A Lot of Nonsense

[Ninje]

     A Lot of Nonsense - a poem by Bhikkhu Khantipalo

     A lot of fuss
     A lot of people
     A lot of time
     A lot of trouble
     A lot of tears
     A lot of money -
     And all for what?
     A little body!

          A blob of proteins
          Fast unwinding,
          A little corpse
          Quick decaying.
          No longer is it
          Dear father, mother
          Or any darling other.

          In spite of this
          We must have
          Consolations and coffins
          Processions and Tombstones
          Parties and mourning
          Rites and rituals
          Buried or burnt
          Embalmed forever,
          All for these little
          Bloated bodies.

          Sons remember,
          Grandsons little,
          And after them
          Are the dead forgotten,
          Stones and bones alone remaining.
          So is this not
          A lot of nonsense?

                   

[Crazywisdom]

I like to think of my body as just being "a leathery bag of filth" for that is all it is really

Jon

[Ninje]

Mine too! 

Ironically, as per my father's instruction, this morning I've inspected burial ground that costs between RM32k - RM45k per lot... tomb construction to cost additional RM45k - RM100k and also funeral service packages between RM20k-RM35k per person

[Crazywisdom]

Why spend money on a house once you've 'moved' out

Thats why i'd be happy to be chucked in a hole or set alight as my remaining relatives see fit as cheaply as posible assuming i was actually dead first lol

Of course we must respect others wishes for thier funeral arangements though.

Jon

[Scott Hutton]

For what it's worth, my will specifies very clearly that my ashes are to be dumped somewhere "convenient," preferably where they will nourish a tree.  Informally, those around me know where one of those trees may be, about 5 miles north of here at a beautiful lake, but they have permission to just to use the back yard.  I don't care.

My mother died in 1991.  It was her wish to have a traditional American funeral as befits a family dating back to the 1700's.  She left behind the money to pay for it, and pay for it I did - blowing a small fortune.  At the time, and now, I kept thinking, "what a waste of cash,":  an underground vault, a tombstone the size of a bathroom door, a coffin of inlaid I don't know what all woods, holding a body ravished by cancer and Alzheimer's.

But that is what she wanted, and it was her money.  One did the right thing, though one did not do the kindest thing (which would have been to feed the hungry).  From time to time I find myself, in dreamtime, visiting her in the akashic fields:  always she has the nice house, the pleasant house and a friend or two around.  That too is what she wanted.

Well, I want liberation and space, and I look upon this current body as an old piece of clothing wearing out.  It should be disposed of quietly and without fuss so that I can get on with my wanderings...I don't want a nice home unless it's limitless and everywhere.

Scott

[Kalki]

My grandmother had wished to be cremated, and had expressed that wish to others and myself and other family members on several occasions prior to her death at 90. When she died, emotions took over and my stepgrandfather had her remains embalmed and placed in a crypt. I  saw her several times in dreams after she died. She didn't seem to care... I guess the message here is to indeed make it very clear in your will exactly how you wish to have your remains addressed. For myself, there is a group that will fly you over the Himalayas, or one can always opt for the Neptune Society....
Kalki

[Ninje]

Not that he has a lot, from the time my 85 years old China-born father took the steam ship in his early 20s to cross the South China Sea, he worked laboriously and made quite enough for a comfortable old age livings with my mother and still has some spare for his funeral use. What's more?he had also been giving monetary relieves from time to time to his 5 children 

Well, what can I say, it his wishes to use his own hard earned money to buy a piece of good feng-shui burial lot and to pay for his own tomb...

Now, it is a Chinese belief that the feng-shui of parents?burial place will determine the welfare and prosperity of their children and descendants?So, in my father opinion, he is doing his family a favor     though the money could be possibly used for other more beneficial purpose.

 

[goat]

My father died a couple years ago and was cremated as he wished. His ashes was sprinkled on his mothers grave in the old hometown up North. I have mixed feelings about where he was placed, growing up he always showed much dislike for the boneyard my grandparents were buried at.