Namaste,
I am asking this question not just for personal understanding, but also because for my A level RE coursework we have to look into one religion's view of death. The thing is, it isn't about the afterlife per se (there is a seperate topic on the afterlife - I may get around to that later !), but more about what death means in the religion, and about what funeral rites reveal about that religions understanding of death. It is really hard to find any good information about the Hindu concept of death (at least, as seperate from afterlife and reincarnation), so I thought it would be good to ask here.
Here are some general questions/topic areas:
What does death mean to the Hindu? ( Within the religion, how important is the concept of death, and what does death mean in the "grand scheme of things"?)
What is death?
How do Hindu's prepeare/"mark" the passing of another human? (funery rites and such)
How do close relatives/friends/community of the religion react to death? (Is death positive/negative, are people hopeful, wary, scared, when thinking of death? What is the general "mood" surrounding death?)
I realise that these a very general, loose questions, but I hope that when answering them you can give a real insight into how a Hindu really feels about death, as opposed to just the more objective understanding. Of course, if anyone has any insight on the subject whatsoever, please, by all means comment. Anything would be valuable.
Wilfred.
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