Jump to content

Why do we cremate?


puzzled
 Share

Recommended Posts

Why do we cremate?  A Christian girl asked me that and i didn't know the answer!   in Christianity fire represents Hell.

I said we cremate so we become dust and part of earth     mitti  ਮਿੱਟੀ ?   thats what we are made of after all?     and she said Ok that makes sense 

I once read that Hindus cremate because that releases the soul,  that dont make sense to me   some even smash the skull with the club! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, puzzled said:

Why do we cremate?  A Christian girl asked me that and i didn't know the answer!   in Christianity fire represents Hell.

I said we cremate so we become dust and part of earth     mitti  ਮਿੱਟੀ ?   thats what we are made of after all?     and she said Ok that makes sense 

I once read that Hindus cremate because that releases the soul,  that dont make sense to me   some even smash the skull with the club! 

A heavy part of Indic dharam seems to be a separation of the eternal (paraatma), from the impermanent (maya), so maybe that's why they don't really value the actual vessel? Plus it being a hot region, those bodys would start to decompose really quickly. 

Maybe that plays a part? I don't think our bodies being cremated or buried really plays that big a deal on what subsequently happens according to Sikhi. It's not like say Islam where a body being burnt has significant impact according to beliefs - where having no physical remnants means that they will be unable to rise again on judgement day as per their prophecies.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apart from Guru Nanak ji and Guru Arjan ji all the gurus were cremated. Even Guru Gobind Singh ji asked the Singhs to set up a funeral pyre and then guru ji walked into it.   When Guru Tegh Bhadur was executed lakhi shah vanjara took guru jis body into his house and then set his house on fire to cremate gurus jis body.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have always thought abrahamic religions like muslim/christian/jewish have a benefit over us in this sense, because atleast on superficial level , they can visit their dead loved ones by visiting the grave and feeling their dead ones are still with them. 

In Punjab, people still have a concept of 'mitti kaddna' , wherein your surname will have some random samadh which no one surely knows of LOL in some remote part of some farm in punjab and you go there and pull some soil and put some sweets . What utter rubbish I witnessed as a ritual next day after my marriage. And ofcourse , brahmin women still leading our wedding rituals. What was the point of sikhism when the vast majority of people in punjab still continue to live in such utter ignorance, but this is topic for other thread

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, AjeetSingh2019 said:

I have always thought abrahamic religions like muslim/christian/jewish have a benefit over us in this sense, because atleast on superficial level , they can visit their dead loved ones by visiting the grave and feeling their dead ones are still with them.

In Japan they kind of do both. They cremate but they have very space efficient "cemetaries" where a remebrance of each person is placed usually with remains of their family group. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share


  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • yeh it's true, we shouldn't be lazy and need to learn jhatka shikaar. It doesn't help some of grew up in surrounding areas like Slough and Southall where everyone thought it was super bad for amrit dharis to eat meat, and they were following Sant babas and jathas, and instead the Singhs should have been normalising jhatka just like the recent world war soldiers did. We are trying to rectifiy this and khalsa should learn jhatka.  But I am just writing about bhog for those that are still learning rehit. As I explained, there are all these negative influences in the panth that talk against rehit, but this shouldn't deter us from taking khanda pahul, no matter what level of rehit we are!
    • How is it going to help? The link is of a Sikh hunter. Fine, but what good does that do the lazy Sikh who ate khulla maas in a restaurant? By the way, for the OP, yes, it's against rehit to eat khulla maas.
    • Yeah, Sikhs should do bhog of food they eat. But the point of bhog is to only do bhog of food which is fit to be presented to Maharaj. It's not maryada to do bhog of khulla maas and pretend it's OK to eat. It's not. Come on, bro, you should know better than to bring this Sakhi into it. Is this Sikh in the restaurant accompanied by Guru Gobind Singh ji? Is he fighting a dharam yudh? Or is he merely filling his belly with the nearest restaurant?  Please don't make a mockery of our puratan Singhs' sacrifices by comparing them to lazy Sikhs who eat khulla maas.
    • Seriously?? The Dhadi is trying to be cute. For those who didn't get it, he said: "Some say Maharaj killed bakras (goats). Some say he cut the heads of the Panj Piyaras. The truth is that they weren't goats. It was she-goats (ਬਕਰੀਆਂ). He jhatka'd she-goats. Not he-goats." Wow. This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in relation to Sikhi.
    • Instead of a 9 inch or larger kirpan, take a smaller kirpan and put it (without gatra) inside your smaller turban and tie the turban tightly. This keeps a kirpan on your person without interfering with the massage or alarming the masseuse. I'm not talking about a trinket but rather an actual small kirpan that fits in a sheath (you'll have to search to find one). As for ahem, "problems", you could get a male masseuse. I don't know where you are, but in most places there are professional masseuses who actually know what they are doing and can really relieve your muscle pains.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use