Myths Christian, Aboriginal, and Buddhist

1
Myths Christian, Aboriginal, and Buddhist

• By
• Jason Guido
• Chris Cochran
• Blair Hiribarne

2
Introduction
3

• This project is concerned with death,
  dying, rituals of death, and transcendence
  between the dead and undead. Three cultures were
  selected for the project. Each was picked for
  its varied contrast from the other two. The three
  members of this team used religious text,
  interviews, third party texts, as well as the
  World Wide Web. At the end of our research we
  can find the similarities and differences between
  these cultures and how they deal with death.
  This project is far from covering all aspects of
  these cultures and their rituals. There are also
  many other cultures that experience life
  differently with a different set of rituals and
  beliefs.

4

• The first examined culture is Christianity.
  This religion dominates the western world and is
  roughly two thousand years old. Its founder and
  savior is Jesus the believed son of God. This
  linear religion varies widely from the indigenous
  culture of the aboriginal Australians, the second
  culture to be studied. This culture finds value
  and transcendence through dream time.

5

• Finally is Buddhism. Buddhism is the new
  fangled eastern religion that has recently come
  to the west and swept up a great deal of
  Christians, spirituals, celebrities and the
  occasional atheist. This new to the west religion
  is not that new at all. The life style/
  philosophy/ religion started in India around 500
  B.C.E. with the founding papa Siddhartha Gautama.
  The way of the Buddha is the life of letting go
  of want and believing that you are nothing and
  everything at the same time. The religion of the
  Buddha gives us a different way to look at life
  and the way that we die. Believing in
  reincarnation and non-self makes the rituals of
  death and the way we transcend life very
  different from western rituals, but similarities
  can be seen in the way westerners live and die
  and how Buddhist go through experience.

6

• Buddhism offers a life of meditation and
  letting go of things that many westerns hold to
  be sacred. When we look at the life and death of
  a Buddhist one can get an idea that death is not
  something to cry over, and the life that each one
  lives is not as valuable and worthy of tragedy
  filled ceremonies. One might infer this idea
  from a submission to a larger view of life
  separate from a personal ego. Like most
  religions, Buddhism encourages us to see a world
  larger than the room we occupy. As one humbles
  his or self to the vastness of everything, a
  Buddhist might turn a smile at death knowing that
  a cycle has been completed and that we are all
  connected.

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Christianity
8
The Basics

• Monotheistic religion based on the life,
  teachings, death by crucifixion, and the
  resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• The worlds largest religion claiming about 1/3
  of the earths population as followers.

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Christian Beliefs

• Christians believe Jesus to be God incarnate.
• Christians believe in one God, and that God
  subsists in three divine persons. The Father the
  Son and the Holy Ghost.
• Christians also believe that personal faith in
  Jesus is essential for salvation from sin.

10
The Obvious

• Death is universal!
• Death does not care what religion you follow
  when it is your time, you still die.

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Salvation

• The concept of salvation simply means being
  saved from punishment or suffering of some kind.
• Salvation is extremely important within the realm
  of Christian thought.
• For many, attainment of salvation is the goal of
  religion.
• Some claim, doing the will of God is the goal of
  religionthese ideas are often seen as equal.

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Why is salvation important?

• What are Christians, or anyone else for that
  matter, trying to gain salvation from?
• Salvation must be gained from the idea, or belief
  that there is something that is not of Gods
  design. This could be an evil being, a demon, or
  Satan for example.
• Christians believe salvation is the way into
  heaven or hell. With it, you are delivered to
  sit at the right hand of God, without it you will
  be condemned to hell.
• Those who believe in heaven generally hold that
  it is the final resting place of many or all
  humans.

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Now we

• Know what Christianity is.
• Have a basic understanding of Christian beliefs
  concerning God and the principals of salvation.
• Know that Christians goal is admittance into
  heaven.
• But how do Christians plan on entering heaven?
• What rituals do they perform to help ensure that
  is where they spend eternal life?

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Entering Heaven

• Christians believe that to enter heaven they must
  accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and
  savior.
• Through faith in the sacrificial death and
  resurrection of Jesus, individuals are believed
  to be saved from death, by redemption of their
  sins.
• Christians perform specific rituals with hope
  that their performance on earth will gain them
  entrance into heaven.

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Christian Rituals

• Those done in life
• Those done in death
• Rituals performed during life that are believed
  to help place a Christian in heaven

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Eucharist

• Known as the Lords Supper or Communion, it is
  the consumption of bread and wine as the body and
  blood of Christ.

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Penance

• This is commonly known as confession, where the
  confessor hopes to be forgiven and absolved of
  his or her sins.

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Baptism

• Baptism symbolizes the remission of sins, and is
  recognized as a confession of faith by he or she
  who is baptized.

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Other Rituals

• Anointing of the sick .
• Confirmation (closely related to baptism).
• A daily or weekly worship where the believer
  attends church, or mass.
• Some Christians do not continue Christian-like
  activities as did their grandparents. While
  still clinging to some of their traditions such
  as Christmas and Easter, these people can be
  classified with those who are sometimes known as
  practicing Jews or are considered Christian
  when they want.

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Rituals that take place when a person dies

• Most rituals include preparation of the dying
  person for their journey into the afterlife.
  Family, friends, as well as relatives help out
  with these rituals.

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Preparation of the corpse

• Often the body is embalmed and dressed in fancy
  clothes before burial. It is believed that the
  body deserves respectful treatment, as it served
  to harbor the spirit during life.

22
3 Days Rule

• There is a common belief that the soul remains
  at home for three days after the death of a
  person. Christians draw a parallel to this by
  stating that the resurrection of Christ also took
  three days.

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Disposal of the Corpse

• Cremation or embalming.
• whereby the body can be burned then stored in an
  urn or scattered. Some believe that cremation is
  incompatible with the concept of the resurrection
  of the body as it has been destroyed.
• Also, fire is sometimes seen as representing
  negative images such as holocaust .cremations, or
  compared to the idea of hell.
• Or, in the case of embalming, can be buried or
  placed in a mausoleum.

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Attitudes and beliefs
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Death

• "Death" is a socially constructed idea.
  The fears and attitudes people have towards it
  are not instinctive, but rather learned from
  educational and cultural vehicles such as the
  languages, arts, and religion. Every culture has
  its own coherent explanation of death which is
  believed to be right by its members. From such
  consideration, the life and Society are built
  according to such archetypes as death. What
  lessons can we learn from the examination of
  death as a social and cultural fact?

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Among the cultural indicators to be considered
are

• Nature of the beliefs toward the meaning of life,
  death and the hereafter.
• Funerary rituals and strategies for body
  disposal.
• The physical and symbolic boundaries between the
  worlds of the living and the dead.
• The perceived role of the dead on the affairs of
  the living.
• The degree of social stigma attached to those
  dying, dead, or bereaved.
• Orientations toward and rates of suicide, murder
  and abortion.

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(Contd)

• Death prevention and avoidance as a social goal.
• The death socialization of children (including
  death themes in children's stories and games) and
  their involvement in funerary ritual.
• The taboo status of the topic of dying and death
  in everyday discourse.
• The language used regarding death.
• The nature and conceptions of death in the arts.

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• In considering cross-culturally the many facets
  of death, others have developed typologies of
  orientations toward life and death
• Cultures can be death-accepting, death-denying or
  even death- defying. In the death-defying West,
  the strategies for salvation have historically
  included activism and starkness. In the East, the
  strategies have often been more contemplative and
  mystical.

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• Death may be considered either as the end of
  existence or as a transition to another state of
  being or consciousness. For Buddhists and Hindus,
  the arch-ordeal envisioned is not death but
  rather the pain of having to undergo another
  rebirth. It is the end of rebirths that is their
  goal, not the end of death, which is the goal of
  Christianity.
• Considering the two previous dimensions, it
  should be evident that death can be viewed as
  either sacred or profane, a state or process
  perceived either to be sacrosanct or polluting
  for the living.

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• Where there is some immortality conception, it
  can either be personal or collective. In the
  West, post-death conceptions typically involve
  the integrity and continuity of one's personal
  self. In the East, the ultimate goal is often an
  undifferentiated and impersonal oneness with the
  universe.
• Cultures have taken hedonistic and pessimistic
  orientations toward life in facing the
  inevitability of death, such as taking an "eat,
  drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die"
  approach to life.

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• Females are traditionally more involved in ritual
  and the emotional aspects of social life than are
  men. Whether by nature, socialization, exposure,
  or through some combination thereof, this implies
  that women are more likely than men to consider
  the existential issues of death and personal
  relationships. Over the last 50 years, their role
  in funerals has been virtually eliminated by the
  professionalization of the funeral industry. No
  longer needed, as their mothers and grandmothers
  might have been, to care for the dying at home,
  to wash and dress the body, to maintain mourning
  rituals, or tend graves, they must rethink the
  significance of death and their relationship to
  it.

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• The Christian notion of life being what's
  objective and concrete while the hereafter has an
  illusionary quality is far from being universal.
  The Hindus, for example, handle the problem of
  death by viewing life as the illusion and the
  realm between reincarnations as that which is
  objective. Hence, for many in Eastern cultures
  the primary concern is to avoid rebirth by
  extinguishing one's self-centeredness, while in
  much of the West, this concern is to obtain as
  high a quality of personal existence as is
  possible in the here-and-now.
• (much of this excerpt take from
  http//death.monstrous.com/death_rituals.htm)

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Australian AboriginalDreamtime Myths
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Australia
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Indigenous Peoples of Australia

• There are two recognized Indigenous peoples in
  Australia the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait
  Islanders.
• This presentation will focus on the Aboriginal
  people and their Dreamtime Myths.

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Some Aboriginal Background

• The Aboriginal people migrated from Southeast
  Asia to Australia between 40,000-150,000 years
  ago, making them one of the oldest and longest
  surviving cultures in the world.

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Aboriginal People and their Beliefs

• They were hunter-gatherers who liked to explore
  and go on "walkabouts.
• Walkabouts" also had a spiritual meaning to the
  Aboriginal. They viewed the land as sacred and
  their journeys became a dream journey connecting
  them to Dreamtime.
• They would recount their walkabouts in songs and
  pass them on through the generations. These
  songs, also known as songlines, depicted their
  journey through sacred pathways and would convey
  a spiritual message.
• The Dream Journey is the Aboriginal path to
  spiritual renewal because the people and the land
  are inseparable. These are a people in deep
  harmony with nature.
  
• Source About Dreamtime web site on 25 Nov. 2005
  http//projects.edtech.sandi.net/dailard/oceanarts
  /Dreamtime.html

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Dreamtime

• The expression 'Dreamtime' is most often used to
  refer to the 'time before time', or 'the time of
  the creation of all things', while 'Dreaming' is
  often used to refer to an individual's or group's
  set of beliefs or spirituality
• Source Indigenous Australia web site on 25 Jul.
  05 http//www.dreamtime.net.au/dreaming/dreamtime.
  htm

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Dreamtime

• Aboriginal spirituality and beliefs are centered
  around creation stories.
• These stories are recounted during their
  Dreamtime ceremonies and through oral traditions.
• The stories tech how their ancestors left their
  mark on the land and are manifested in particular
  sacred sites all over Australia.

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Dreamtime

• The group or tribe would be called together,
  sometimes with the use of the yidaki (also known
  as the didjeridu), and tell great stories of how
  everything was created in a ceremonial
  performance.
• These ceremonial performances passed on the laws
  and beliefs of and individual tribe and increased
  creative energy within the world.
• Side note The Yidaki origins are sacred and only
  known to Yolngu men of the Northern Territory.

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Vision Quest

• Dreamtime is also called a Vision Quest which is
  an attempt to make contact with a spirit for
  protection and/or to acquire a supernatural
  power.
• Vision Quests are brought about by fasting,
  isolation, and extreme exposure to the elements.
• Vision Quests are normally performed by male
  youths as a right of passage into maturity.

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Ceremonial Dress

• Body paint and headdresses help the Australians
  to connect their physical bodies to the spirit
  world.
• Each language group has their own type of
  ceremonial dress.

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Feasts and Festivals

• Ceremonies are held that involve people from
  different language groups.
• They bring gifts and raw materials to trade.
• Aborigines perform songs and dances to celebrate
  daily activities.
• After the feast the elders meet to discuss laws
  and ensure the survival of the Dreaming.

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Dreamtime Stories
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A Soakage in Sand Hill Country

• An important aspect of aboriginal stories
  involves where water can be found.
• This is a depiction of a waterhole that is
  surrounded by sweeping sandhills.

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Mina Mina Dreaming

• In the Dreamtime there was a huge fight between
  Yarla and Ngarlajiyi.
• This is a picture of the Ngarlajiyi plant with
  yatura (roots), and ngama (surface tendrils).

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Fire Dreaming

• This painting depicts a fire that is set by the
  people in order to flush out Liwirringki
  (burrowing skinks) so that they can be more
  easily caught for food.

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"Brock Brock" Frog Dreaming

• Brock Brock, or Wulwarna, is the frog that
  senses the coming of the rains and comes out to
  sing in them.
• He is the focus of the Jardiwampa ceremonies.

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Heres a list of some Dreamtime Stories

• Creation Story
• Eaglehawk and Crow
• Emu and the Jabiru
• Gulaga
• How the water got to the plains
• Illawarra and the five islands
• Koockard (Goanna)
• Min-na-wee (Why the Crocodile Rolls)
• Red Waratah

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Dreamtime Stories (Contd)

• The 2 wise men and the 7 sisters
• Thukeri
• Toonkoo and Ngaardi
• Umbarra
• Why the stories are told
• Click here for Real Audio tellings of these
  stories
• Click here for some videos of other stories

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Religious Significance of the Land

• The land is the Aborigines tie to the Dreaming
  sacred sites mark where ancestors went down
  and serve as ties to ancestors. A persons link
  to one part of the land cannot be transferred to
  any other part.
• Aboriginal worship practices all center on the
  land maintaining certain sites, preserving
  certain species, etc.
• Songs about the Dreaming are so concerned with
  the land that they can be used as maps, even
  across unfamiliar terrain. Land is a record of
  the Dreaming.

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Buddhism
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Basic Principles

• Attempting to understand a Christian death would
  be really hard if you didnt know who Jesus was
  and what he taught. Well, the same works for
  Buddhism and the Buddhist view on ceremony and
  transcendence. So, before we can understand the
  way that a Buddhist dies and lives we need to
  understand the basic principles behind Buddhism.
  After we know a little bit of what its all about
  we can begin to see how death, dying, and talking
  to your dog like a cousin all makes perfect
  sense.
• When the Dharma wheel Had thus been turned by
  the World-Honored One, the Earth gods proclaimed,
  Near Varanasi at Isipnatana in the Deer Park,
  the highest Wheel of the Dharma has been set in
  motion. It cannot be turned back by reclues,
  brahamans, gads, maras, brahmas, or anyone in any
  worlds. - Thich Nhat Hanh

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Basic Principles (Contd)

• Buddhism is better described as a life style then
  a religion. The life of a Buddhist is one of
  personal reflection and movement along a
  spiritual path. The paths ultimate goal is
  Nirvana. Nirvana is the enlightenment of the
  mind and the freedom from suffering. A Buddhist
  can only reach this final stage of his journey in
  death. But in life a Buddhist spends his
  religious focus on strengthening his mind and
  becoming one that is as close to enlightened as
  possible. Buddhism separated from Hinduism with
  the presence of the enlightened one The Buddha.
  The Buddha was a prince from the northern India
  region named Siddartha Guatama. The Buddha is
  believed to have reached enlightenment one day
  while sitting under the sacred bodhi tree
  contemplating the meaning and end of suffering.
  It is believed that at this point The Buddha
  reached perfect awakening (samyak sambohdi) and
  began turning the great dharma wheel and while
  doing so beginning the ending of suffering. The
  Buddha principles of teaching come primarily from
  the four noble truths Suffering (dukkha), the
  root of suffering (samudaya), cessation of
  creating suffering (nirodha), and finally the
  path (marga). The path is the Noble eightfold
  path. This consists of right-view, thinking,
  speech, action, livelihood, diligence,
  mindfulness, concentration. A Buddhist believes
  that following these teaching and living a life
  of peace and concentration will lead him to the
  great awakening. Buddhists also believe in
  re-incarnation. Because of this belief,
  Buddhists believe that all life is sacred and
  must be treated with the ut-most respect. They
  figure, hey that fly you swat could be the Buddha
  himself.

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Basic Principles (Contd)

• It is from these primary principles of Buddhism
  that we are able to see how a Buddhist treats
  nature. A Buddhist believes that no animal from
  an earthworm to an elephant should be harmed.
  And also plants are to be treated with great
  respect. Because plants are our source for food
  we are supposed to treat them with love and
  respect. If we treat plants poorly we ingest
  poor karma and the food will hurt our spirits.
  Also A Buddhist looks at nature through the eyes
  of impermanence. When a monk sees a tree he does
  not just see the tree before him, he sees the
  tree that gave this one a seed, the soil that
  nurtured its growth, and the sun that helped it
  grow. With this a monk can become humbled at the
  passing of the world and the interconnectedness
  of the earth. Buddhism hold great respect for
  nature because a Buddhist sees the world around
  him as an extension of himself and himself an
  extension of the world.

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The Four Noble Truths

• The Buddha taught that life was dissatisfactory
  because of craving, but that this condition was
  curable by following the Eightfold Path. This
  teaching is called the Four Noble Truths
• Dukkha All worldly life is unsatisfactory,
  disjointed, containing suffering.
• Samudaya There is a cause of suffering, which is
  attachment or desire (tanha) rooted in ignorance.
• Nirodha There is an end of suffering, which is
  Nirvana.
• Marga There is a path that leads out of
  suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.

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(No Transcript)
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The Noble Eightfold Path

• In order to fully understand the noble truths and
  investigate whether they were in fact true,
  Buddha recommended that a certain lifestyle or
  path be followed which consists of
• 1) Right Understanding
• 2) Right Thought
• 3) Right Speech
• 4) Right Action
• 5) Right Livelihood
• 6) Right Effort
• 7) Right Mindfulness
• 8) Right Concentration

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The Noble Eightfold Path (Contd)

• Sometimes in the Pali Canon the Eightfold Path is
  spoken of as being a progressive series of stages
  which the practitioner moves through, the
  culmination of one leading to the beginning of
  another, but it is more usual to view the stages
  of the 'Path' as requiring simultaneous
  development.
• The Eightfold Path essentially consists of
  meditation, following the precepts, and
  cultivating the positive converse of the precepts
  (e.g. benefiting living beings is the converse of
  the first precept of harmlessness). The Path may
  also be thought of as a way of developing sila,
  meaning mental and moral discipline.

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The Five Precepts

• Buddhists undertake certain precepts as aids on
  the path to coming into contact with ultimate
  reality. Laypeople generally undertake five
  precepts. The Five Precepts are not given in the
  form of commands such as "thou shalt not ...",
  but rather are promises to oneself "I will (try)
  to..."
• The five precepts are
• 1) To refrain from harming living creatures
  (killing).
• 2) To refrain from taking that which is not
  freely given (stealing).
• 3) To refrain from sexual misconduct.
• 4) To refrain from incorrect speech (lying,
  harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).
• 5) To refrain from intoxicants which lead to
  loss of mindfulness.
• It should be noted that the literal, and possibly
  original, meaning of the third precept covers
  more than the now generally standard meaning
  "sexual misconduct" and actually involves
  refraining from "wrong indulgence in all sensory
  pleasures"

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Non Self

• The Buddhist religion has other principles and
  fundamentals, and one of the most important of
  these is the idea of non-self. A Buddhist
  believes that he is an empty nothingness. Being
  nothing and removing yourself from the material
  world is a good thing to do. A Buddhist know
  that nothing in life is permanent, life is always
  changing, and you and everyone else will be gone
  some day. The Buddhist knows that his
  impermanence and interconnected self with
  everything lets him know that he will parish and
  always be an equal part of everything. He will
  never be a drop, only an ocean with no division.
  This outlook on life makes going through death if
  not at least easier, then very different from a
  Christian death.

62
The Death of a Buddhist

• A Buddhist death is not the same as one of
  another religion. Well, the body still kinda
  looks the same whether youre a little Chinese
  man thats Catholic or a monk, but the ceremony
  is different and the destination mythology varies
  more than slightly. Death and dying in the
  Buddhist tradition is a process that begins at
  the moment of conception. Meditation and the
  sewing of negative and positive energies play a
  pivotal role on how you live and how you die.
  The ceremonies of death in a Buddhist life are as
  varied and religiously connected as most other
  religions. The traditional ceremony of a
  Buddhist death would not resemble the coffin,
  church, and wake ceremony we find present in most
  of the western world. Traditionally bodies are
  burned not buried, and the cremation process is
  different then a morgue. The body is usually
  burned outside for the community to see. Burial
  still occurs though and can be found among
  Tibetan Buddhists.

63
The Death of a Buddhist (Contd)

• Contemplation and meditation on death and
  impermanence are regarded as very important in
  Buddhism for two reasons (1) it is only by
  recognising how precious and how short life is
  that we are most likely to make it meaningful and
  to live it fully and (2) by understanding the
  death process and familiarizing ourself with it,
  we can remove fear at the time of death and
  ensure a good rebirth.

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The Death of a Buddhist (Contd)

• Because the way in which we live our lives and
  our state of mind at death directly influence our
  future lives, it is said that the aim or mark of
  a spiritual practitioner is to have no fear or
  regrets at the time of death. People who practice
  to the best of their abilities will die, it is
  said, in a state of great bliss. The mediocre
  practitioner will die happily. Even the initial
  practitioner will have neither fear nor dread at
  the time of death. So one should aim at achieving
  at least the smallest of these results. There
  are two common meditations on death in the
  Tibetan tradition. The first looks at the
  certainty and imminence of death and what will be
  of benefit at the time of death, in order to
  motivate us to make the best use of our lives.
  The second is a simulation or rehearsal of the
  actual death process, which familiarizes us with
  death and takes away the fear of the unknown,
  thus allowing us to die skilfully. Traditionally,
  in Buddhist countries, one is also encouraged to
  go to a cemetery or burial ground to contemplate
  on death and become familiar with this inevitable
  event.

65
The Death of a Buddhist (Contd)

• The first of these meditations is known as the
  nine-round death meditation, in which we
  contemplate the three roots, the nine reasonings,
  and the three convictions, as described below

66
A. DEATH IS CERTAIN

• 1. There is no possible way to escape death.
  No-one ever has, not even Jesus, Buddha, etc. Of
  the current world population of over 5 billion
  people, almost none will be alive in 100 years
  time.
• 2. Life has a definite, inflexible limit and each
  moment brings us closer to the finality of this
  life. We are dying from the moment we are born.
• 3. Death comes in a moment and its time is
  unexpected. All that separates us from the next
  life is one breath.
• Conviction To practice the spiritual path and
  ripen our inner potential by cultivating positive
  mental qualities and abandoning disturbing mental
  qualities.

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B. THE TIME OF DEATH IS UNCERTAIN

• 4. The duration of our lifespan is uncertain. The
  young can die before the old, the healthy before
  the sick, etc.
• 5. There are many causes and circumstances that
  lead to death, but few that favour the sustenance
  of life.
• Even things that sustain life can kill us, for
  example food, motor vehicles, property.
• 6. The weakness and fragility of one's physical
  body contribute to life's uncertainty.
• The body can be easily destroyed by disease or
  accident, for example cancer, AIDS, vehicle
  accidents, other disasters.
• Conviction To ripen our inner potential now,
  without delay.

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C. THE ONLY THING THAT CAN HELP US AT THE TIME OF
DEATH IS OUR MENTAL/SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

• (because all that goes on to the next life is our
  mind with its karmic (positive or negative)
  imprints.)
• 7. Worldly possessions such as wealth, position,
  money can't help
• 8. Relatives and friends can neither prevent
  death nor go with us.
• 9. Even our own precious body is of no help to
  us. We have to leave it behind like a shell, an
  empty husk, an overcoat.
• Conviction To ripen our inner potential purely,
  without staining our efforts with attachment to
  worldly concerns.
• These meditation techniques are brought to you
  thanks to buddhistnet.net

69

• All things die, work out your own
  salvation with diligence. These were the last
  words that Siddartha the Buddha said right before
  he passed away. He wanted his followers to know
  that the day they were born they began to die.
  He asked that his people think of their bodies as
  on fire. And with every moment you fade a little
  closer to death. Your body is burning to ash.
  The Buddha believed it was important for us all
  to remember that death is going to happen to us
  all. That the death we experience is coming and
  comes to everyone. It is the focus of the mind
  and the diligent desire to leg go that will save
  one from the suffering of the world. The moment
  that you truly except impermanence you help to
  turn the wheel of dharma and let go of ties to
  this life.

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The Tibetan Book of The Dead

• Instructions given to the dying and whispered
  into the ear of the deceased were taken from a
  text that has been called the Tibetan Book of The
  Dead. This book offers an explanation of the
  realm that the spirit goes through during death.
  The knowledge of the afterlife comes from deep
  meditation, but full knowledge of the souls
  trials and tribulations can only be discovered at
  death itself.
• Funeral rites and observations lasted about two
  lunar months. An astrologer was called in to
  cast a horoscope that showed the arrangement of
  the heavens at the time of a death. The
  horoscope would influence the types of rites
  performed as well the precise time and place of
  the funeral. (Chidester,122) Bodies were kept
  in the home or funeral are for forty nine days.
  During this time family and community could come
  and make offerings to the body and person.

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The Tibetan Book of The Dead (Contd)

• It is believed that during the time between lives
  the spirit of a person would experience all of
  the splendors and horrors of life. The
  consciousness that left the body experienced
  intense lights and visions. These are thought to
  be the purest lights and sounds. Also
  accompanying these pure lights and sounds were
  images and sounds of terror. If consciousness
  could handle these intense experiences with
  deviating from a calm mental state, then the
  consciousness would be free from the cycle of
  life and death. If not, the book states that
  conscious ness will begin to disappear. At this
  point all that remains of the mind will begin to
  focus on new parents. Finally, reincarnation
  will occur.

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Conclusion
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• Buddhism varies greatly from traditional western
  religions. The cyclical life and death of the
  samsara belief system is far not similar to a
  Christian view that you are born, you, live, you
  die, then you go off to an after life. A
  Buddhist may free himself from his cycle, but his
  salivation lies in a life of meditation and being
  mindful of his actions. Similarities between the
  two can be found in the salvation promised by
  their saviors. Jesus died for the sins of man,
  and allowed a passage to heaven through personal
  acceptance of him and his teachings. The Buddha
  turned the wheels of dharma, and with this
  blessing humans can now become free from this
  life death cycle, and the burdens of desire and
  suffering.

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• Buddhist death and ritual can find similarities
  with indigenous culture through practices that
  occur during ones life. And aborigine can find
  connection with the afterlife as well as his
  ancestors though dreamtime and contemplation. It
  is believed that meditation in life can allow a
  Buddhist to connect with everything, as well as
  allow him to realize his own impermanence and the
  nature of his certain demise and possible
  salvation.

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• Followers of the Buddhist faith find connection
  with the world around them, as well as a
  connection with those who have passed before
  them, due primarily to two principles. A
  Buddhist believes that he is nothing and
  everything is him. This connects him to a world
  that is much larger then his body, but no more or
  less significant. Also, reincarnation promotes
  the idea that all that surrounds us is past,
  present, and future family. Every living thing
  is a consciousness that is interconnected with
  the world. Each person is an equal space in an
  infinite net, and these consciousnesses have been
  around before our time, and will return to the
  earth for many years until all beings can reach
  nirvana.

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