Death is something that everybody has in common. We are all born, we all live and we all die. However, the customs, beliefs and traditions surrounding death can differ greatly between different groups of people, different parts of the world or different stages throughout history. Read about five different attitudes towards death and then check your understanding by doing the exercises that follow.
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There is evidence to suggest that even as far back as prehistoric times, Neanderthal man buried their dead with flowers. This suggests a certain emotional concern for the well being of the dead and might indicate a belief in an afterlife of some kind. Another piece of evidence that backs up this theory is the fact that Neanderthals also buried their dead in a curled position facing the sunrise. They probably believed that the dead would eventually wake up into a new life.
In Ireland, Catholics hold a “wake” for the dead. The “wake house” is usually the house where the deceased lived and died. The body is laid out in a room of the house in an open coffin. Friends and family gather in a separate room to pay their respects. There is usually an atmosphere of celebration with food, drink and music. Everybody talks about the dead person and shares their fond memories. When it is time to carry the coffin to the graveyard, a longer route is normally chosen. If anybody comes across the funeral procession it is quite common to join in. After the funeral the men usually go to the pub while the women return home.
Aborigines do not recognise any form of natural death and as a consequence they treat all deaths as a type of murder. When a person dies, the rest of the tribe show their pain and mourning by wailing. This is also a way of showing their innocence regarding the murder. The dead body is covered with red earth and painted with yellow and white tribal markings. The earth represents the blood of birth, indicating a belief in the afterlife. The markings transform the dead body into a sacred being.
Muslims believe that their lives on earth are only a transition before entering a more important afterlife. Islamic graveyards are often situated just outside the walls of a city because of a superstitious fear of the dead.The “Shahada” is a prayer that is offered. It is similar to the “Last Rites” of Catholics and other Christian religions. Muslims bury their dead in white shrouds with their eyes closed and it is normal to hold the burial service on the same day as the person dies. The body is always buried facing Mecca.
The Dakota Indians bury their dead with much wailing and mourning. It is common for women to cut their arms and legs until they bleed. Meanwhile the men blacken their face with ash.The deceased is dressed in fine clothes and the face is painted red to symbolise life. The Dakota Indians believe that their dead will be reborn into a better life. When the deceased has been dressed and painted, he is taken to a platform which has been specially prepared for the occasion. The body is placed on the platform with all of his favourite things in life so that he does not have to come back for anything that he has forgotten.
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What do you think of this article and the opinions in it? Send us your opinions.
Ojong Egbe writes “Reading keenly from the five different attitudes towards death, I got to understand that some go by fate while some others go by faith. Whatever way one goes, death is something which I particularly pay attention to. And the five varied approaches towards death, which are indeed remarkable and give death some awesomeness, are an absolute fair and square socio-cultural backdrop to this one-off phenomenon.”
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Roshita Abdul Razak writes “This article generally reviews the different perspectives of death depending on one's belief and religion. Nobody denies death, whether you are human, animal or plant. All living things will die. But you just have to wait for your turn. As many people say, you will be repaid for the good deeds that you do, and for the bad deed, you deserve the bad returns. Therefore, before you leave the world forever, leave your loved ones, be sure to do good deeds to all living kinds as Merciful God always taught us to be kind to others regardless of our religions and beliefs. In this way your loved ones, family and friends will treasure the fond memories of you forever.”
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Moe Moe Kyaw writes “Death is a natural phenomenon which I sometimes think about. In childhood I didn't understand how humans feel a lot of pain before death. People said that some died without pain while sleeping and some died in accidents who did not feel pain very long so that they were very lucky and others died of cancer and felt a lot of pain for 5 years so they were very unlucky and so on. In my younger days, I was afraid of dead persons (not the dead persons themselves but the ghosts of dead persons), and as I became older and older I was afraid of my dead but now I am preparing how to face death in a good way according to my religious faith.
Death is very interesting because, until now, there are no scientific findings about after death. For me, as I am Buddhist, I believe in the existence of the next life and good deeds make us good both in this life and our future lives and vice-versa. In Buddhist teaching, just before a person dies, he automatically remembers the bad and good deeds he did in his life, especially the bad ones are more likely to come to mind than good ones. If he thinks bad deeds at his last breathe, he might be reincarnated in a bad existence in the next life even though he did a lot of good deeds in his past life.
Anyway, I am just a normal human being and I can not always control myself to do only good things. But I think It is good to prepare for death as we cannot know when it will come to us. Maybe this is a controversial way of thinking.”
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Vy from Vietnam writes “We never know the answer to the question: 'Is there life after death?'
In Buddhism, they say that there is. If the dead person was good when he/she was alive, he/she will be reincarnated as a human in the next life. On the other hand, if he/she was bad and had done many bad things, he/she will turn into an animal or ugly people in the next life, and they'll be miserable. Maybe they say that because they would like to lead people to the good way, without doing bad things while living. And if you're an animal killer or hunter, you should give it up because you could be turned into an animal that you usually kill in the next life.
I've read some books about the previous and next life. Some of them give examples of what happened in the past, like the story below I want to tell you. In 1958, a five-year-old girl called Winnie died while she was crossing the street and a car crashed into her. Her mother, Anne, was very sad. One night Anne dreamed about Winnie and she heard her say that she would returned to her very soon. When Anne woke up she told Kathy, her sister, about that dream and strangely, Kathy said that the previous night she had had the same dream as Anne. And, about 2 months later, Anne got pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl. She named her Winnie to remind her of her first child. When Winnie was 4 years old she began to talk about her previous life. She said that she had died in an accident and could remember exactly what was happening the day when her sister Winnie had died. It was amazing that it happened when she hadn't even been born. Anne was very surprised and she remembered the dream she had nearly 5 years ago and what her first Winnie had said to her. That's an amazing story and I can't be sure if it is real or not.
So, in my opinion, I think that there is life after death, maybe. But the important thing is, you shouldn't just sit in one place and wonder if there's life after death or not, instead, you should work, study or rest and relax. Why? Because if there's no life after death, and you have only got one life to work and enjoy, you should do many things as you still live in this life. Then, you'll be happy when you die. And if there's life after death, you will be reincarnated as a human again, because you did many good things in your previous life. Is it right??? Share your opinion with me.”
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Jane writes “I think that this article provides information about a wide variety of funerals among different tribes such as Aborigines or Dakota Indians. The writer informs us about how each tribe deals with the deceased and what each tribe's attitudes toward death are. These paragraphs tell us about not only various kinds of funeral rites, but also the beliefs among people inhabiting around the world. For example, I know from reading the passage that the Neanderthals buried dead people with flowers while the Dakota Indian Tribe painted the face of the deceased with red colour to symbolise life. Moreover, in my opinion, it is strange that Aborigine tribes treat all death as a kind of murder. They cannot accept natural death as the cause of death. In addition, as ordinary people think that funerals are mournful and sad, Irish Catholics hold celebrations for funerals and share their fond recollections of the dead. Thus, these paragraphs provide us with knowledge about the funeral ceremony of the deceased in various cultures.”
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Oshada Kurukulasuriya writes “Death is a strange and wonderful subject as it’s one of the hardest things to experiment on or analyse. Your article taught me much about the subject and I’m truly grateful for this. I hope you’ll write more enlightening articles like this one because they are well researched and accurate. As I’m a Buddhist I believe there’s life after death and we are in a life cycle. Only attaining enlightenment will get us out of the cycle.”
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Alma Lopez writes “It is a controversial topic, which usually provokes discussion. Normally the idea of a life after death is associated with old tribes or to religion. My point of view is neither related with ancestral traditions nor religion. It is only the beautiful hope of continuing living. When I think in the end, in the dark, in nothing after life ... fear wakes up strongly in my mind, and it is deeply hard to understand. Even when science doesn’t offer a negation or affirmation, I prefer to believe.”
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Wikipedia: death
Wikipedia: death - external links
HowStuffWorks: how autopsies work
BBC: Videonation - death
The British Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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