Death and the Afterlife Midterm Flashcards
(86 cards)
1
Q
When we think of death
A
- think of how to avoid it or make it serve life (organ transplant)
- Death is just a word, abstract
2
Q
African concept okra
A
- African reincarnation - death as a “return”
- Every human possesses an okra, (immaterial part of him given to him by Onyame or God); animals do not possess this (have a sasa)
- Human dies, okra leaves the body and returns to onyame (God)
- “expresses the idea that when a man dies he is not (really) dead… there is something that is eternal and indestructible in man”
3
Q
Myths about Death
A
- Lizzard: (Africa) - lizzard got there first and told “man” that they were mortal (chameleon was to say they would NOT die):
- (Indonesian) - God sent stone and a banana, humans chose banana (parent tree dies after it bears fruit), should have chosen stone (changeless, immortal)
- altho chose the banana (signified death), it seems that we would like to have both, human life and eternal life after death.
4
Q
Death as Irrational to Humans
A
Death as absurd element of life; stories about death are primal stories, to human beings , death seems irrational, futile and meaningless
We try to find meaning in death when we look at death; therefore the stories about death are about trying to find meaning in life
5
Q
Death as Transformation
A
- to next world - many religions think this
- greatest change in our life - matter to spirit
- symbol of life transformations (death of marriage, of relationship)
- “Born again Christianity” - death of old self
6
Q
Sannyasin
A
Ritual death - Hinduism - renounce all (family, possesions, personal history) and considered legally dead, then follow path to liberation
7
Q
Death as Loss
A
- Loss of
- influence of that person on our life (the ones left behind)
- “loss of life”
- relationships with others
- base alot on attachments so feel our own loss more than other’s
8
Q
Our own death as loss…what?
A
- ability to engage in bodily relationships, the relationships we experience with our eyes, ears, with tangible things
- self which is interconnected with the self of others
9
Q
Ancestor Veneration
A
- live in memory of ancestors, need someone else to tell the story of our death
- complete someone’s life by remembering story of their death
10
Q
Non-physical causes sickness/death in primal religions
A
- soul-loss
- spirit possession
- intrusion of a disease spirit
- spirit attack
- violation of taboos
- successful healing means a focus on the “immaterial”, spiritual aspect of the body because physical illness is a symptom of the soul’s ailment (PRIMAL)
11
Q
Death Rituals (meaning)
A
- to reaffirm a continued relationship with the one who dies (funerals affirm continuity)
- way in which we understand what it means to be a person in life and death
- cultural constructions - tell us where the person is after death, their status, how community regards physical body, type of transformation upon death
- to comfort the ones left behind
12
Q
NDE of Soldier on Battlefield
A
- Saw himself from “40 feet overhead”
- Felt as if in 2 places at once - dead and alive
- Comes “back” and hears ppl say he isn’t dead
- the crucial aspect is that the individual has returned to the world as a living witness of their own death
13
Q
Psych. & Biol. Response to NDE
A
- Psych: emotional response to shock / trauma of death; fantasy/wish-fulfillment in face of death; mythological archetypes buried in brain that surface
- Biological:
- metabolic disturbance
- endorphins
- limbic lobe seizure
- drug overload
- visual cortex hyperactivity
14
Q
Taphephobia
A
- Fear of being buried alive
- Had “safety coffins” with bells or other ways to “get out”
15
Q
Death as a Process (transformation)
A
- Death is an event: beginning of preparations to dispose of the body
- Movement from alive to dead is a lot vaguer than distinguishing between something that is already dead and one that is live
- is death about the “essence of life”? If so, if the essence is gone is the person dead?
16
Q
Person has 2 aspects
A
- Person has 2 basic aspects: the visible material body and the immaterial particularities of that body (ALL CULTURES)
- Dichotomy between body & soul / body & mind connector b/w all religions we study
17
Q
Harvard Criteria Irreversible Coma
A
- Unreceptivity and unresponsiveness
- No movement or breathing
- No reflexes
- Flat EEG - no electrical brain activity
Does this ignore Veatch’s definition which emphasizes the physical & social processes of life?
18
Q
Veatch Definition Death
A
4 types of loss to signify death: Loss of:
- Flow of Vital fluids, heartbeat and breathing
- Soul from Body
- Capacity for Bodily Integration (can’t regulate own vital activities - brain death)
- Capacity for Social Interaction (no “higher brain functions” (need to define for ethics - life support, transplants)
So focus on loss of physical body functions
Others focus on loss of “personhood” (Descartes: essential “me” - the immaterial soul, thinking being
19
Q
Mind/Body Problem
A
- How can that which is immaterial be connected to that which is material?
- Corazza: body has no physical boundaries - indefinite entity
- Wierzbicka: person has an immaterial counterpart which def’n varies among cultures (re interpretation of the “soul”)
20
Q
Yombe (Zambia) definition of birth
A
- child becomes a “person” through ritual, not birth - person when socially accepted in group
- (if die before the ritual not person)
- womb - house (belongs to community) / grave - house
- Naming establishes a bond between person to person and person to animal, which in turn makes it harder to harm that being
21
Q
Death and the Warao Indians
A
- corpse is buried in a dugout canoe (womb)
- death: work of the dark-shaman - supplies souls to feed the spirits of the dead
- only the shamans, master craftsmen, basket-weavers and hammock makers are guaranteed immortal afterlife, rest are food for spirits of underworld
22
Q
Death and Gurun People
A
- mother’s family provide white shroud for body (harmony between 2 sides of family)
- Body cremated, soul in underworld, rescued by Paju shaman, food offered to soul in underworld
- Soul enters pigeon that visits everyone, eats, says good-bye; pigeon released, soul released from underworld
- Ghyabre Shaman leads soul to land of ancestors
- Gurung death rites emphasize death as momen for reconciliation and harmony
23
Q
Death and the Dogon
A
- death of one person = death of community
- death = tear in social fabric, community to heal
- believe in 8 souls - some go to God, some become ancestors
- life (warmth) in contrast to death (cold)
- dance ritual transforms the spirit into ancestor
24
Q
Birth/Death Social Constructs
A
- some religions do not believe that death is the end therefore birth and death lie on a continuum
25
Mother Goddess
Symbol for Fertility
26
Ancient Burials
* **Neandrethal grave**: tools in the burial for support, as travel through the spirit world
* Pollen at burial site - proof that flowers were lain at burials back then?
* **Cro-magnon** - enclosed dead in block structure
* Shaman of Trois Freres: animal ritual
* **Inanna**: ancient Sumerian goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, war
* **Isis:** Egyptian Mother-Goddess
27
Worldview Primal Religions
1. Spiritualization of surrounding world - elements of external world have power
2. Belief in all-embracing connections in nature
3. Humans not superior to other life forms
4. Cosmos is accessible - shamans, dreamers
5. Religion - form of social consciousness
28
Indigenous Worldview
1. **Duality of Universe - visible (senses) / invisible (spirit power)**
2. **Duality of the Person - material (body) / immaterial (soul)**
3. **Social Function of Religion**
* Shaman can access the spirit power of invisible world and mediate between both
* **humans not separate from natural world**
29
Soul in Montheistic Religions
* aspect of person that is metaphysical, entirely beyond physical world
* unitary, undying essence of a person
30
Primal View of Souls - 5
**PRIMAL VIEW SOULS!! key!**
* have many souls
* souls are mobile / somewhat material
* shaman can see souls
* soul leaves body at death
* soul can be harmed, get sick
* soul not necessarily eternal (Guajiro one dies)
* 2ND death (grave soul to beetle then 3rd death when beetle dies THEN disappear)
31
Guajiro Soul
* fluffy, hazy, partially visible
* separate from body, moves around in dreams
* can interact with spirits of the dead
* can be lost or injured - if lost soul found by shaman they live, if not they die
* soul of dead live in Jepira
* **survives after death but not eternal, does die**
* **everything that happens in our dreams happens to our soul**
32
Nanai soul
* **3 souls**
* **bird soul** (child)
* **adult soul** (small man)
* **body soul** remains at burial place after death
33
Greek View of Soul
**GREEK VIEW OF SOUL: KEY**
Soul as eternal essence of intelligence and consciousness, **material body was like a prison from which soul is released at death**
34
Essenes
* **Essenes:** rejected resurrection **of body** (followed Greek concept of body as useless and soul as immortal)
35
Ob Ugrins' and Tibetan Soul
**Ob Ugrin: 4 Souls**
* **shadow soul** - haunts the burial place
* **life-force soul** - lives on crown of head
* **dreaming soul** - lives in forest as wood grouse
* **last one for reincarnation**
**Tibetan**
* **5 or 6 souls** - live different parts of the body, worshipped externally as separate beings
* at death - separate from body, bodiless existence in spirit world
36
long pole ceremony
**Long Pole**
* signifies connection between upper and lower worlds
* adorned with things for the deceased to take on their journey
**Paju shaman**: recalls soul from underworld and removes all evil spirits
**Ghyabre shaman:** brings soul to land of ancestors - avoids being "followed back" by the soul - can be reborn or stay with dead
37
African view death/immortality
* life and death given by the Creator
* **once life given, death (wicked) must follow**
* African religions view death as a journey from one world to another one of spirits – possibility of continued communication between living and dead
* **death gives greater meaning to life by prolonging it on the spiritual plane**
38
Flooding Nile significance
* **flooding of nile: triumph of life over death (greening of land)**
* **Great empires built along the rivers where land fertile**
39
Toraja Death Rituals
**TORAJA**
* **Funeral Season (social event)**
* **eating, drinking, carnival, bamboo stadium**
* toursit attraction - see the rituals
* mile long jog to burial place with statue of deceased (if wealthy)
* soul goes to land of the souls
* ancestors in dreams, ask for special meal
* statue respected or might get sick
* statue up mountain side and put with others
* long red cloth: shows way to land of ancestors
40
Shaman of Trois Freres
Cave painting from Dordogne France 13,000 – 11,000 BCE. Shamans, such as this individual, **practiced animal rituals to promote a good hunt and to prevent spiritual revenge from the animal.**
41
Egyptian Gods (1)
* **Thoth** - Ibis headed god of wisdom - marks the judgment in the book
* **Sekhmet** - lion- headed goddess of war
* **Horus** - Sun God, born to Isis from dead husband's body parts - presents person to Osiris if make it (if heart light enough)
* **Re or Ra**: Egyptian God of the Sun
* Fused with Amun - **Amun-Ra**
* **Scarab:** rising sun
42
Egyptian Gods (2)
* **Osiris**: God of underworld (his story we find rsurrection of body and land beyond death) - murdered by Seth (brother), thrown in Nile,
* **Nun**: God of primordial ocean waters
* **Anubis:** leads you into Judgment Hall to have heart weighed
* **Maat:** Goddess of truth / order (feather)
* **Geb**: Earth God
* **Nut**: Sky Goddess
* **Shu**: God of Air, Empty Space
43
Mummification Justification
* **Resurrection of Osiris:** If Isis and Nephthys could bring Osiris' parts back together the Pharaohs could also be brought back to life.
44
Theory of Persons (4) (Egyptians)
* **Material body**: living body/corpse/mummy
* **Immaterial soul**:
* **Ka** (vital life force, born with person, spirit double)
* **Ba** (animating spirit that leaves on death, depicted as a bird
* **Name**: represents unique spirit & personality
* **Shadow/Shade**: gholst-like figure associated with the tomb (hangs around tomb)
45
Deceased Statue Egypt
* **Ka soul - offerings made to statue** - Ka is the capacity for action, will, spirit
* **Ba soul** depicted as human-headed bird (leaves body at death, return to body in dream) - exit in tomb for him to come and go
46
Egyptian Funeral Rites
* mummified to ensure that the body remains to house the 4 aspects of the person **(Osiris was the archetypal mummy - first one)- dead person referred to as "an Osiris"**
* Ritual **"Opening of the Mouth"** - enliven mummy so it can eat, talk and live in next world (done by priest in Anubis mask)
* left heart in when mummified, thought people think with their heart not brain
* evil-doers cremated (rendered non-existant)
47
Book of the Dead
* **spells, rites to be performed**
* also called: **Books of Going Out Into the Day**
* spells are put on the coffins of deceased
* ensure peson not bound to darkness
* was available to everyone
48
Egyptian View of Afterlife
**EGYPTIAN AFTERLIFE**
* NOT an apocalypse, no cataclysmic end
* each person faces judgment Hall of Osiris
* In death perfect body with no flaws
* Have your Ka when come back to life
* First, only noblemen had chance of happiness in the afterlife
* Later, anyone who could afford to do the mummification could have chance to reach Kingdom of Osiris
49
Egyptian Afterlife (brief)
**EGYPTIAN AFTERLIFE: KEY**
* life continues after death
* it's a real life of coming and going
* IF all rituals performed correctly (offerings, mummification, etc.)
* ALSO must be pure, free from wrongdoing
* If sinner: complete annihilation (Ammit)
* KEY: good conduct in life
50
Pyramid Texts
* spells carved on the walls of burial chambers (tombs) of the pyramids at Giza
* **incantations say that death is an illusion**
* shows **3 possilbe destinations in afterlife:**
* among stars
* with sun god Ra
* In Kingdom of Osiris (underworld)
51
Review of Egyptian texts
1. Pyramid Texts (2500 BCE) - 3 possible destinations for dead ruler (**only noblemen**)
2. Coffin Texts (2000 BCE) - (**Middle Kingdom time)** democratization of the afterlife - on inside lid of the coffins and on walls in tombs, spells from Book of the Dead
3. Going out Into the Day texts (**Book of the Dead**) 1550 BCE, translation of the Ani Papyrus (emphasis on judgment and eternal life in Kingdom of Osiris)
52
Judgment Hall / Day
1. Anubis leads person in - heart weighed
2. 42 judges hear the "negative confession"
3. Heart weighed against a feather of Maat (**represents truth and order)**
4. If light as feather - go to Aaru (Osiris guardian of gates of Aaru), if heavy with sin then heart devoured by Goddess Ammit (Eater of the Dead with crocodile head)
## Footnote
**2nd death was what was feared - total annihilation - had to be "absoutely pure" - shows purity conduct good moral behavior in life**
53
Kingdom of Osiris
* field of reeds, bushes
* given land to work
* no bad luck, life is smooth
* **aristocrats still live large in underworld -relaxing in shade, not working**
54
Shabti
Shabti are:
* Small statues of servants to do the work in the afterlife
* carved totems that accompany the dead into the spirit world
* serve that individual
55
Mesopotamian Gods/Goddesses
* **Ishtar** - goddess of fertility and life
* **Marduk**: ruler of the gods - created the world and human beings
* **Tiamat**: Goddes of chaos, primordeal creation
56
Mesopotamian Creation Story
* universe created when Marduk (order, light) conquers Tiamat (Dragon - darkness, chaos)
* **Order must triumph over chaos or nothing will survive**
* **mankind created from mix of blood of sacrificed god and clay/earth (divinity and clay / spirit and matter)**
57
Mesopotamian View of Afterlife
**MESOPOTAMIAN AFTERLIFE: KEY**
* Life itself (NOT afterlife) is where the pleasure, goodness, joy, respect, honor, was
* **death: clay part person becomes inanimate bones, god part a ghost / shade (NOT spirit or a soul)**
* ghost to underworld, serve gods, NO RETURN
* Everyone goes there: rich, poor, good , bad
* **NOTE:** **shade could be benevolent & help family or malevolent; capable of knowing what happens to their remains & if rituals were performed in honour of them.**
58
Gilgamesh search for immortality
**MESOPOTAMIA**
* Gilgamesh disguises himself (was King), goes to bar for advice - barmaid (goddess disguised) recognizes him and tells him to enjoy life as it is now while he is alive; immortality the work of the living (e.g. bearing children & other legacies leave behind)
59
Jewish Scrolls
* Tefillin and mezzuzah
* Tefillin: contains scrolls from the Torah (1st 5 books of Hebrew bible)
60
Hebrew Covenant
* Hebrew God holds people of Israel exclusively bound to him by a sacred covenant
61
Jewish Ceation Story
* "let there be light"
* Adam and Eve story - clears the earth (Noah's floods) but still not right - scattered people all over world, diff. languages as punishment for arrogance of Eve
* Chooses Abraham - forefather of Judeism, Christianity and Islam
62
Abrahamic Covenant
* Abraham promises God he will be the father of nations and kings and is told that Caanan will be there - promised land
* In return: they will worship only him and keep his commandment
* **circumcision is the outward mark of the covenant**
* **Abraham seen as formless & transcendent (YHWH) - even unpronouncable; unnamable has no limits / can't be named**
63
Judaism and definiton of death
* going out of the **Ruah** (life breath) and N**efesh** (soul)
* or, God taking away the nefesh
64
Judaism and ancestor worship
* **all cults of dead/spirits rejected by Jews**
* **won't regard ancestors as spirits to call on for help**
65
Water as Jewish Ritual of Purification
* Mosaic law: after or before touch a deceased person or leaving cemetary, before meal with bread or matzah (Jesus' desciples observed eating without doing this so criticized), waking up, before prayer
* compare to Christian baptism: ritual of purification
* Jesus preached that **being righteous was due to a pure heart and not merely rituals**
66
significance crucifixion
* demonstrate that Jesus shared in deepest form of suffering human can endure
* **ultimate sacrifice to redeem mankind from sin and death**
* **death is denied the ultimate victory - the body, which will be resurrected**, whole person from mortal to immortal being but NOT reconstituting physical body
67
Jesus / The Trinity
God as:
1. transcendent **creator (Father)**
2. entering into creation in form of **Jesus (Son)**
3. **God as divine energy**/power that inspires prophets **(Holy Spirit)**
68
Jesus Rises - significance
* rise and appear to disciples with message that he would return again to defeat his enemies
* his **followers accepted him as the Messiah** (not the Sadducees)
69
Jewish View of Afterlife
All the Mesopotamian cultures around them worshipped both the sky gods and the Ancestors but the **early Hebrew tribes turned away from ancestor worship, worshipped only the one God; believed that everyone who died went down to Sheol as a ghost, cut off from God**
70
Sheol
* The place of the dead, never return
* cut off from God
* death is final end to life, inescapable
* forbidden to engage in "communication with the dead" (King Saul tries to do this through a "medium") as against God's laws of obedience; as if dead had divine power = God (NO)
* **continuation of person in a devitalised form where they proceed to Sheol**
71
Jewish Nature of Person
* person not regarded as of duality but only as animations of God’s breath and clay. **The body returns back to Earth and the breath of God’s returns to God.** The identity of the “death person or shade”, remains like a “death-breath” that goes to place of the Dead.
* **SO JEWS NO DUALITY OF PERSON**
72
Hebrew biblical view of person
* **Early:** body and God's breath of life; upon death body goes back to the earth and the breath goes back to God but the "Person" goes to Sheol as a devitalized ghost and were cut off from God PLUS NO RESURRECTIION
* **Later:** body goes back to earth and eternal soul continues (influced by Dualism); PLUS now YES RESURRECTION (Daniel 12) - to ensure justice for the "good" oppressed people, punishment for wicked rulers and guaranteed contact with God for martyrs
73
Jewish burial rites
* corpse buried as soon as possible
* body returned in the form it is given
* shroud - little interference with return to earth (**Tahara**) - preparation of body
* tear in clothes to symbolize grief/mourning
* **Shiva - mourning period** (7 days)
74
Summary: Jewish View Afterlife
* **Belief in: Resurrection, Age to come, God's judgment, Immortal soul,**
* **No systematized dogmatic scheme that applies to everyone**
* **Life and how to live it well in preparation for death is our business**
* **Details of what happens after death is God’s business**
75
Sadducees/Pharisees
* **Saducees**: wealthy priestly aristocrats, **rejected idea of resurrection**, spirits, angels
* **Pharisees:** compete with Saducees for control over temple rituals - **did accept Book of Daniel (not in 1st 5 books) and idea resurrection**
76
Resurrection Views (2)
1. **apocalyptic view**: wicked will be destroyed and the good inherit the earth (carried forth by Pharisees)
2. **Eschatological (studies of end times) view**: divine reward/punishment will come at end of time, the end of human history **(Heaven and Hell)** not so for Judaism as no specifics re the "end of time"
3. **First clear biblical references to resurrection is in the book of Daniel (doctrine of resurrection)**
4. **The concept of resurrection is a crucial aspect of Jewish faith because it supports the idea of God’s justice**
77
Original Sin and Death
* Christians inherit Jewish idea of original sin separating people from God, bringing death
* Jesus as "2nd Adam" - can be reborn as a child of God (as Jesus was) - communion with God is available collectively to all - new beginning and "born again" through baptism
* **Death as enemy in New Testament - counter to God's creation**
* **Defeat death through resurection as God denied the body**
78
Resurrection of Body/Disembodied Soul
* don't conform to each other
* held together in Christianity and Judaism
* **If no resurrection and only an immortal soul then Death has won the body**
* different views of what soul did between death and resurrection
* If body and soul are two separate entities, how will they be judged when they come before God? Is it the soul that sins or the body? **They will be brought back together and judged as one**
79
What is Hell
* **Early: exclusion from fellowship with God**
* **Modern**: loss of meaning of one's life
* idea of loving a God who condemns people to eternal torture causes issues (**no eternity we can think of is beyond reach of God's mercy)**
80
Maimonedes Doctrine Double Dying
* 1st death – body returns to earth, soul departs
* Messiah comes, then the **resurrected body is joined with soul to face judgement** and the good will live on a perfect earth
* 2nd death - soul goes on to spiritual immortality
81
Kabalah
* God creates 10 vessels to transmit his divine qualities; some vessels shatter and scatter throughout cosmos
* task: restore harmony and redeem the world by following God’s commandments
* **soul has an infinite amount of reincarnation(s) to become one with God**
* **Mysticism is the striving force of returning souls to home (God).**
82
Purgatory
* **intermediate state between heaven and hell**
* for soul not pure enough for direct route to Heaven and not bad enough for hell
* suffer to purify them of their sins
* **purgatory = purificaiton**
* in the pain and recognition of our imperfections we are purified
83
Fravashi
* **Zoroastrian figure**
* every person has one
* **spiritual double that serves as conscience, moral guide and benefactor**
* Fravashi of dead can communicate with living
84
Zulu burial
Zulu: bury dead in squat / embryo position and niche put body in is called a "naval"
85
Yoruba view immortality
Yoruba: person is reincarnated BUT still lives in afterlife and keeps their identity
86
Jewish view of a "Just God"
* apocalyptic thinking
* persecuted for following their faith so believe in "just God"- will reward those who followed or who were martyred for following
