Death and the Afterlife Final Exam Flashcards

Question

**Three Favors of Naciketas**

Answer 1

1. How can he appease his father's wrath 2. Instruction on the Fire Sacrifice, through which he will gain entry into heaven 3. Does man continue to exist after death?

Answer 2

* **Knowledge of afterlife / liberation from death** * **secret of atman-brahman** * **self-realization** * once free from desire, are free from grief * must discriminate the Atman from the body, which is the seat of desire

Answer 3

* View of Eastern Religions (versus monotheistic view of creation through to End of Time) * many **kalpas (unit of time)** within which have creations and destructions * beginnings are therefore not "the" beginning * things will reoccur archetypally again & again * Western view of time = view of person (one life / one death vs Samsara cycle of birth/death

Answer 4

* sacred scriptures of the Hindus * earliest vedic text: Rigveda * **Agni: God of fire** * **Yama: Lord of Death**

Answer 5

* **Dharma: Law or Duty** * a) Religious, social & family duty * b) eternal cosmic law / truth * need a) to live in harmony with b) * **Karma: Action** (**any intentional action**) * **Vedic**: Karma = ritual action of the fire * **Upanishad**: = intentional action & results

Answer 6

* fulfill one's responsibilities in context of family life, caste and stages of ife * **Vedic**: emphasis on household life * **Upanishad**: emphasis on renunciation

Answer 7

* **liberation from Samsara through the realization of the true nature of atman (soul), tha the nature of soul is same as nature of universe** * **Atman is Brahman**

Answer 8

1. **Celestial:** sky gods 2. **Atmospheric:** gods of atmosphere (in between sky and earth) 3. **Earth:** humans and gods of earth 4. **World of the Fathers:** ancestors and dead

Answer 9

* **Brahaman priests do it** - to help successfully transition to World of Fathers * 3 Fire altars: * **Home Fire** - earth cooking fire/ prep sacrificial animal * **Sky Fire**: put prepped sacrifical animal in to go up to the Gods * **Southern Fire**: offering for ancestors ("Hungry Fire") to nourish them * **Home & Sky fires symbolize relat. bet. humans/Gods**

Answer 10

* In sky as the sun * In atmosphere as lightening * **On earth as the Home Fire**

Answer 11

* Place of the dead in the Vedic Age (World of the Dead) * **NO cycle of Samsara at this point** * **Did Fire Sacrifice ritual (their "karma") to ensure blessings of the Gods** - health, wealth, kids, etc. * The concept of Samsara is in Upanishads

Answer 12

* It is called this because it is an offering to the Fire God (Agni)

Answer 13

* even gods could not prevent results of a properly conducted sacrifice * **good afterlife dependent on whether the karma (ritual action) of the sacrifice was performed properly**

Answer 14

* now karma related to the **intention of action/will** (+ or negative) and capacity of action to bring results **independent of divine force** * now action itself has the power * **reject goal of World of Fathers; goal now is Moksha**

Answer 15

* cycle of redeath and rebirth * **Upanishad idea** * keeps going due to self-oriented itentional action (karma)

Answer 16

1. What is essence and foundation of universe 2. What is essence and foundation of individual

Answer 17

2 aspects: 1. **Brahman**: cosmic level, personal God or **impersonal absolute** 2. **Atman**: (individual soul); **what is real, unchanging, undying, unborn about the person** (everything else is impermanent and belongs to Samsara - Gods, ancestors, humans, etc.)

Answer 18

1. **Path of Action** 2. **Path of Knowledge** 3. **Path of Devotion**

Answer 19

* All action **without attachment to the result** * NOT just ritual action like Vedic (Fire Sacrifice) * **action as offering** and combined with path devotion, no self interest that would keep person in Samsara

Answer 20

* discipline of acting according to Dharma without fear of punishment or hope of reward (the undiscipline man is in bondage, attached to the results of his intention) * in this way, action leads to liberation

Answer 21

**Path of Knowledge**: study, contemplation, **meditation to realize true nature of indiv. soul** (atman) **as not separate from Brahman**

Answer 22

* open to anyone even outcast * **goal is union with God but not to become him/it**, need 2: lover and the beloved * **afterlife goal of devotee**: rebirth in heaven of the beloved & opport. to keep loving & worshipping one's personal God * easier route to liberation than path of knowledge as only requires loving your God (e.g. Krishna) & making him object of all faith

Answer 23

1. **Student** - study vedas, maintain celebacy 2. **Householder**: family, social and ritual oblig. 3. **Retirement** (more spiritual pursuits) 4. **Renunciation** (sannayasin) - rare today

Answer 24

1. **Body cremated within 12 hours of death -** 2. Eldest son lights cremation fire 3. Ashes immersed in river (Ganges) or ocean 4. Oil lamp lit for dead, **11 days mourning - 11 days for soul to reach destination** (liminal zone),when sapindikarana carried out 5. Feast at end 11 days / family bathes, clean clothes, oil lamp burns out 6. Memorial ceremony on anniversary 7. sacrifices to 5 generations (3 previous, current, future) - represe. by 5 Brahmins

Answer 25

1. preparation for death 2. moment of death 3. preparation of body 4. procession to cremation ground 5. cremation 6. disposal of ashes 7. shraddha rituals 8. sapinikarana 9. annual shraddha

Answer 26

* **Cremation "last sacrifice" - (Purusha) death as sacrifice defeats destruction** * **2 paths: world of fathers / world of gods then to moon⇒sky⇒wind⇒rain⇒earth as food then rebirth (not same as samsara)** * sons performed death rituals to create new body for deceased and to feed soul * need sons so marriage and procreation, debt owed ancestors

Answer 27

**Shraddha Rituals** 1. Offerings to establish temporary body for the deceased (use rice balls to represent body) 2. Rituals to nourish and give soul strength to journey to W.O.F. 3. **Sapindikarana**: **final transformation of deceased from wandering spirit to divine and benevolent ancestor spirit;**- closes funeral/mourning period (let lamp burn out) All takes place in 11 days after death except Sapindikarana which is on 12th day (end symbolic year) 1.

Answer 28

* **heaven of chosen Lord then soul reborn and new form depends on Karma past life** * Wicked go to naraka (hell), to Yama then eventually soul reborn in Samsara

Answer 29

* auspicious woman - married with living husband - **if outlive husband, not sumangali** * Sati: impale herself on husband's funeral pyre (now illegal) * If she dies while he is living - she's powerful ancestor * **widows still seen as inauspicious today**

Answer 30

* Tad Etad * **This = Atman** (true Self, NOT small ego), the innermost essence of the human being * **That = Brahman** (basis of all existence - sustaining essence of the universe) * The "I" is perishable, circumscribed by the senses * **So: Atman Is Brahman / Essence of Self is the Essence of the Universe**

Answer 31

* **Final Nirvana / Further Nirvana** * Complete Enlightenment without any remainder * Buddha attained nirvana in life and **once enlightened then no rebirh so paranirvana**

Answer 32

1. All beings experience dukkha (suffering) 2. Suffering has a cause 3. Suffering can cease - if the cause is eliminated 4. There is a path to attain cessation of suffering (eightfold path)

Answer 33

* ate poisoned food in low caste person's house and **died of dysentary** (very normal death)

Answer 34

1. impermanence 2. essencelessness or anatman 3. suffering (dukkah) - will all have that as long as we are attached to things that are impermanent

Answer 35

Whatever is compounded must eventually break apart

Answer 36

* **Buddhist reliquary** and funerary monument for great persons * **symbolizes enlightened mind of Buddha** * walk around it clockwise to remember his life and enlightenment

Answer 37

* Life is fleeting, impermament * Wealth won't prevent death * Whole life will collapse in one moment * **See it as "dying every instant" - i.e. coming into being and passing away every moment**

Answer 38

* intended to put aside useless regrets * create sense of futility of grasping for things * chant to let go of attachment **Why Contemplate Death?** 1. Death is certain 2. Time of death is incertain 3. Spiritual practice is the only protection at death and beyond (one's own virtuous mind only protection at death)

Answer 39

* **Person/Soul just mental habit we develop** * **Anatman - NO SOUL (soul is Hindu concept)** * NO permanent, unchanging aspect to person * What is reborn? No Thing (nothing) goes on but there is going on... * **Any idea of eternal, unchanging part of person is just an illusion or fiction**

Answer 40

1. World of the gods - pride 2. World of the anti-gods - jealousy, aggression 3. World of humans - desire (always want more) 4. World of animals - ignorance (instinct vs. know) 5. World of hungry Ghosts - avarice, greed 6. World of hell beings - anger

Answer 41

* **Keeps on going based on karma, self oriented actions driven by greed, hatred and delusion** * **OR positive actions driven by love, generosity** * Tibetans: Good Karma (golden chains) and Bad Karma (Iron chains)

Answer 42

* **Karma - self oriented actions driven by:** * greed * hatred * delusion * generosity * love * unselfishness

Answer 43

1. **Greed**/**desire/attraction** - Rooster 2. **Hatred**/**aversion/fear** - Serpent 3. **Delusion**/**Ignorance** - Pig Will only attain Nirvana when all these 3 are extinguished then no more rebirth Can also attain this through meditation

Answer 44

* woman loses child, sorrow so great losing mind * goes for help from Buddha * told to find house where they had suffered no death (could not) * **realizes that no one and no house free from death/mortality, death comes to all**

Answer 45

* **Nirvana** - enlightenment / extinguishing the defilements of the 3 poisons * **Paranirvana**: further nirvana / **death of an enlightened being** (no rebirth cuz enlightened)

Answer 46

* Mythological demon: holds the Wheel of Life * **Twin forces of Death and Desire & everything that is an obstacle to enlightenment** * Headdress 5 skulls: represents 5 aspects of human personality * **Nirvana = triumph over Mara** (victory over cycle of death and rebirth and over desire) * **Mara ="me" / ego/ greatest obstacle is "me"**

Answer 47

* **Merit:** **Good karma that leads to good rebirth** * Should be shared / dedicated to welfare of others - living, sick and dying * **Bad Karma is demerit**

Answer 48

1. **Theravada** - only one that still represents early Buddhist traditions ( saffron robed monks) 2. **Mahayana** - inludes Zen, Pure Land 3. **Vajrayana -** Diamond Way, Tantric Buddhism, **strong in Tibet so called Tibetan Buddhism**

Answer 49

* Tibetan Book(s) of the Dead read to dying (thought to still be able to hear) * **"The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo** * **Bardo = "in between" / "intermediate"** * **Thodol = liberation through hearing/understanding**

Answer 50

1. Bardo of Life (in between birth/death) 2. Bardo of Dream (in bet. deep sleep/wake) 3. Bardo of Meditation (not asleep, not awake) 4. Bardo of Dying Process (ends at death) 5. Bardo of After Death (Reality - as-it-is) 6. Bardo of Rebirth Process (ends at conception) Cycle so #6 ends when Bardo of Life Begins **Death: When consciousness separates from body**

Answer 51

* give life to save life

Answer 52

* When consiousness leaves the body and there is a sign: blood from crown of head or nose

Answer 53

1. **Bardo of dying** (dissolution period - mind and body) 2. **Bardo of the Reality-as-it-is** - between final death and rebirth 3. **Bardo of rebirth** process

Answer 54

1. Dissolution of the **Earth** element - body loses its strength **wavy images** 2. Dissolution of **Water** element - liquids of body dry or lose control **smoke-like images** 3. Dissolution of **Fire** element - digestive process, memory goes, **sparks images** 4. Dissolution of **Air** element - breathing stops, not concious of external things; **flickering light images** ## Footnote **Dead from Western perspective not Eastern (still have awareness at cellular level)**

Answer 55

5. Conceptual thought ceases **white light** - bright moon 6. When mind dissolves - **red light -** autumn sky 7. **Blackness**(empty, darkness) 8. **Clear Light of Death - buddha mind and if have that are liberated** (**subtlest level of consciousness**) and if don't see it then just have state of unconsciousness

Answer 56

* clear light period (or unconscious if clear light not recognized) * have hallucinations * like a dream which is projections of your mind * can be aware of people around them crying * **if recognize the nature of your own mind then liberation is instantaneous**

Answer 57

1. Consciousness longs for stability 2. Consciousness looks for a womb to rest 3. B.D. says if can't find liberation look for human rebirth ## Footnote **The 3 Bardo periods last 49 days**

Answer 58

* **Outer dissolution: senses** / elements dissolve * **Inner dissolution**: dissolution of the gross and subtle thought states and emotions

Answer 59

**Position for body when dead/dying: right side, position position the Buddha died in** Left hand on left thigh; right hand under chin; right nostril closed; legs stretched out **Lying on right blocks channels that encourage karmic wind of delusion and helps consciousness leave at crown of the head**

Answer 60

* High altitude and little wood for cremation so body left in open **(sky burial) for vultures** - **body is of no more use** * Otherwise: mostly they cremate, can bury

Answer 61

* mystical way of nature and magic inherant in the nature of things * **concerned with the "natural way of things" (the Dao)**

Answer 62

* earliest Chinese view of the underworld

Answer 63

**Yin:** qualities of death, darkness, cool, depth, contraction, tranquility, femininity (**Daoism is Yin,** **leading to "actionless action"**) **Yang:** light, heat, height, expansion, activity, masculinity Everything has balance of yin and yang (ppl, nature) NOT OPPOSITES, **they are complimentary**

Answer 64

* Based on Yin/Yang * **On death, the soul separates into two**: * **Hun (Yang) soul** - energy (chi), life force, intelligence, heaven, ancestor tablet * **P'o (Yin) soul -** physical body, grave, ghosts so have to bury properly

Answer 65

* **Gods are YANG: yang soul goes to heaven** * **Ancestors YANG:** venerated by individual families: cook for them

Answer 66

* **Ghosts are Yin** - **yin soul goes to Earth** * can become harmful if body not buried right or spirit not cared for with offerings * **worship deceased (spirit) as a God to pacify the ancestor to prevent it from becoming a ghost (exam)** * **souls of dead infants and small children or accidental or violent deaths**

Answer 67

* **signifies the spiritual presence of a deceased ancestor/ how they honor the dead** * Also worship the Earth God (first) as are buried in ground * Home altars * Ancestors come in dreams asking for stuff

Answer 68

* task of the living to ensure that the souls of the ancestors are given their due honor and attention * venerated ancestors ensure well-being and prosperity of family * if nobody to venerate them (die prematurely or accidentally) then not an ancestor and become wandering ghost (offerings placed outside back door)

Answer 69

* 49 day mourning period then burn clothes * **burn spirit money - "provide" for ancestors** * Ritual secrets of Daoist priest transferred from father to son * **Death: breach in nature / disharmony** * duck (yin) - death forces * cockerel (yang) - life forces * give elixer of immortality to effigy of dead

Answer 70

* heaven/hell like ancient Chinese bureaucracy * **dramatic rescue of soul from hell so can go to world of blessed** * priest attains soul's release by breaking pieces of clay (9 gates of hell) then takes tablet, jumps over fire to purify karma (gets the "writ of pardon")

Answer 71

* **Tomb sweeping day** * Chinese people visit the columbaria, graves or burial grounds to pray to and honor their ancestors * offerings made to the ancestors

Answer 72

* **earliest record: Yellow Springs: underworld** * **Heaven**: court of celestial Jade emperor * **Hell**: ruled by 10 Kings of Hell (judge souls according to behavior in life, can be promoted to heaven if bribe guards * **accept Buddhist ideas of Karma & rebirth**

Answer 73

* **ultimate honor for dead** * geomancer picks day to dig up bones * happy time, refurbishing bones, new house * **umbrella so as to not shock with daylight** * keep ALL bone fragments * pick an urn * **remove teeth so won't eat living** * paint skeleton - ressemble blood vessels * geomancer picks day for 2nd burial

Answer 74

* **Art of geomancy** * **position graves and homes to benefit from universal energy** * position grave so yin soul happy/comfortable

Answer 75

* **Religious** * **Philisophical**

Answer 76

* tried to find immortality through substances (**alchemy**) and **failed** so then tried through meditation & yoga **(inner alchemy) - those who achieved it (eight immortals)**

Answer 77

* based on The Way and its Power * **goal is harmony with the way things are (simpler life the better)** * **Philisophical Daoism views death: as phase in the continuing cycle of being (Chuang Tzu's story re his wife's death)**

Answer 78

abode of the Immortals, paradise of immortals

Answer 79

* balanc the yin/yang forces in body to suffuse body with qi (try to retain breath, blood, semen) * try to turn body into something ethereal so it is no longer affected by process of decay/death * **return to pre-infancy, to state pure energy**

Answer 80

* emulate the "closed circuit" breathing of the embryo in the womb * hold breath for as long as possible, collect in belly below abdomen (Sea of Breath) * **all for goal of immortality**

Answer 81

1. moral justice (**karma**) 2. overall concern for well being in this life & next 3. responsibility for and interconnectedness of human beings, alive or dead 4. less concerned with soul (more Hindu thing) but more how do relate to soul 5. **Life/death a continuum - no one disappears**

Answer 82

* burn spirit money * continually thinking of person's well-being (so think of that in terms of life here so might burn a paper mansion or car, etc.

Answer 83

**turning away from religion** (which is oriented towards the transcendant)

Answer 84

* can be atheist and still wonder about the afterlife even though might not believe in God * may be difference also between what we believe in Church and what we believe in traffic jam or on deathbed or losing someone * **religious beliefs are not the same as common values**

Answer 85

1. **Death in the modern world is an alienating and terrifying** experience (unproven) 2. **Modern death is a good death** (unproven) 3. **Modern society has developed new ways of dealing with death - rejects #1 and #2**

Answer 86

**Death in the modern world is an alienating and terrifying experience** * society isolates the ill, dying in hospitals or old age homes (**only 16% British in old age homes**) * grieving people not welcome in our society * modern society has lost religious symbols that comfort people at time of death or grieving

Answer 87

* Claim that modern death is unnatural to life - there is a more natural way to die and grieve

Answer 88

1. **modern medicalized death not natural** - **Research**:doctors 18C said death natural part of life/Bible says death result of sin (so scary) + **only 16% ppl in British old age homes,** pain meds good 2. **Religious beliefs in heaven/hell help ppl die - Research:** don't know what people believed (didn't say for fear of punishment by death) 3. **Community mourning/funerals of past psychologically comforting - Research**: psychological approach to death modern idea so no way to study this re past

Answer 89

**Religious faith makes dying easier - Research**: both firm believers in God and firm atheists face death with mental calmness, composure; **not what you believe but what you have no doubt about**

Answer 90

* We still fear death, but have repressed it * Still 7 out of 10 ppl believe in heaven and 50% believe in hell so not necessarily reducing the need for religion * **Conclusion: A good life, long life and easy death does not reduce the need for religion**

Answer 91

Modern society has developed new ways of dealing with death

Answer 92

* rejects both #1 and #2 * psych counseling used by health professionals and religious authorities * media contributes to help ppl grieve, face death * **doctors do, in fact, help ppl deal with the trauma of death and illness and to manage physical, mental and emotional pain**

Answer 93

* can spend life looking for something because someone has handed you these words * During that time life goes by * **Preference: many religious traditions make you stop and think about death to help appreciate and recognize life**

Answer 94

* **his illness represents our mortality creeping up on us until it is hard to ignore** * **aging picuture shocks our society & makes us see old & ill as ugly, weak, pathetic** * tries to reverse illness: represents **modern day search for youth through surgery, products**

Answer 95

* treats Ivan with acceptance, sympathy, pity (as **compassion**) **does NOT try to hide fact that he is dying (unlike his family)** * finds comfort in Gerasim

Answer 96

* **reviews his life** (Death develops life's photographs - lose all moments stored in memory) * tries to understand death by understanding his life but **sees death as injust** (thinks he lived life according to what he was "supposed to do") * Finally realizes he valued wrong things as he **did not value the "real thing"**

Answer 97

* Two things: * has been deceived by his family (who don't acknowledge to him that he is dying) and the lack of sympathy from others * too late to fix his life, make it right * **was living a lie so can't die in peace**

Answer 98

* **What IS the real thing**? * at end...feels for others, for their pain without wanting anything from them or wanting them to change so his pain is transformed into pain he feels without hating it; he just accepts it * **compassion for and empathic connection with other human beings**

Answer 99

**So that's what it is! What joy!** Note: **story shows that dying well has a lot to do with loving well** He dies with a last breath - **he stretches out and dies**

Answer 100

* Death as phenomena that creates anxiety that reigious traditions can help cope with * Death is opportunity for new life/beginning * Death is uncontrollable and unpredictable and therefore we cannot control it * Death is associated with disorder, chaos; the control is how we guard against the chaos * Humans see control as good * Death = nothing to claim or control * BUT **if we abandon what we think we own and control we will have no fear as death will have nothing to take from us**

Death and the Afterlife Final Exam Flashcards

(124 cards)