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Why stealing corpses is big business in China

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We do have ancestral worshiping and do it in some temples or religious events at home to remember them, there is even a famous Hindu temple in Gaya(the same Buddhist holy city) dedicated for salvation of the soul of the ancestors. We don't keep tombstone, body is cremated and the ashes are collected and scattered in the river or ocean keeping no trace of it. Since the Hindus believe in reincarnation, only soul is considered eternal, dead bodies are like old clothes which are discarded by the soul for new clothes(rebirth). (That's how I studied the Hindu philosophy).

Thanks @INDIC , for that information. In Japan, the bodies are cremated, too. However, the ashes are placed inside the family tomb where it is mixed with the ashes of other ancestors. When my grandfather passed away this year, his ashes were placed inside the family tomb that had the ashes of my grandmother, my great grand parents, my great great grandparents, so on and so forth. When I perish (may it be many many years from now) , I too will have my own ashes mingled with those of my ancestors. And hopefully, my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren (so on and so forth) will remember me, wash the tomb, offer prayers for my soul. This is a trade mark of Japanese culture, it is called Filial Piety (the Chinese also have Filial Piety; it is part of the Confucian Culture we share with them). To honor, respect, and love one's ancestors.
 
Thanks @INDIC , for that information. In Japan, the bodies are cremated, too. However, the ashes are placed inside the family tomb where it is mixed with the ashes of other ancestors. When my grandfather passed away this year, his ashes were placed inside the family tomb that had the ashes of my grandmother, my great grand parents, my great great grandparents, so on and so forth. When I perish (may it be many many years from now) , I too will have my own ashes mingled with those of my ancestors. And hopefully, my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren (so on and so forth) will remember me, wash the tomb, offer prayers for my soul. This is a trade mark of Japanese culture, it is called Filial Piety (the Chinese also have Filial Piety; it is part of the Confucian Culture we share with them). To honor, respect, and love one's ancestors.

Lot many Hindus prefer disposing of ashes in Ganges river, although others do it their own regional religious sites and holy rivers, the coastal communities also dispose it in sea. Human body is made from elements of earth and it should be sent back to them after the soul departs. Although many people keep ashes in earthen pot for few days before finally disposing them in the river/ocean.
 
Lot many Hindus prefer disposing of ashes in Ganges river, although others do it their own regional religious sites and holy rivers, the coastal communities also dispose it in sea. Human body is made from elements of earth and it should be sent back to them after the soul departs. Although many people keep ashes in earthen pot for few days before finally disposing them in the river/ocean.

Talking about this subject matter is profound. Isn't it humbling, @INDIC, that in the end, we are all just matter that will go back to the earth. What really matters is our inner being. Reminds me of that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
 
Talking about this subject matter is profound. Isn't it humbling, @INDIC, that in the end, we are all just matter that will go back to the earth. What really matters is our inner being. Reminds me of that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Oriental religions and cultures have their own beauty, you don't need to tell other your custom is wrong and mine is right.
 
BTW @Nihonjin1051 what kind of cremation technique you have in Japan. In India, cremation is mostly done using wooden pyre, now it has slowly been shifting to electricity based cremation due to deforestation and pollution concerns. In Hindu customs, son or younger brother or adopted son put the first fire during cremation.
 
BTW @Nihonjin1051 what kind of cremation technique you have in Japan. In India, cremation is mostly done using wooden pyre, now it has slowly been shifting to electricity based cremation due to deforestation and pollution concerns. In Hindu customs, son or younger brother or adopted son put the first fire during cremation.

Originally, we had ceremonial cremation techniques using wood as in the pre-19th and early 20th centuries. Nowadays, crematoriums use electric and are industrialized. Tho there are some ceremonial crematoriums still available.

For us, its a huge ceremony regarding the cremation of the body: we refer to it as Kotsuage and Bunkotsu.

The funeral ritual has twenty stages and there are over 20 procedures, we are mainly interested in two of these: Kotsuage which is the gathering of a person’s ashes, and Bunkotsu the distribution of the ashes.

The ritual starts at the crematoria, the family witnesses the deceased being placed in the crematoria chamber and they are then given an allotted time to return. Once the ashes and have had time to cool the family, two at a time, remove the bone fragments with large chopsticks. They start at the feet moving upwards and placing the remains in a cremation urn – as they don’t want the person to be upside down. The most sacred and significant bone is the hyoid bone, which is located in the neck – probably due the connection between the brain and the body?

The ashes can be placed in more than one urn, it is not uncommon for the ashes to shared between the family, the temple and even the deceased’s company!

The urn stays at the family at a shrine for 35 days and is then taken to the graveyard, some families take it to the graveyard straight away – it appears to depend on local custom.


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Ritual of Kotsuage and Bunkotsu, removing of the bone from the ashes


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Ceremonial profession to bring the body (ashes) to temple
 
We do have ancestral worshiping and do it in some temples or religious events like Havan at home to remember and pray for them, there is even a famous Hindu temple in Gaya(the same Buddhist holy city) dedicated for salvation of the soul of the ancestors. We don't keep tombstone, body is cremated and the ashes are collected and scattered in the river or ocean keeping no trace of it. Since the Hindus believe in reincarnation, only soul is considered eternal, dead bodies are like old clothes which are discarded by the soul for new clothes(rebirth). (That's how I studied the Hindu philosophy).

Very wise philosophy indeed. I also like cremation.
 
Talking about this subject matter is profound. Isn't it humbling, @INDIC, that in the end, we are all just matter that will go back to the earth. What really matters is our inner being. Reminds me of that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Very right !!!!! That's why Earth is called Mother Earth.
 
@Chinese-Dragon How come Chinese so deep into ancestral worshiping when they are not much into religion, I heard less than 20% Chinese are religious.

Confucius propogated the idea importance of ritual and respect for ancestors in his philosophy. This. along with studies of poetry, music, classics etc. eventually make you a 'Junzi', a kind of a civilized gentleman.
 
Talking about this subject matter is profound. Isn't it humbling, @INDIC, that in the end, we are all just matter that will go back to the earth. What really matters is our inner being. Reminds me of that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson who said:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Lemme give you these lines from Elliot, wonder if you get them straight (he is a symbolist): among the most beautiful lines ever written in poetry:

(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
 
Very right !!!!! That's why Earth is called Mother Earth.


It's just humbling that despite the lotions, creams we put in our bodies, despite the hair gels we put in our hair, the colognes we put on our skin, and clothes we wear, or the jewelry we adorn our bodies with; in the end, our bodies will just be discarded in such a way. To be nothing but ash...thrown into the sea, river, or tomb...

Sigh. Such is life.

We are, thus, nothing but dust and ashes. As what the Bible (Ecclesiastes 12:7) says, "and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."

:(
 
Lemme give you these lines from Elliot, wonder if you get them straight (he is a symbolist): among the most beautiful lines ever written in poetry:

(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

I literally had goosebumps reading that poetic verse.

Thank You, it was brilliant...!
 
I literally had goosebumps reading that poetic verse.

Thank You, it was brilliant...!

Every Line in that poem (the Wasteland) is inscrutably difficult to get at first, but once you understand it, it blows your mind. You'll get this one if you say it out loud.

Unreal City,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
 
It's just humbling that despite the lotions, creams we put in our bodies, despite the hair gels we put in our hair, the colognes we put on our skin, and clothes we wear, or the jewelry we adorn our bodies with; in the end, our bodies will just be discarded in such a way. To be nothing but ash...thrown into the sea, river, or tomb...

Sigh. Such is life.

We are, thus, nothing but dust and ashes. As what the Bible (Ecclesiastes 12:7) says, "and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."

:(

As @INDIC said, its just our bodies, not really us. not big deal. We'll come back again to continue the earthly fun. :partay:
 
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