Death and Dying Across Cultures
The Yogic Concept of Death
Theresa Powers
Yoga: Theory, Culture & Practice
Final Research Paper
3 December 2012
INTRODUCTION
Death is a concept that I, personally, am scared of and
try to avoid as much as possible. I am using this research paper to explore my
fears and find a new perspective and hopefully an acceptance of what is to
come. Different perspectives on death and dying occur due to cultural
differences across the globe. In Western culture, it is noted that many people
have a hard time confronting death, which is interesting because everyone knows
it is going to happen; immortality doesn’t exist. Death causes pain, suffering,
and fear for many people. Those in the East, like Yogis for example, see death
not as the end of life, but as a continuation of a never-ending process
(Sivananda 1999). Different forms of the Hindu religion see after-death
differently according to their culture. From what I’ve learned at church, if I
sin and am unholy, I go to hell; where if I follow the word of the Lord and
practice religion and live a clean life, I will go to heaven. The belief of
what comes after death is a strange concept to me, because I think that it is
something that is impossible to know. Sivananda (1999) says that according to
the Yoga Vasishtha (an ancient Yogic text that consists of short stories and
anecdotes and is considered to be very important in teaching the concept of
practicing Yoga [Singh 2012]), there are three types of dying men: the
ignorant, the Yogis, and those in-between (religious & not self-indulgent,
but a slave to the material world).
Sivananda (1999) describes that the Yogi can roam wherever he wants
after death, where one who is ignorant and self-indulgent will be “subjected to
the burning sensation of fire within himself at the moment of death (p. 26). In
comparison to what I have learned growing up in this culture, this is
completely different! This paper is meant to explore the concept of death across
these two cultures, Eastern and Western, but also to see how yoga can be
helpful in changing the pain that we associate with death.
WESTERN
CONCEPT: DENIAL
My first real experience with death happened when I was a
sophomore in high school. I went to see the show Jesus Christ Superstar with my
mother, and we came home late that night. My dad had gotten a call from work as
soon as we walked in the door, and I vividly remember him bursting into tears
as he told us his best friend, Terry, had a heart attack and died. This is the
only time I have seen my father behave in this manner, still to this day. Death
is a sad concept for people, especially when it is unexpected. About a week
after Terry’s death, his favorite Red Sox pitcher, Jon Lester, pitched a shut-out
game. I saw my dad get a little teary-eyed as he explained to me that Terry was
okay, and this was his way of letting us know. Here, I see my father’s own
concept of what comes after death: that communication is possible. Funnily
enough, my father has had experiences where, in dreams or late at night, the
dead communicate with him. He was the one who informed me that Delta, our old
dog we had to put to sleep, was happy and running around in the grass. Although
death is a hard concept, my father realizes that it happens, and coming to
terms with the fact that life will end is something that everyone needs to do.
My latest encounter with death happened last year right
around Thanksgiving. One of my close friends, Arthur, had been battling cancer
for most of our high-school career until he finally passed away in November of
2011. I got the call when I was in the train station, and I just remember
sitting down right where I was and burst into tears. We were all expecting this
to happen, as we had heard he wasn’t doing so well, but just the idea of his
life ending was still so shocking to all of us. All of his friends, including
myself, went home immediately and had a get-together at his house, celebrating
the life that he lived. I still miss him, and I know that his family and closer
friends are still having a hard time coming to terms with his passing. I
learned that the Pastor of my church was there when Arthur died, giving him his
last rights and hoping to make the process easier on him. I found out that he
fought it until the very last second. Pastor John relayed to me that Arthur
didn’t want to go; he hadn’t come to terms with the fact that his life was
about to come to an end. When I first heard this, I was devastated. I wished
there was something I could do to go back in time to make Arthur know that it
was okay for him to go, or to at least help him come to terms with the fact
that he did in fact have to leave his body. As Krishnananda (n.d.) said in The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad “Rarely do people like to leave their body. It
is very dear to them. If someone were to say you have to die just now, one
would not be easily prepared for it” (p. 425). And he’s right; I would have
such a hard time coming to this conclusion that I would most probably deny it
until it happened, like I would do with anything that I fear to experience.
Krishnananda explains further by explaining how there is a pull from the other
world, and “you do not want to go, but you are forced to go, and naturally you
can imagine what you would feel at that time” (p. 425). Certainly, this is a
different perspective on death than through the Western lens, because until I
learned this, I was very hurt for Arthur. It all makes sense according to
Krishnananda, but this is not the way Western culture sees it.
Dollimore (1998) examines Western culture’s attitudes
towards death, mentioning that it used to be something that all humans were
exposed to, as it happened all around us; but then transitioned to where death
is almost taboo, and that “the natural processes of corruption and decay had
become disgusting, and any consideration of them was regarded as unhealthy and
morbid (p. 120). The author carefully explains the transition from tame to wild
death, saying that the concept of dying was familiar and accepted but has
transformed into something traumatic, unfamiliar, and wild. Western society,
interestingly, has moved from a healthy attitude on death to now an unhealthy
avoidance of it, somehow due to the progress of our culture. With the progress
of Western culture comes technology and methods to keep people living longer. With
death being so common in the earlier times of Western culture, people were
de-sensitized to it and therefore more accepting of it. Rather than burying the
dead on the outskirts of the cities, earlier people buried them in the middle;
“these earlier cultures are said to have more fully integrated death into life
and to have been the better adjusted for it… if only we could properly mourn
the dead we would come to terms with their loss, and we might even grow and
develop as a result of it” (Dollimore, 1998, p. 122).
To me, I feel like dying is something that our culture
avoids, kind of like the problems of poverty and homelessness across the globe.
Out of sight, out of mind. Unless it is something that is affecting us
directly, we don’t take the time to both address and come to terms with the
idea of death and dying. I know that for me, since I haven’t had many personal
experiences with the death and dying of someone extremely close to me, that I
tend to avoid the subject simply because I don’t know how to handle it. With
Arthur, I think it would have been helpful for him to have come to terms with
the fact that he was going to die soon before he did pass, because letting
death become a reality is a step towards acceptance of the inevitable. I can
only hope that Western culture can follow in the footsteps of the East,
accepting death into our lives and something that will happen, and preparing
ourselves for what is to come.
EAST: TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL & REINCARNATION
In reading Sivananda’s book What Becomes of the Soul After Death (1999), I can only wish that I
had grown up with this view on death and dying. Sivananda defines death as the
“separation if the soul from the physical body” (p. 3). So, really, it’s just
the body that dies, not the soul. The soul lives on forever, travelling from
place to place, and body to body, gaining experience of the world. “Death is
only a passing and necessary phenomenon, which every soul has to pass to gain
experience for its further evolution (Sivananda p. 4). Although the body dies, the soul lives on
through transmigration. In terms of the soul leaving the body, Oestigaard (n.d)
talks about the different locations of the body where the soul should exit. The
skull is the best place to leave the body, where the sinners will exit “through
the anus and the organs of generation in the lower region” (Oestigaard p.
27). Where the soul leaves the body
determines where it will end up reincarnated, but also it is caused by what
type of soul it is. Sivananda explains the concept of reincarnation, and that
the soul will inhabit many different bodies throughout its lifetime. “The soul
passes through a number of lives for attaining perfection” (Sivananda p. 38).
In living all different lives, dependent on karma, one is prepared to be freed
of the cycle of birth and death. In re-inhabiting many different bodies, the
soul learns to better oneself and become perfect. “The doctrine of transmigration
gives ample scope for the sinner to correct and educate himself in future
births” (Sivananda p. 39). No matter how sinful one is, there will be another
chance for them to better themselves when they become reincarnated. And not
every reincarnation is in the human form, which I think is really interesting.
The concept of reincarnation is only a small piece of the Eastern view on death
and dying, however, I think it is a the one to give Western culture the most
hope in what comes after death.
MORE EASTERN VIEWS
Earlier I wondered if only Arthur had been prepared for
his death, would it have been any easier for him. According to Ram Dass (2004),
one cannot consciously prepare for death. The only way to ensure that one is prepared for death, since it may come
up unexpectedly, is to pay attention to our minds and where the focus is there.
In an unexpected and sudden death, one cannot arrange the outside environment
in preparation of death. This can only occur when death is expected, as it is
with long-term terminal and chronic illnesses. So, Ram Dass suggests that we
look inwards and prepare our inner environment for death to happen at any time.
This can be achieved by using a mantra, and always having God present in the mind.
Dass (2004) mentions that “once we realize death can happen at any instant, we start paying more
attention to the moment-by-moment context of our minds” (p. 222). When we have
God on our minds as we die, it is certain that we will go straight to God. Dass
says that we must be prepared for our death to happen at any time, so the
sooner we come to terms with it, the easier it will be for us let go of the
thought of our bodily existence. This connects to the idea of our bodies simply
as a vehicle for the soul. Swami Krishnananda compares man to a tree: the hair
on a human is the leaves on a tree; the bark on a tree is the skin of a human;
if you cut a person they bleed, if you cut into a tree sap comes out… etc. The
main point is that when you cut down a tree, it grows again; just as when a
soul leaves the body, it enters another one. The concept of me being a soul is
somewhat mind-boggling, but I am trying my best to wrap my head around it. With
this knowledge, I have gained somewhat of an acceptance towards my death, only
thinking that something much better is to come for my future. Maybe it’s
heaven, maybe it’s being reincarnated as a cat or a flower or something fun, or
maybe it’s time for my enlightenment and reaching of perfection. It’s
interesting to think about where my soul will end up, but it’s especially
interesting to explore where my soul came from, which will be something I look
into in the future.
CONCEPT OF VEDANTA: INVITING DEATH INTO SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
We know that death is a taboo subject among many people,
but Vedanta says to welcome the concept into our lives. “Vedanta views death as
a harvest time wherein the culmination of a lifetime’s actions and desires
determines one’s future” (Brahmaprana, 2001). A soul can take the path of light
or the path of darkness, both ending up in two different places. In taking the
path of light, the soul may temporarily go to heaven, but will eventually be
liberated and enlightened. The imperfect soul, however, will take the path of
darkness to live out both their good and bad deeds, and then become
reincarnated. Every soul is subject to reincarnation, and when one is freed
from reincarnation, they free themselves from the cycle of birth and death and
become liberated and step into eternal life. In embracing Vedanta, one
meditates on the concept of death and allows it into their life. This is why
many yogis meditate on cremation grounds, to remind them that death is
everywhere and cannot be avoided. “By facing death, meditating upon death, and
ultimately embracing death, the Vedantist overcomes a normal instinctual fear
with the courage of religious conviction, the strength of spiritual practice,
and the ground of philosophical reason” (Brahmaprana, 2001). Accepting death
into our lives gives us strength to continue on, but also the non-attachment to
our bodies and the realization that the soul is a traveler, and the body is a
temporary dwelling-place.
THE AGHORIS
The Aghoris are a sect of nomadic yogis, traveling to
different holy sites throughout their lives. The sect consists mostly of men
who live an ascetic lifestyle with minimal possessions and a solitary
lifestyle. Many Aghoris are portrayed as “satanic worshippers, or followers of
an extremely sadistic cult, with very little attention paid to the religious or
spiritual components (Suri & Pitchford, 2010, p. 131). Something the
Aghoris are known for is their blatant acceptance of death, and in turn, their
un-attachment to their bodies. In the movie we watched, Naked in Ashes (2010), there was an Aghori who had been holding his
hand above his head for so long that it was starting to decay. If that’s
non-attachment to one’s body, I don’t know what is! The Aghoris’ confrontation
of death allows them to lead full, authentic and spiritual lives. They see no boundary
between life and death, only a transition of the soul. “If we can embrace death
as a teacher, like the Aghoris do, we are freer to live in the present moment
and perhaps have a greater appreciation for life” (Suri & Pitchford, 2010,
p. 132). In confronting the inevitability of death, we are allowed to live
fuller lives, instead of lives of fear and denial.
YOGIC PHILOSOPHY: END-OF-LIFE THERAPY
Coming to terms with a terminal illness or news that you
have 2 months left to live is a very difficult task. Looking back on my
experiences with Arthur as a friend, I wish that I had known about this therapy
sooner. In accepting the fact that one’s life is going to end, the transition
becomes a little bit easier. Using yoga as a technique to know yourself and
really, deeply understand your soul can help you to face the eventuality of
death when it comes. Yoga philosophy knows that we as humans cling to life, and
it’s something called abhinivesha.
Yoga practice allows a person to live in the moment, but also confront the fact
of death. “In the yoga tradition, deeply acknowledging the reality of death is
said to be a source of freedom” (Lasater, 2003, p. 78). With yoga teaching us
to be present in the moment, and to act with compassion and non-violence
towards one another, we are confronting death. End-of-life yoga therapy, as
defined by Jennifer Taylor (2008), “includes 1) the practice of dying while
living, 2) support for individuals experiencing grief and loss, 3) support for
individuals experiencing life-threatening illness, and 4) those transitioning
from physical life to death” (p. 97). In
using yoga as an end-of-life therapy, it is imperative that the therapist is
open to all religions and beliefs. “Respect requires standing beside the
student and serving from a place of nonjudgmental love and support (Taylor,
2008, p. 99). Yoga is simply used as a tool to be present in the moment, and to
be able to accept the idea of death and dying.
CONCLUSION
In doing all of this research, I am drawn to the idea of
the body as a vessel and the soul as an eternal traveler. In seeing the
differences between Western and Eastern cultures’ views on death, it is easy to
see how our society can shape these beliefs. The way our society views death in
a state of denial is due to the idea of materialism, attachment to bodies, and
simply how our culture has evolved since the middle Ages. With the Yogic
perspective of the body as a vehicle, one can see how the Hindu religion plays
a huge role in Eastern society’s acceptance of death. The Aghoris even go so
far as to act upon their beliefs and live without attachment to their bodies.
As for using yoga as therapy, this can be beneficial in creating a mindful
philosophy of living in the moment and seeing death as an inevitable thing. I
hope to transform my belief in terms of death, and embrace the philosophy of my
soul as Self, and my body as a temporary dwelling. In practicing this
non-attachment, it will be easier for me to face death when it comes, and these
are also philosophies which I can apply to my everyday life. I also hope that
the Eastern philosophy makes its way over to the West, because I think it would
be very beneficial for people to embrace the concept. It will take some getting
used to, but it’s most definitely something to think about.
REFERENCES
Brahmaprana, P. (2001). Vedanta: Death
and the art of dying. Association for
Religion and Intellectual Life, 51(3).
Retrieved from http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Cross-Currents/79589757.html
Dass, R. (2004). Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita. Westminster, MD: Crown Publishing Group.
Dollimore, J. (1998). Death, desire, and loss in western culture. London:
Penguin Press.
Hick, J. (1994). Death and eternal life. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox
Press.
Krishnananda, S. (n.d.). The brhadaranyaka upanishad. Retrieved
from http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brdup/Brihadaranyaka_Upanishad.pdf
Lasater, J. (2003). Compassionate dying.
Yoga Journal. 175, 77-79.
Oestigaard, Terje. (n.d.). Death and ambivalent materiality—Human flesh
as culture and cosmology.
Retrieved from: http://folk.uib.no/gsuto/ArtiklerWeb/BAR1210/Oestigaard_BAR1210.pdf
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Cambridge University Press.
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