Contrast of Death Rituals: Buddhists of Tibet Vs. Hindus of Varanasi

Finals Week Felt Like a Death Ritual

Buddhists of Tibet and Hindus of Varanasi tend to share similar death rituals. Mostly in the aspect that there’s a ritual for death at all, suggesting that death is a process not a moment for both faiths. While there are strong similarities within the two practices and views upon death, there are also some keys difference that I feel truly reflect the values of each religion. I will be comparing and contrasting Tibetan sky burial and the cremation of Hindu bodies on the banks of the Ganges.

The first distinct comparison is the fact that both Buddhists and Hindus have specific features that constitute a good death, but the specifics of those features differ. For Hindus some features of a good death include being pure of all bodily secretions, meaning practicing the aesthetic of starvation. Also, since every life is astrologically projected, this means dying a good death is not dying prematurely. Premature death takes away the right of their death ritual and that person is not to be cremated along the Ganges. Another intrinsic feature of a good death would be to die in Varanasi, a place the automatically enhances any good karma and chance of reaching moksha. On the other hand for those of Buddhist faith, there aren’t as many distinctive factors that play into a good death, it’s more so just being spiritually prepared for it. Some Tibetans even practice their own death at the burial grounds. The key is to be completely detached from worldly things like the body so that with this mindset of impermanence one has an easier time reaching enlightenment upon death.

Both religions also have distinct features that constitute a bad death. For Hindus as I mentioned previously, dying a bad death would mean dying prematurely or by tragic accident. This includes death by chicken pox, leprosy, a snake bite or the death of any person under the age of 5. These are all deaths caused by chance and thus not allowing one to properly fulfill their dharma. These individuals, rather than being cremated, will simply be put into the Ganges River directly. Similarly, those who die a plagued death in Buddhist tradition will not undergo their death rituals, but unlike Hindus they also do not include criminals for reasons of karmic value. Tibetan Buddhist exclude plagued individuals and criminals by burying them in the ground, as Thubron recalls it’s to “prevent their reincarnation and to eliminate their kind forever” (TMT 151).

Some more evident differences lye in the practices themselves. For Hindus death is a process that starts much before clinical death. Those who are about 2 week before death are able to be admitted to Kashi Labh Mukti Bhavan, a hospice center that allows individuals to die peacefully with no conventional medicine. As quoted in ER #14 City of Death and Liberation, “patients have come, not to recover, but to die in an atmosphere in which their final thoughts may be directed toward God” (ER#14 130-131). Surrounded by family and the humming of mantras, the individual is eased into death through starvation. Right before death a mantra is whispered into the ear of the dying by a guru who has meditated on the wisdom needed to guide the deceased soul to a better rebirth or moksha, but in Varanasi the mantra is said to be whispered by Shiva himself. Liberation is more likely with this kind of knowledge being bestowed upon the soul of the deceased. Once clinically dead the body is carried through everyday Varanasi to the Ghats where ritual death specialist have been gathering wood to ignite the fire that will cremate the body and offer it to the gods. Even after all of these steps are taken to guide the death of the individual, there are still eleven days that follow that include offerings to help the soul transition to the afterlife.

On the other hand, the ritualistic steps of the Tibetan Sky burial play out a bit differently, and for a few reasons. Although mantras are hummed as a way to surround the deceased with holiness there doesn’t seem to be any sort of pre-death hospice care like that of Varanasi. There isn’t much insight on what leads up to the clinical death but it is said that several days after, while the “soul” is still roaming within the physical body, it is cared for by monks who are trying to help guide it out towards a higher incarnation. With an astrologer present, the time of departure from the body is determined and on that cue the body is then folded into fetal position comparable to how one once was in the womb, possibly symbolizing the circle of life. As the body is carried to and reaches the burial site on this mountainous landscape, vultures are called upon by the blow of a horn. The ritual then precedes with the rogyapa corpse-crushers removing limbs, organs, and basically breaking apart the body to make it more accessible to the vultures. These vultures are considered to be sacred by Tibetan Buddhists, so feeding them is something to would elicit good karma and represent the impermanence of the physical body.

The dom caste in Hindu tradition and Tibetan corpse crushers are stigmatized because of the duties they must perform within these death rituals. This is most likely due to the gruesome work they must carry out. They come into direct contact with the deceased and perform physical tasks that would otherwise go against the values within each faith, mostly pertaining to violence. When the corpse crushers are annihilating the skulls of the corpse or the dom are setting fire to a human this isn’t something either could easily pass off, for these are actions would normally result in negative karma perhaps. But these people are essential in order for the tradition to be upheld.

The Hindu cremation ritual and Tibetan sky burial are both practices that seem to be a guided ongoing process that is ultimately charged by the deceased own karma. The constitution of a good or bad death varies between the two along with disposal and ritual steps taken, which I feel could be heavily influenced by not only their religious beliefs but also the limitations the landscape sets upon them.