huthman

I am looking for a reference for the proper procedure for preparing a body for burial. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Essence of GOD

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Essence of GOD

Body preparation
-To be washed and wrapped in silk or cotton shroud.
-one or five sheets 7 yards.
-wrapped around the body in one piece, or use different pieces for the feet and legs, trunk, shoulders, and head, with the additional piece wrapped the length of the body to hold the other pieces in place.
-not necessary to cover the face, but the shroud may be wrapped over the top of the head, as with a shawl.
-Can be done by family or funeral home

Baha'i burial ring to be placed on finger
-For adults only.
- “I came forth from God and return unto Him, detached from all save Him, holding fast to His name, the Merciful, the Compassionate”.
-No specific finger – forefinger customary.

Coffin
-crystal, stone, or fine hard wood.

Grave:
-If possible, have body or head positioned to Qiblih.
-Baha'i cemeteries. (not sure about this)
-Problems with advanced purchasing.
-Separate markers for individuals.
Marker can use “Baha'i” but not the Greatest Name or ring stone symbol.
Marker can use 9-pointed star.

Anton

Hi,

My question is about these two quotations below.

It is either or situation. What should take precedence when we have a choice to make?

'The position of the body in the grave should be with the feet pointing toward the Qiblih, which is Bahji in Άkka.'
Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated May 4, 1972, to a National Spiritual Assembly, in Lights of Guidance, no. 656

'The dead should be buried with their face turned towards the Qiblih'.
Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, dated July 6, 1935, to an individual believer, in Lights of Guidance, no. 646

mytmouse57

This subject has always intrigued me.

First, why is all this so important -- if our spirits are not dependent upon our physical bodies?

Secondly -- where is the justice, love or mercy for souls that don't practice "proper" burials?

Let's take cremation, for example.

I understand that cremation is strongly advised against. If that's the case, why has God allowed for some cultures -- Hindus for example -- to practice it for so long. If cremation is traumatic to the spirit, it's mind-boggling to think, of all those Hindu souls that have been traumatized over so many centuries... simply because the poor folks don't know any better.

Does God not care about Hindus as much as He cares for Baha'is?

My father (a non-Baha'i) died just last year, and was -- according to his wishes -- cremated, and then his ashes were taken to the top of a mountain (I was the one who carried the backpack with his ashes in it) and scattered.

Was/is the spirit of my father suffering trauma, simply because he found out too late he'd made a mistake? Should I have admonished my father, in the weeks we knew he was dying, to not be cremated, lest he suffer a terrible fate?
Am I culpable, because I participated in the transport and scattering of my father's ashes?

Also, what about people who are incinerated in disasters or terrorists attacks? Or blown to bits? Or devoured by sharks? What about all the people who were killed by the Nazis, tossed into piles like garbage, and then possibly incinerated or piled into mass graves?

I'm not trying to be a snarky contrarian here... but these issues do trouble me. I'm having trouble seeing the justice in this. Why would God allow so many souls to supposedly suffer trauma, simply because they are ignorant of proper burial protocol, or because of circumstances of death that were completely beyond theirs and their loved ones' control?

light upon light

I would not say it is "so important" for them, but it is important as a symbol for us, left behind. If it were "so important" then there would not be an exception allowed for contagious diseases, etc.

"The spirit has no more connection with the body after it departs, but as the body was once the temple of the spirit, we Bahá’ís are taught that it must be treated with respect." - Shoghi Effendi

In my opinion, these are primarily social teachings to shape us and our civilization, not evidence that someone whose body is destroyed is going to suffer long-lasting harm in the spiritual world.

mytmouse57

I like that perspective. And it makes sense.

I've always thought, I don't want to be too much trouble for folks when I die. If, for example, I were to keel over as an old man in the back country somewhere, and my body be gobbled by a grizzly bear and some crows -- that would be fine with me.

And regarding my father -- I was the one to scatter the first handful of his ashes, and it caught the wind just right, so a good portion of it blew right back in my face. My Dad always was kind of a smart-ass... so that seemed so like him, to do something like that... LOL!

light upon light

Maybe he just wanted you to carry part of him around with you in your lungs for the rest of your life!

BlinkeyBill

Dear friend my understanding that the burial ring is not as yet obligatory for the western believers?

Anton

It is for Persian believers. At present, Western believers are free to observe these requirements or not as they wish.

P.S. I can’t resist asking why Persian believers only by their birth are more faithful than Western believers?

mytmouse57

Heh... that would be just like him...

BlinkeyBill

Dear Anton I think it is incorrect to say Eastern believers are more Faithful, Baha'u'llah made certain laws for western believers non obligatory and the UHJ slowly makes them obligatory as time goes by.

My understanding of this is the same with a new Baha'i we should not expect them to immediately obey all laws, it is a matter of learning/deepening and the new Baha'i finally learns to love to obey. It is for instance wrong to tell a new Baha'i they can no longer drink beer for instance immediately after signing their card.

Anton

Dear BlinkyBill,

I think your answer doesn’t explain at least two things here.

1. The Guardian in his letter dated July 29, 1942, a National Spiritual Assembly wrote:
‘The placing of the burial stone [ring] on the dead has no other significance than to emphasize our profound conviction that our souls come from our Creator and to Him they return, and in Him we believe and trust.’ (See Lights of Guidance, no. 649)

I don’t think anybody expect that the dead would rise and object putting a burial ring on his finger. Therefore, I’m assuming that it is not the matter of his obeying or disobeying the law. What I don’t see is how our ‘profound conviction’ in our Creator linked to the nationality of the dead we bury.

2. I understand your comparison with the new believers and I would not have problems with that if the burial law had depended on the level of learning/deepening. But it seems that it is now linked only to the nationality of the dead.

Let me illustrate it: Let us suppose that an Iranian became Baha’i and died, say, in a car crash three months later. He was a new believer by all definitions but has to be buried with the burial ring. And a Western third generation Baha’i, who had being practicing and studying the Faith for his whole life and who died in the same car was not expected to obey the law!

From the above example it is clear to me that the nationality plays dominant role here. It looks racism to me unless you could point me to something I failed to take into account.

Thanks!

querysolution

eat natural food , on daily bases do yoga and excercise, meditation will be best

dale ramsdell

Definitely not racism. Rather, it is too much to expect that all people are ready to accept every part of the new revelation from God. That is why it is called a revelation, because it has just been revealed, and in that sense it was not part of our spiritual reality. This takes us awhile to grasp and we tend to avoid or rebel against what we don't understand (and can't control). Thats our human nature. Our spiritual nature is latent within us, but not fully developed. Like a young plant exposed slowly to the sun. Most plants cannot tolerate the extreme heat of the desert. They are destroyed by it. Baha'u'llah says that were the full power of His Revelation suddenly to be released no man could withstand its force. So we grow as children grow, gradually becoming accustomed to the environment.