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Thread: When I die

  1. #1
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    When I die

    Namaste I know what happens to my soul, but what about my body? A few weeks ago a hospital worker asked me my religion and I was stumped. Not because I doubt Sanata Dharma but because I don't know the procedure for getting a Hindu priest.

    Will one do my funeral if my family notifies them? Will they do it in a temple? Or for that matter where are Hindu funerals done?

    How do I become an official temple member so that my family won't have to worry about technical details?
    Are there special morticians who prepare Hindu bodies?
    Do Hindus get embalmed?
    If I am sick and in the hospital do Hindu priest make visits to the temple members?

    I am basing these questions on my experience as a Christian, because honestly that is the only thing I know.

    I was about to ask a Hindu priest this last year before I moved but something came up and we couldn't complete the conversation.

    Thanks for any guidance.
    Aum
    In whatever way people surrender unto me, I reciprocate with them accordingly.

  2. #2
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    Re: When I die

    Vammakkam MS: Depends where you are. Usually here in the west, the funerals are done in the chapel of the funeral home, either as a service (after cremation), or with the body, before cremation. The Sri Lankan community in Toronto is the only one I know that actually has priests for this. There it is a separate priesthood. Temple priests don't do funerals, and Hindu funerals are NEVER done in temples. Back home, in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal, etc. it is done in the home, and then at the cremation grounds.

    Some folks prefer immediate cremation whilst others will wait a bit. Embalming is rarely done. So my advice would be to try to find out what other Hindus in your community have done, and follow that. It's best to get stuff in writing like power of attorney, a personal directive and such, and appoint a person whom you really trust as your executor. Lots of odd little decisions get overlooked sometimes lke organ donation, ashes dispersal, and such. Blank form wills are available on line, and you don't realy need to lawyer up, although many people do.

    Aum Namasivaya

  3. #3
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    Re: When I die

    Namaste MS,

    Quote Originally Posted by Mystical Soul View Post
    Will one do my funeral if my family notifies them? Will they do it in a temple? Or for that matter where are Hindu funerals done?

    How do I become an official temple member so that my family won't have to worry about technical details?
    Are there special morticians who prepare Hindu bodies?
    Do Hindus get embalmed?
    If I am sick and in the hospital do Hindu priest make visits to the temple members?
    I think EM already has answered your queries well. I would like to just supplement with how it is done by Hindus in India.

    1. Customs associated with funerals and death ceremony varies from one place to the other.
    2. Most of the Hindus follow Garuda PurANa for the death ceremony but that is too taxing with a lot of hassles. It is much better and easier to follow what Arya-samAj follows. While the ceremony as per Garuda PurANa goes on for nearly 13 days, Arya-samAj's procedure is only for three days. More over, the rituals of Arya-samAj are based on Vedas.
    3. If you have Arya-samAj people nearby, you can contact them and they would tell you how they do it.
    4. The procedure common to almost all Hindus after death is :
    The body is brought home and given a proper bath. After bathing the body, it is covered with a new cloth and is kept for all near and dear ones to come and see, offer flowers / garlands and bowing with respect to the departed soul. Usually, a photo of the deceased is kept on a raised platform duly garlanded and a lamp is lit in front of the photo.
    5. After the family rituals are over, the body is respectfully, taken on a bed made of fresh-cut green bamboo. The body is laid rest on that bed and is covered with a white cloth and tied with the bed. The body is lifted by four men and then carried over to the cremation ground (usually in a vehicle). Cremation can be both using fire-wood or electric cremation. I prefer electric crematorium. If an electric crematorium is chosen, all final rituals are done before letting the body inside electric furnace. Just before cremation, the body is showered with flowers and son/daughter circumbulates around the body with water pouring down from a earthen pot. Usually, son/daughter puts symbolic fire into the mouth of the deceased before letting the body inside the electric furnace.

    This ceremony is not done by a temple priest. There are funeral priests for the ceremony. If there is no funeral priest, then also, the cremation can be done by family members/ friends. It is very important that the body and the soul of the deceased must be given very high respect during the whole ceremony. If someone is unable to follow the full rituals, he should bring the deceased person in mind and pray to him/her (deceased) that he (the performer of the ritual) should be forgiven for his ignorance and incapacity for being unable to follow the full rituals. Please remember that the soul is earth bound for nearly 10 days due to his attachment to the body and the world.

    Reading Kathopanishad to the deceased soul is considered the best for the departed soul. This Upanishad should be read and explained to people who care to listen to the Upanishadic teachings. Some also prefer Bhagwad Gita to be recited for the departed soul. It is believed that the soul listens to these recitations and that arises " knowledge of Truth" in the soul which helps him to get out of his/her miseries due to his/her bad/good karmas. Some also read/recite Garuda PurANa but, in my humble opinion, Kathopanishad and Bhagwad Gita recitations are better.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

  4. #4
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    Re: When I die

    Namaste,

    As can be expected there is lot of variation between different communities in India as to how they deal with cremation rituals. However, here we have to act per the available resources. So, here is my take,

    Temple priests don't normally visit sick people at home or in the hospital to comfort them and/or their families.

    You have to reach out to the nearest Indian community in your area to find out which priest conducts cremation rituals. I knew of one freelancing Hindu priest who conducted pujas and other ceremonies at people's homes and also conducted cremation rituals, which is not done in India.

    Embalming is not done in India as the body is cremated within a relatively short period but here one might have to wait for relatives to show up from far away places. So, embalming would be okay.

    If embalming is done, then one could have the last rites done by a cremation priest in the chapel of the crematorium. If the person passes away at home or in a hospital and no embalming is done, then the rites could be done wherever convenient, as the body would most likely be taken directly from home/hospital to the crematorium. At the crematorium, it is traditional to clean and dress up the body in street clothes, rather than wrap it in a white sheet from head to toe. If embalming is done then the body is brought out to the chapel for the last rites and after the service, attendees pass by the deceased to pay their last respects with a prayer and offering some flower petals to the body.

    An optional family get together to celebrate the life of the deceased may be arranged on the day after with a simple meal for the attendees. It would be inconvenient/impossible to wait for three days or thirteen days as the visiting relatives would have to get back with their lives.

    So, the best thing to do is to find a priest who conducts the last rites and getting his suggestions to plan the whole thing and putting the plan on paper would be helpful to the survivors.

    Here is some info on some of the traditions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antyesti

    Now, this is just me talking/writing/typing: One does not have to conform to a rigid code for the last rites, so long as they are done in a dignified way. It is all for the survivors and never for the deceased. Notwithstanding the traditional opening of the skull to release the soul, the soul is gone at death and all else is based on one's adherence to the tradition/faith. I would not stress/burden the survivors with too much responsibility. Give me your love now, not when I am dead. Don't make a big deal out of my dead body!

    Pranam.
    Last edited by Believer; 22 February 2016 at 10:28 AM.

  5. #5
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    Re: When I die

    Thank you all for your very informative answers. It was kind of you to take the time to be so thorough. Gotta agree with that last sentence by Believer! "Give me your love now, not when I am dead. Don't make a big deal out of my dead body!" Well put. Thanks again
    In whatever way people surrender unto me, I reciprocate with them accordingly.

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    Re: When I die

    Namaste,

    What I took from this thread is that reading about Antyeshti in Wikipedia, it was revealing to know that the Colonials prevented the Indians imported to work in sugar cane fields in Trinidad and Tobago from conducting the cremation rituals and branded the practice as 'pagan' and 'barbaric'. Further reading of the T&T site revealed that although about 35% of the island population is of Indian origin, only about half of that is Hindu. Denigrating Hindu practices, preventing Hindus from celebrating their festivals, their culture and conducting their rituals, and the ever present Xitian clergy pressuring them into conversion made about half of them to embrace Xitianity. So much for the civilized barbaric Masters!

    Pranam.

  7. #7
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    Re: When I die

    Vannakkam: Sadly, in most of the other smaller west Indies islands, although there was a Hindu diaspora, it hasn't survived. Other than a bit of Indian fusion foods, there is nothing left. I think that in Trinidad and Guyana, the numbers by themselves helped it survive more substantially to some degree.

    Aum Namasivaya

  8. #8
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    Re: When I die

    Namaste Mystic,

    I attended a last rites ceremony today and thought that I will give you an update based on current real life experience.

    The person died 4-5 days back and the rites were conducted today. So, the body have to have been embalmed. The last rites were conducted by a freelancing priest who is not associated with any temple but conducts all kinds of ceremonies, from the birth of a baby to marriage to last rites.

    The ceremony was conducted in a room populated with benches at a cemetery. After signing in, in a guest book, everyone got seated. The priest started with some Vedic hymns and went into his speech about the impermanence of life. Along the way, he sang some couplets from spiritual poets like Kabir and from Hanuman Chalisa, all emphasizing the inevitability of death to humans and how to conduct ourselves while going through the journey. After the 'service' eulogies were read by close family members. Some more Vedic hymns followed from the priest and then people were requested to come forward and bid farewell to the deceased by offering flowers at the closed casket (as he did not look good after the horrible illness), bow to the family seated next to it and then leave the room from a side door. As we exited, we congregated outside till everyone had a chance to pay their last respects. Then the casket was wheeled out with the priest chanting hymns and sprinkling water from the holy Ganges from a bottle. Everyone followed them to the side of the building up to the entrance to the hallway leading to the cremation room. Everyone but the close family stayed back while the casket was wheeled through the hallway into the cremation room. In Hinduism, ladies don't go to the crematorium/cremation grounds. To conform to that rule, the ladies walked through the hallway and stopped at the door to the crematorium room while the men went in with the casket which was slid into the chamber from a side door and then the door shut. The son of the deceased pressed the button to start the cremation process. The women wailed and then everyone came outside to where other mourners were waiting. Some expressions of grief among people and then they started to disperse. I guess after a couple of days of cooling off, the ashes (and bone fragments) will be put in a brown bag and handed over to the family who will take it to a water body (river or ocean) for immersion. The family might sponsor a puja in a temple next Sunday which involves making some donations to the temple, to the presiding priest and providing a meal to the congregation. That about sums up a typical schedule of events in the West, which is a bit different from how some of the things are done in India.

    Pranam.
    Last edited by Believer; 28 March 2016 at 11:19 AM.

  9. #9
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    Re: When I die

    Namaste Believer, thank you very much. My condolences if the person were close to you or even if not you still experienced a loss.
    In whatever way people surrender unto me, I reciprocate with them accordingly.

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