New Philosopher – July 2019

NewPhilosopher Dead and alive

father’s life. I have heard of other fu-

nerals, where kids from the family

painted the coffin in church, and some

are taken to the cemetery or crema-

torium on a decorated bicycle hearse.

And maybe we can learn to celebrate a

lived life that has come to an end. We

often tend to see death as a failure. But

if you have lived a long and happy life,

death is not a failure – it’s a natural

ending, and maybe a passage.

In many of the photographs, such as

with the Famadihana in Madagascar, the

families are active participants in death

rituals; it hasn’t been outsourced to some-

one else. From your experience, do any cul-

tures deal with death well?

There is no right way, and there

is no wrong way. It’s difficult for me

to say that any culture does it better

than others, but the common thing

is that it’s something we do together.

Let’s say the Famadihanas are not so

sorrowful because it’s a kind of cel-

ebration. Somebody dreams that old

grandpa is not doing so well in the

family grave. Then they call for the

whole family, and no matter where

you are in the world, even if you’re

Varanasi, India. When the body

is about to be cremated the fes-

tive decorations are removed, and

only the body dressed in white re-

mains prior to the cremation. The

basic idea of Hinduism is rebirth.

Life and death are aspects of the

same existence until the spirit/

soul is freed from the cycle and

merges with the divine. If you die

and get cremated in Varanasi, you

are almost sure to achieve moksha

(the release). Therefore, Hindus

from all over the world travel to

Varanasi to die and get cremated

there. Cremation is believed by

many Hindus to be the best way to

treat a body, as the spirit/soul is

released more easily if there is no

trace of the body. Photo: Klaus Bo.