but it will be changed. Our humanity is restored again with the union of the body with the soul.
Q: I have a question about not judging. Isn't it human nature to be quick to judge?
A: Yes, but our judgments are not necessarily correct. According to scripture when it comes to passing moral judgment on others we are cautioned to "judge not and you shall not be judged'. As a Christian we should strive to be non-judgmental. The world would be a much better place if we could achieve that!
Q: Is the 'resurrection' and the 'day of judgment' the same thing? Is there any idea about when the resurrection occurs? Where do the souls go?
A: No. At the moment of death the souls of all who die in God�s friendship will be with God in heaven and begin to enjoy eternal life. If souls are separated from God's love they'll be in the state we call hell for eternity. The afterlife is not bound by the limits of time or space, so it is more in accord with Christian hope to understand the life of the dead to be involved in a process of final embodiment to be completed only when history has run its course, when the whole universe is transformed, when the resurrection of all humanity has taken place.
Muslim perspective, Zubeda Raihman
What happens to the dead person * Muslims believe there is life after death. God is just in reward and punishment, and with death comes the day of judgment. According to the Koran, anyone who has faith in God, does good deeds and has good intentions will go to paradise.
The funeral practice * The Koran is read. The person who dies is buried as quickly as possible. There are 3 funeral stages:
1. The body is washed by the family, placed in white linen, and put into a coffin.
2. The body is taken to the mosque and prayer is conducted among the congregation, with the spiritual leader.
3. The coffin is taken to burial with the head placed in position to face the Ka'bah, (facing Mecca). All participants cast 3 handfuls of earth onto the grave.
How grieving is supported in the community * Visitors express their condolences, bring food, and recite the Koran for the spiritual benefit of the deceased. The family are in mourning for 40 days (Fiji/Indian Muslim tradition * which is a hangover from Hinduism). For the first 3 days there is a big prayer ceremony. On the 40th day there is a big gathering. At 6 months and 12 months there are more prayers for the deceased person. The Koran is recited before, during, and after the burial. This benefits the soul of the dead person. 'Al Fatiha' (Koran) is recited.
If the house lacks the means for funding the funeral the community raises the funds. If there is a family member who is overseas when the loved one dies, they may not make it to the funeral as the body must be buried immediately. This happened to Zubeda with her mother and she felt very sad for missing her funeral.
Q: I have a question about children, are they allowed to come to funerals?
A: Yes. There are some cultural differences. Wailing and excessive crying are discouraged. This is because the soul of the deceased may be affected by the wailing and the crying. So its important to recite the Koran passages instead to help the soul to paradise.
Q: Is that to do with the importance of the atmosphere created at the funeral?
A: Yes
Q: What would Islam say about what happens to non-Muslims upon dying?
A: If you believe in God, you'll be returned to God. So long as you have done good deeds. God is one.
Q: Thanks for bringing your own story. One often hears a dry rendering of what is religion. It is good to hear your personal story.
A: That's right. I stress that I'm not a scholar of Islam. This is a practical, personal perspective. You're accountable for your own actions. I was taught this from when I was little, to behave good in this life.
Q: You mentioned something about the 'Day of judgment'. If you are judged to be bad, what happens?
A: We are meant to repent for all the bad things we do. Family, relatives send good prayers to assist the deceased. I'm not sure what happens if you have done bad. There is a concept of heaven and hell in Islam. Hell * is it physically in this world? Or the world after? Islam's concept of hell is similar to the Christian concept.
Q: I have two questions. The first is, my understanding was that if you have unfinished business, the spirit hangs around, waits to be judged. Is that the case? Secondly, in the situation of a spiritually aware person, is it true that the spirit may actually take flight after death? For instance among the Sufis? Can you comment on this.
A: In answer to the first question, unfinished business is related to people committing suicide. Since God is the only one who can take life, this person then is still floating around in the spirit world, in limbo.
With regards to taking flight, that requires extra knowledge. God is just, so everyone would have the same opportunities, (even if a learned person, such a person can do wrong. If you are learned and do wrong you are treated with extra punishment, because you must be accountable and take responsibility.
Q: Is there a concept on a relationship to God when you die? Is there a sense of community?
A: God is merciful and beneficent. Our relationship to God is therefore linked with our deeds.