China

One of the truths of our being is death. Each one of use has to confront it and is yet unprepared for it. Holding a service in memory of the deceased is a very old tradition that has witnessed a lot of changes. A traditional funeral service used to be held in church, with specific hymns, recitals and a eulogy for the departed. But, as a larger number of people are looking forward to personalized services, the practice has undergone change over the last few decades.

Planning a funeral service, right after the death of a loved one can be a very disturbing and painful experience. One of the misconceptions about service is that it is legally mandatory for the family of the deceased to organize a service, but this is not true.

Secondly, a majority of people have an erroneous belief that a service can be held only in a church. It is crucial to note that conventionally, such services were conducted in church but nowadays, with significance being attached to a personal touch, funeral services are being increasingly held in homes.

Thirdly, such services do not mandate the involvement of any clergy or pastor or even a casket as a compulsory requirement.

However, for any such personal funeral service, you have to keep the deceased person in mind while making the arrangements. Music, should be something that is soft, soothing and from the personal favourites of the deceased. You have the choice of playing recorded music or hiring a live music band.

There is also an increasing trend of exhibiting the personal items of the departed to display his or her personality to the entire world. It is also important to include an address in the service in form of a speech, poem or a song dedicated to the departed by a close friend or relative.

Finally, it is essential to give a memento to people who attend the funeral service, so that they can remember the deceased forever.

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Arranging and organising activities related to funerals are usually left in charge of undertakers, who are also called funeral directors. Given below are a few of the important skills and personal qualities that undertakers should possess to rise in their job.

As his services may be required at any time of the day, an undertaker must be ready to work at odd hours too. This is primarily an outdoors job, which will need him to be outside the office for long hours.

An undertaker must be a good communicator and a patient listener. People from various cultures, sects and ethnicities as well as those of any age will have to be managed by him with equal ease. He should be compassionate and must empathize with others. But he will need to offer support to the grieving family and should remain strong and emotionally detached so that he can perform his functions well.

Undertakers must be serious and dignified by nature, but should not look sad or morose, as this may heighten the grief of the family members of the deceased.

Undertakers must have extensive knowledge and deep respect for the religious beliefs and sentiments of various cultures and communities. They should be conscious of various customs and practices followed by various sects during the funeral ceremony.

Excellent management and the power to organise are essential skills an undertaker should possess. A number of services will need to be arranged by the undertaker and this will need good coordination and management skills from the undertaker.

As the undertaker will shoulder the responsibility of obtaining all clearances and adhering to all regulations related to the event, he will need to be well versed in such procedures and legal formalities. He should also be aware of the official procedures to be followed for obtaining insurance claims, death certificates etc.

Finally, an undertaker should know driving and must possess a valid driving license, as he may have to drive vehicles to transport the deceased.

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Buddhism is one of the most widespread religions practised extensively across the world. The main principles of the religion have been derived from the teachings of Lord Buddha. The followers of Buddhism are expected to show boundless love for all and try to attain the Ultimate Truth.

These fundamentals of Buddhism are reflected in the rites followed in a Buddhist funeral. There are certain mandatory rites that need to be adhered to during the funeral of a dead person. These rites are aimed at ensuring that the deceased is raised to a higher stage. Prayers are made invoking the good energies of the dead person for his or her deliverance from this cycle of life.

A traditional ablution of the deceased marks the start of the Buddhist funeral rites. Monks are invited to read out from religious scriptures, which are believed to give the soul the right guidance to achieve spiritual liberation. Then the Lord Buddha’s teachings that highlight the importance of kindness and compassion are recited aloud by the monks. Meanwhile, the body is made ready for the last journey. Friends and family usually place some coins in the casket of the dead person. This is supposed to help the deceased cross the River of Three Hells to reach his ultimate destination.

The casket is then put before the altar in the house for friends and relatives to pay their final respects. Visitors are required to pray for the deceased and the family and friends offer their condolences. The ceremony is accompanied with recitation of relevant sutras by the monks. After the chanting is over, people attending the ceremony bow at the altar. The family members then thank the attendees for sharing their grief by distributing gifts to them.

The family can decide upon whether to cremate the body or bury it as per their familial customs, once all these essential rituals are over. The rites and rituals are a means of bringing peace to the family members of the departed as they know their prayers are directed towards elevating the status of the departed in his after life.

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A Buddhist funeral consists of extensive last rites performed according to sacred customs and traditions. The funeral service, according to Buddhism, symbolizes the liberation of the deceased’s soul, which was trapped in the mundane world of existence, and its search for a new life thereafter.

The Buddhist funeral services which end with cremation in most cases, are carried out by Buddhist monks with the help of the bereaved family. When a person has died, Buddhist monks read sutras from scriptures to allow the good energies to be set free from the soul. In the meantime, the body is made ready and embalmed so that even if the cremation happens after few days of the death, the body doesn’t get decayed. Once the body is washed, it is placed along with candlesticks, flowers and incense in a coffin along with a picture of the dead person.

The Abhidharma, a sacred Buddhist scripture is read everyday by visiting Buddhist monks during the funeral days even when the cremation is delayed to wait for the visitors from distant places.

On the day of the funeral, monks perform the last rites and their head monk delivers a short speech in tribute to the dead person focusing on his contributions in life and comforting the bereaved relatives that death is inevitable. The Pansakula, an important ritual which is believed to pass on blessings and positive energies to the departed’s soul is done during the last stage of chanting while a white cloth is being wrapped around the casket.

Prior to the cremation, a family member or the nearest kin has to say something about the deceased. A special meal for all the visitors is organized after the Buddhist funeral rituals and the cremation is done.

Some alterations in the specific rituals may be found in various cultures, but these are the key ceremonies followed during a Buddhist funeral in many countries like China, Thailand, and Tibet by the followers of the faith.

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Arrangements and organising services linked to funerals are generally left in charge of undertakers, who are also known as funeral directors. To be successful in this profession the undertaker carrying out these duties should possess certain essential and unique skills and attributes.

Since an undertaker may be required at any time of the day, the person entering this profession must be willing to be on call for 24 hours. This is essentially an outdoors task, which will require him to be away from office for long hours.

To be an undertaker, a person must be able to interact well and be open to the opinions of others. People from different cultures, religions and ethnicities as well as those of different ages will have to be managed by him with equal ease. Understanding and sympathy will be of much importance in the course of his job. But he will have to offer support to the grieving family and should stay strong and emotionally detached so that he can perform his functions well.

Undertakers must be serious and dignified by nature, but must not look sad or morose, as this may heighten the grief of the family members of the deceased person.

Knowledge of different religious customs, rituals and beliefs and profound respect for these helps undertakers in succeeding in their profession. They must be aware of different customs and practices followed by different sects during the funeral service.

Excellent management and the power to organise are important skills for an undertaker. He must also have leadership abilities and should be able to interact with a large number of people – from the clergy members to the flower seller.

As the undertaker will be in charge of obtaining all clearances and adhering to all regulations with respect to the ceremony, he will have to be well versed in such procedures and legal matters. He will need to be fully conscious of rules to be followed with respect to collecting death certificates or claims for insurance.

Lastly, an undertaker must ensure that his driver’s licence is updated and that he can drive the funeral vehicle during the service.

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Funerals are family or State ceremonies held after the death of a person, in his memory. It involves many customs and rites that are specific to the religion of the deceased.

A majority of Christian funerals have rituals that are divided into three essential parts – visitation, funeral and finally, the burial. The first two ceremonies, which are the most important ones as far as ritualistic aspects are concerned, are discussed below.

The first ceremony is the visitation, when the deceased is laid in a coffin for public viewing by friends and relatives. The body is dressed in the finest clothes and adorned with jewellery. Anointing of the deceased for this ceremony is not a compulsory ritual in every community.

Visitation usually includes a display of pictures of the deceased by the family members or a display of articles that were valued by the departed during his lifetime. Some relatives also like to do a video or slideshow from the deceased’s lifetime.

This service is followed by a memorial service, also known as a funeral, which takes place generally inside a church. The casket with the body in it is carried in a vehicle to the church, accompanied by a funeral cortege of mourners. The casket is laid inside the church with an elegant floral arrangement on it.

The service generally entails reciting lines from the Holy Scriptures or the Bible and offering prayers for the departed. Devotional songs are also sung in chorus by the attendees. The priest presiding over the service gives a comforting speech, and it is followed by eulogies or tributes given by family and friends of the deceased, who speak of the latter’s merits and accomplishments. Though this is not a custom, but in some cultures, people are allowed a final glimpse of the body before leaving the church for burial. Church bells are also sometimes rung after the service.

The completion of second part, which is the funeral, marks the commencement of the third stage of the ceremony, which is burial, and the deceased’s body is taken through a funeral cortege.

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