A comparison of death in five Eastern religions

8/10/2019 A comparison of death in five Eastern religions

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Chris Hart

World Religious Traditions '

Ri"hard Trussell

#ugust $%, 2&&

Study of Death in Five Eastern Religions

Death defines one of the most (asi" as)e"ts of human e*isten"e+ that our o n mortality

limits our longevity and e*isten"e- Des)ite our "om)rehension of our o n mortality, the "on"e)t

of death raises more .uestions than it ans ers- While these .uestions are many and varied, Paul

/auguin0s )aining Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? highlights

the foundations of these .uestions 1 olloy 23- 'n this )a)er, ' ill summari4e ho Hinduism,

5uddhism, Confu"ianism, Taoism and Shinto address the to)i" of death ith a )arti"ular fo"us

on the "on"e)t of death, ho death is )er"eived ithin the (elief system, (eliefs of afterlife if

a))li"a(le and ho death relates to family life-

'n Hinduism, several "on"e)ts are "entral to understanding ho death is vie ed ithin

the (elief system- # "olle"tion of or6s 6no n as the 7)anishads outline these "on"e)ts and

ma6e them availa(le to a lay )erson ithout inter)retation from )riests 1 olloy 823- The

7)anishads des"ri(e Brahman as the "osmi" for"e that "an (e 6no n9 it is not :ust something

that one (elieves- 5rahman is many things, (ut it is (est summari4ed as ;the e*)erien"e that all

things are in some ay ultimately one< 1 olloy 8=3- olloy goes on to say that although

5rahman is e*)erien"ed in the )resent time and )la"e, it is also ultimately ;(eyond time and

(eyond s)a"e


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#tman is the refle"tion of 5rahman in one0s self- Ho ever, hen one truly "om)rehends the

ri"hness of 5rahman there is no distin"tion (et een one0s self and ;everything else


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elements, Aallo ingB the s)irit to move on ard---< 1 olloy $& 3- ot only does this ease the fear

of death for the dying, it also eases the )assing of a loved one for survivors-

This )ea"eful a))roa"h to death is not uni.ue to Hinduism- 'n 5uddhism, the 5uddha

himself served as a role model of ho one should deal ith death- When the 5uddha 6ne he

as dying, he reminded his saddened follo ers that everything that lives must die- The (est that

one "an do is to rea"h inner )ea"e- This inner )ea"e as sho n (y the 5uddha as he died,

immortali4ed in the image of the ;Re"lining 5uddha8=3- The o(le Eightfold Path des"ri(es the ay of ;right living$=%3- While similar "on"e)ts e*ist in Hinduism, one im)ortant distin"tion is that 5uddhism

has no "on"e)t of a singular ;soul


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rare, it is nonetheless the ideal state attained through enlightenment (y )erfe"ting the )ra"ti"e of

right living 1 olloy $=%>$!&3- The "om(ination of a tangi(le )ath to eliminating suffering, a

me"hanism for re arding right living through 6arma and rein"arnation, and the ho)e of nirvana

forms the foundation for inner )ea"e, (oth in living and in death-

Early Chinese religious (eliefs heavily influen"ed the develo)ment of Confu"ianism and

Taoism and, as a result, are im)ortant as a foundation for (oth religions vie s on death- These

)rin"i)les in"luded a (elief in s)irits, veneration of an"estors 1mu"h more so than in estern

traditions3, and t o "om)lementary (ut o))osing for"es 6no n as yin and yang 1 olloy 2$ >

2$%3-These early Chinese (eliefs "om(ined ith 5uddhism heavily influen"ed the

develo)ment of Taoism- #t the root of Taoism is Tao , re)resenting the ay that nature e*)resses

itself- ne of the main o(:e"tives of Taoism is to guide human (eings on ho to live in a ay

that (rings them into unison ith the Tao 1 olloy 22 3- Closely related to Tao is the individual0s

life for"e 16no n as qi3, hi"h )lays an im)ortant role in health and ell>(eing-

While other virtues are )romoted (y Taoism, one of )arti"ular interest is the idea of

effortlessness 16no n as wu wei 3- The )ra"ti"e of u ei involves doing only hat is ne"essary

and avoiding unne"essary or6 1 olloy 2283- Wu ei )lays an im)ortant role hen "onsidering

the t o dimensions of Taoist thought of death-

ne of the )rimary values of living in a""ordan"e ith the Tao is im)roving longevity- #

variety of )ra"ti"es ere develo)ed to )romote longevity, in"luding e*er"ises, (reathing

)ra"ti"es, diet and massage- While these )ra"ti"es have o(serva(le )hysi"al effe"ts, Taoism also

had forms of ;al"hemy< aimed at transforming one0s life for"e- ;'nternal al"hemy< deals ith the

life for"e that e*ists ithin the )ra"titioner s (ody- 't as (elieved that mastering this )ra"ti"e


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"ould "reate a ty)e of soul that "ould )ersist after )hysi"al death- i6e ise, ;)hysi"al al"hemyt4u, a "olle"tion of (oo6s, deals ith the to)i" of death in (oo6 $2 here the

aster states, ;Athe su)erior manB re:oi"es not in long life, and grieves not for early death- --- His

distin"tion is in understanding that all things (elong to the one treasury, and that death and life

should (e vie ed in the same ay-< 1.td- in @an @oorst $?%3- i6e ise, the Tao Te Ching,

another "entral riting to Taoism, deals ith the issue thusly+The orld has a sour"e+ the orld0s mother-n"e you 6no the mother,

Iou 6no the "hildren-n"e you 6no the "hildren,

Return to the mother-Iour (ody dies-There is no danger-1.td- in @an @oorst $? 3

# Chinese story illustrates this a))roa"h to death- 'n the story, the ife of a "hara"ter

named Jhuang4i dies- When Jhuang4i0s friend, Hui T4u, goes to visit him, he finds Jhuang4i

re:oi"ing- Hui T4u is "onfused (y this, (ut Jhuang4i e*)lains that his ife has returned to the

form she had )rior to her life as a human (eing > a ;formless su(stan"e of the universe


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The Taoist vie s on death form a di"hotomy+ on the one hand, death is to (e avoided

through :udi"ious use of e*er"ises, meditations and al"hemy, seemingly "ounter to the virtue of

u ei- n the other hand, death is to (e a""e)ted ithout grieving or sadness (e"ause the Taoist

should re"ogni4e that death is not an end of life (ut merely a "hange in form- While these

"on"e)ts seem mutually e*"lusive, they illustrate the e*)ansiveness of Taoist (elief and ho

(elief systems evolve to deal ith the most diffi"ult issues of human nature-

'n "ontrast to the dire"tness ith hi"h Taoism deals ith death, Confu"ianism seems to

avoid the su(:e"t to deal ith more )ragmati" "on"erns- Confu"ian (eliefs fo"us on )ro)er

living, maintaining a strong so"ial and filial fa(ri" and the nature of relationshi)s 1 olloy 2=%>2!=3- With this )ra"ti"al a))roa"h, Confu"ius did not dis"uss death or the afterlife in detail

1 asten(aum3- Sin"e the fo"us of so mu"h of Confu"ian (eliefs is relationshi)s amongst family

mem(ers and general so"iety, it is through this lens that most dis"ussion of death o""urs-

Similar to 5uddhism and Taoism, Confu"ian (eliefs are des"ri(ed in several se)arate

(oo6s 1 olloy 2! 3- While all of the (oo6s are "riti"al to understanding Confu"ian thought, t o

(oo6s in )arti"ular )rovide guidan"e on relationshi)s and death- 'n #nale"ts, the aster

des"ri(es the virtues of the ;su)erior man


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(y the e*isten"e of a s)e"ifi" ritual, ;Sa"rifi"ial des of au, de < in the Classi" of Poetry

1@an @oorst $G!3- @an @oorst .uotes this ode, intended to honor one0s )arents, in one )art

reading, ;Iou "omfort me ith the eye(ro s of long life K Iou ma6e me great ith many

(lessings2?83-

The story of '4anami and '4anagi highlights t o im)ortant as)e"ts of Shinto (elief-

Shinto0s fo"us on life and .uality of living leads to death (eing vie ed very negatively > it is the

very antithesis of life- #t the same time, the story sho s the im)ortan"e )la"ed on "leanliness in


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Shinto and demonstrates the "onnotation of anything o))osing life as (eing un"lean 1 olloy

2 !3- This negative "onnotation "an also (e seen (y the (elief that the de"eased may (e"ome

6ami if there is anger asso"iated ith their death- This a))arent dis"omfort ith the to)i" of

death in Shinto is su))orted (y a familar adage in Shinto, LShinto for eddings, 5uddhism for

funeralsL 1 asten(aum3-

With so many shared roots and influen"e in these religions, it is interesting to investigate

"ommon themes a"ross their (eliefs- 'n )arti"ular, Hinduism and 5uddhism seem to share a

general a))roa"h to the "on"e)t of death+ an a(sen"e of fear (ased on a trust on the (elief system

that death is not an end to life in some sense- This (elief goes further than :ust an afterlife, )artly (e"ause of the (elief in rein"arnation, (ut also at a dee)er level (e"ause of the

inter"onne"tedness of life, nature and reality- While the me"hanism (y hi"h rein"arnation

o)erates differs, the effe"t is the same9 the afterlife "an e*ist in the everyday orld and not in

some unseen, unfamiliar )la"e- #t the same time, an afterlife in some other realm is )ossi(le if

one ants to a"hieve it (y rea"hing mo6sha or nirvana-

Similarly, Confu"ianism, Taoism and Shinto all seem to shy a ay from the to)i"- While

Confu"ianism seems to do so for )ragmati" reasons, Taoism and Shinto seem to (e more

deli(erate in their avoidan"e of the su(:e"t- #t the same time, they share a "ommon reveren"e

for an"estors and a res)e"t for s)irits- The )ra"ti"al admission of the a(sen"e of the su(:e"t in

the Shinto adage a(out ;5uddhism for funerals< highlights the very real effe"t this avoidan"e has

on follo ers-

#ll five religions )rovide some su))ort or ho)e for the survivors left (ehind (y the death

of a loved one- 'n )arti"ular, Confu"ianism 1through the a"tions of a su)erior man and through

rituals3 and Hinduism 1in the use of @edi" rituals to honor the dead3 deal most dire"tly ith this


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su(:e"t- 'n "ontrast, Shinto offers limited su))ort through the reveren"e of an"estors hile at the

same time tea"hing that "loseness to death ma6es one im)ure-

The .uestions raised (y human mortality ma6e death an im)ortant to)i" in most (elief

systems- Des)ite differen"es in )hiloso)hy (et een religions, the signifi"an"e of the to)i" is

nearly universal- Su"h u(i.uity highlights our (asi" human need to not only understand here

"ame from and here e are, (ut also here e are going- 7ltimately, death > ho ever

un)leasant > is a defining "hara"teristi" of the meaning of our lives- 'f religion "an )rovide

meaning to death, it fulfills one of the most (asi" human needs-


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A comparison of death in five Eastern religions

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