UNDERSTANDING

DEATHAn Introduction to Ideas of

Self and the Afterlife inWorld Religions

A N G E L A S U M E G I

Understanding Death

To my husband, Zsolt (1945–2010)

Understanding DeathAn Introduction to Ideas of Self andthe Afterlife in World Religions

Angela Sumegi

This edition first published 2014C© 2014 Angela Sumegi

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sumegi, Angela, 1948–Understanding death : an introduction to ideas of self and the afterlife in world

religions / Angela Sumegi.pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-1-4051-5370-6 (cloth) – ISBN 978-1-4051-5371-3 (pbk.) 1. Death—Religious

aspects—Comparative studies. 2. Future life—Comparative studies. I. Title.BL504.S86 2013202′.3–dc23

2013015109

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: A woman grieves at her father’s funeral in the Van Vien Cemetery, Hanoi,Vietnam. Photo C© Larry Towell / Magnum PhotosCover design by Design Deluxe

Set in 10.5/13.5pt Palatino by Aptara Inc., New Delhi, India

1 2014

Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

1 Understanding Death 1Return from the Dead 4Debates and Definitions 9Death and the Self 14Ritual and Transformation 19Notes 22References and Further Reading 22

2 Primal Perspectives on Death 25Soul Theories of Primal Peoples 28The Destiny of Souls 34Afterlife among the Warao 35Rituals of Departure 40A Conversation on Understanding Death 44References and Further Reading 46

3 Death in the Ancient World 49Egypt 51

Contents

Egyptian Soul Theory 52Transforming the Body 54Egyptian Afterlife 56The Story of Osiris 58

Mesopotamia 61Gilgamesh and the Search for Immortality 63The Spirits of the Dead in Mesopotamian Culture 64

Persia 66Zoroaster and the Evil of Death 67Salvation for All 68

Notes 71References and Further Reading 71

4 Jewish Perspectives on Death 73The Beginning of Death 78The Soul and Sheol 80Resurrection and the World to Come 86The Journey of the Soul 91Rituals of Departure 97A Conversation on Understanding Death 101Notes 103References and Further Reading 104

5 Christian Perspectives on Death 105The Death of Jesus 107Developments in Christian Thought on the Soul 111Resurrection and Eternal Life 114Heaven and Hell 119Rituals of Departure 128A Conversation on Understanding Death 131Notes 133References and Further Reading 133

6 Muslim Perspectives on Death 135The Names of God 140Ruh and Nafs 143The Trial of the Grave 146The Garden (Janna) and the Fire (Jahannam) 150Modern Islamic Views on Heaven and Hell 154

vi

Contents

Rituals of Departure 156A Conversation on Understanding Death 159Notes 161References and Further Reading 162

7 Hindu Perspectives on Death 165Feeding the Ancestors 166The First Sacrifice 168Death, the Immortal 173The Inner Controller 174In the House of Death 180The Three Paths to Liberation 182Rituals of Departure 187A Conversation on Understanding Death 192Notes 194References and Further Reading 195

8 Buddhist Perspectives on Death 197The Life and Death of the Buddha 198The Noble Truths 201Karma, Self, and the Wheel of Becoming 204Nirvana: The Deathless 211Rituals of Departure 214A Conversation on Understanding Death 225Notes 227References and Further Reading 228

9 Daoist Perspectives on Death 229The Ancestors 230Soul Theories 235The Nameless Way 237Transformations of the Self 239The Search for Immortality 242Rituals of Departure 245A Conversation on Understanding Death 250Notes 252References and Further Reading 253

Index 255

vii

Preface

The meaning of the word “death,” like so many other importantwords in our vocabulary – life, self, mind, body, love, respect, dignity,honor, grief – differs from culture to culture, from past to present,and even from person to person within one community. The field ofdeath studies, which encompasses academic research, popular liter-ature on death and dying, as well as the teaching of courses on deathin colleges and universities, has its roots in a modern North Amer-ican movement spurred on by the now famous 1969 publication byElizabeth Kubler-Ross of On Death and Dying. The movement hasresulted in worldwide studies that investigate and theorize deathand dying from numerous perspectives: historical, ethical, psycho-logical, sociological, philosophical, theological, and literary. As anintroduction to the views and practices of various religions regard-ing death and life after death, this book offers the opportunity fora comparative reading in the hope that the reader will gain insightfrom what Arvind Sharma calls “reciprocal illumination” – the ideathat we may find greater understanding of one tradition in the lightof others (Sharma, 2005).

One’s first encounter with death may result in childhood puzzle-ment, shock, or a deep feeling of irrevocable loss. The experience is

Preface

intimately related to thoughts and emotions that shape our identityand revolve around a sense of what we intuitively hold to be self orthe essence of life. Almost always there are questions. What exactlyhappened? Why? What do we do now? The book begins with an ex-ploration of the questions that death evokes and that religions aimto answer. Subsequent chapters take the reader through the mainresponses of several religious traditions. There are nine chapters in-cluding one on death in religions of antiquity and seven on livingreligions. This is not a book on world religions; discussions related tothe general belief systems of each religion are oriented towards thoseaspects that inform perspectives on death. The emphasis in eachchapter, therefore, towards history, philosophy, or ritual will vary inorder to reflect what is important in understanding the meaning ofdeath in that religion. Throughout, however, notions regarding theself or soul and its trajectory through life and death, as well as thegoal or culmination of this journey, will be highlighted. Each chapterwill also describe some of the death rituals related to the religion. Theways in which each tradition conceives of the “person” who livesand the “person” who dies will form the central theme and primaryorganizing principle for the book, whether the discussion relates toprimal religious beliefs in many souls, the Biblical view of the personas a holistic body/breath entity, the Hindu concept of atman – theundying, immortal soul – or the Buddhist idea of “no-soul.” Fur-thermore, self-conceptions are a crucial element in understandingthe varied rituals of closure and farewell that are intrinsic to the wayin which individuals and human societies deal with the end of life.

The book is organized so that each religion is treated as a discreteunit. It has been my experience that a thematic approach is usefulin a classroom context when students are already familiar with thereligions in question, otherwise the various texts and teachings areeasily confused. I have also found that the interest of students inthis subject is very much tied to their interest in the religions them-selves. In other words, they want to know specifically what Judaismor Buddhism or Islam teaches about the process of dying, what arethe beliefs regarding the afterlife in that tradition, and what ritualsare performed for the dead. The conversations recorded at the end

x

Preface

of each chapter are intended to provide the reader with a glimpseof the personal views of people who live and work in the scientificindustrialized environment of North America. They come from allwalks of life and from all parts of the world. The only criterion for theconversation was that the person be someone who identifies with hisor her religion and actively engages with it. Throughout this book,it will become apparent that religion, as it is expressed in texts andcanonical interpretations, is diverse and contradictory – how muchmore so when it is combined with the diverse and contradictorynature of individuals who engage with the textual tradition. Amongthe interviewees are converts, life-long adherents, devout believers,as well as those who doubt. The conversations are there to offer apersonal counterpoint to the abstract concepts and principles dis-cussed in the chapters, and to underscore for the reader that just ashuman beings live life in a multitude of ways, death is not merely acommon event that happens to all; death is interpreted, constructed,one might even say lived, in equally various forms.

I hope that this book will draw the readers’ attention to differ-ences and similarities among religions, as well as to the varieties ofexpression that can be found within one religious tradition. I aim tohighlight the manifold conceptions of self and world that inform theway humans interpret life and personal continuation beyond death,as well as our shared human struggle to discover the meaning of,or assign meaning to, the phenomenon of death – a struggle that isrenewed with each personal encounter.

Note

As this book is intended for a general audience diacritical markshave not been used and non-English terminology has been keptto the minimum necessary. Unless otherwise stated, quotations aredrawn from the following translations:

Doniger, Wendy. The Rig Veda. New York: Penguin Books, 1984.Haleem, Abdel. The Qur’an: A New Translation. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 2004.

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Preface

The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd edition, New Revised Standard Version,ed. Michael D. Coogan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Olivelle, Patrick. Upanisads. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.Stoler-Miller, Barbara. The Bhagavad-Gita. New York: Bantam Books, 1986.

Reference and Further Reading

Sharma, Arvind. Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology. New York:State University of New York Press, 2005.

xii

Acknowledgments

This book has been many years in the writing, and after the death ofmy husband in 2010, it likely would never have been completed butfor the patience and understanding of the editorial and publishingteam at Wiley Blackwell who gave me the time to recover myselfand encouraged me not to abandon the project. I extend my deepestthanks to them all.

Over the years, many people have read the drafts, assisted mewith research, and offered good editorial advice. Among those Iwould like to thank especially are Ryszard Cimek, Gilles Comeau,Claire Belanger, and Nalini Devdas. Finally, I would like to thankmy students, whose questions and abiding interest in the subjectprovided me with the incentive to begin and the energy to finishthis work.