The Transformation of the Christian Funeral and the Declining Influence of Tradition

Funerary practices differ greatly even within larger religious traditions like Christianity. What happens to the body has traditionally been linked to sacred scripture and interpretation, but also cultural influences.

For much of Christian history, cremation was not an alternative for Christians. And in a nation that is largely Christian, 2015 marks the first time cremation has surpassed traditional burial/internment in the United States.

One thing that is true for both Christianity and Buddhism is the idea that funerary practices go back to the examples provided by their leaders and the events surrounding their deaths. Christians have been buried believing that the resurrection of the body, a formal and inveterate doctrine of Christianity, extends beyond Christ to believers as well. Though the idea of life beyond the grave differs in places even in the scriptures, the generally agreement is that believers united to Christ do not do so metaphorically or spiritually, but in their bodies. If the life of the body after death is of importance, than naturally Christians would go through great pains to get it right. Cremation was not allowed because it was seen as a desecration of the body. God needed the body parts pretty much in tact if he was going to raise that same body from the dead to its final glorification. This strong conviction about the body no doubt propels us in other areas, not to mention the prohibition against abortion. The body is something to be honored. Even martyrdoms, an extreme reaction to external challenges to the faith, were not upended by the death of their bodies. Enemies from warring Christian denominations participating in both the execution of Christians in pogroms or on the battlefield regularly dismembered the bodies knowing that the theological implications would be devastating for the victim (i.e., the possible dismemberment meant that the body could not be reassembled). Of course, decomposition was always known to them and so it was thought that the power of the holy person was in their bones. Like the valley in Ezekiel, the flesh could be reconstituted to the body…but if the bones were scattered, maybe not. Having the body remain intact was so important that an early Christian apologist Justin Martyr in a short tract wondered if Christians were regenerated in the heavenly realm with their reproductive parts and belly buttons! The location of burial was also important in some cultures but has largely been abandoned, having ceded to the more important demand for bodily burial. If a person was buried facing the wrong way, it was thought that they could miss the resurrection having their bodies turned backwards!

The easing of restrictions against cremation has perhaps been the biggest and most silent of all changes among Christians in the modern era. In 1964, the Roman Catholic Church "lifted" its ban on cremation, though it never formally elevated the practice to the same level of moral value as burials. In most cases where cremation is preferred, the ashes are still expected to be entombed or buried. This changing attitude towards burial may be attributed to growing secularism. Many people who claim Christianity simply are not linked to a church. Not being linked to church means there is no authority or oversight on these questions, or even concern. When unchurched Christians die, having no relationship with a church or a priest, it is often left to the family who might contact a local parish or church. These priests can preside over cremations, a fact that might be overlooked due to the fact that the priest does not know the individual personally, but nevertheless sees his role as a comforter rather than doctrinal scholar. A second influence that cannot be overlooked is economic. The cost of a funeral, including the casket, internment, church fees, wake, and post-funeral luncheon can be thousands of dollars. For those who cannot afford a burial, the tremendous pressure to honor the recently passed may lead them to other alternatives given the financial burden of burial. Cremation remains popular today because it is less expensive than burial. As money has for most of our religious history proven an equalizer against religious war; so it might be blamed here for the potential to overlook the doctrinal demands that prepare us for the Christian afterlife. And why not have a cremation? After all, an omnipotent god should have no problem reconstituting the body regardless if it has been spread over the sea or digested by wild animals.

Looking to our neighbors in the East, cremation in Buddhism has been around for more than two millennia, although it was interrupted for about 400 years, a movement led by Confucians who opposed cremation. In Japan, over 98% of the population is cremated today. This includes Japanese Christians as well. Though cremation is a cultural norm, the same has its origin in the literature of Buddhism. In the Mahaparinibanna Sutra, the historical Buddha is eventually cremated after an extended panegyric with his faithful follower Ananda. From the prior textual evidence, the meaning of this act is obvious: true Buddhahood is open and available to all and the body is only a transitory vehicle in samsara. The body that one seeks is the ultimate elevation of awakening and pure consciousness, what is known as the dharmakaya, the truth body. The monks are encouraged to cultivate reproach for the physical body and its functions, but not to the point of over-indulgence, asceticism, or self-immolation. This is called the middle way in Buddhism. The body is burned in this final act to demonstrate this ideology.



Buddhists gather around for a cremation ceremony in South Korea.

In Japan, the economy also drives the practicality of cremation. Space is very limited and funerals are expensive. Cremation on the other hand is not expensive. Cremated remains are easily transportable and a space-saving alternative. These arguments were forceful promulgated by advocates of cremation after the 1873 Tokyo ban. The argument was not made from Buddhism at the time, however, but instead that cremation adverted a public health crisis by preventing epidemic spreads of diseases, bodies took up too much space, and the ancestral separation of bodies (which would happen as space ran out) was a moral outrage. Advocates also looked to the West. Research in Europe suggested that cremation was a more sanitary way of disposing of bodies than burial for the sake of public health. Such factors may very well influence the way Japanese Christians ultimately find themselves conceding to cultural practices. But just like other influences that have come to us through secular society, the interpenetration between religion and culture remains. Burial no doubt is rapidly being lost on this present generation as an extension of doctrine, given that doctrine is rarely a concern in the modern liturgy (the outlet through which most people consume their faith), and Christianity in the West finds itself increasingly conceding to the dogmatism of an open culture that is increasingly suspicious of claims to authority.  

The Translation of the Bizarre Term “Loving-Kindness” in Christianity and Buddhism

“Thy loving-kindness is greater than life, O Lord…”

It was a verse from a song I remember well in my early days of navigating the religious landscape of the Evangelical Church. It was one of those songs with multiple renditions, sung by numerous peoples and appearing on worship albums throughout the land so that no one could claim it as their own. The verse itself comes from Psalm 63:3 in the Bible. I never thought much about it. Not knowing its origins, I simply assumed “loving” was added to “kindness” to amplify how much the Lord thinks on us as his creation.

I discovered the word again years later in my readings in Buddhism. Where I first assumed the word something of an anomaly in Christianity, one of many encomiums heaping praise on God, in Buddhism the use of the two-word term seemed much more intentional, if not systematic. Judaism has also tried to co-opt this word, but it seems almost anachronistic given the word's origination as we will see moving forward.

Of course I tried the dictionary first. Maybe I had missed something all these years.  So where does loving kindness come from and why did the translators decided on such a strange word?

In the case of Christianity, we have an easier answer, one that is documented to around the 16th century. Miles Coverdale, in looking for a word to convey the difficult meaning of the Hebrew word chesed decided on the meaning “loving-kindness.” Other translations for the word include simply “kindness” but also “covenant.” We do have a better word for covenant in the Hebrew, bereth, and there seems to be at least some indication that it might be etymologically linked to bara (to cut). So too there is at least one instance in the context of the Hebrew Bible where a case for “covenant” might be made that uses chesed.  Here we see the word kerath – to cut. This word almost always appears with respect to covenant (bereth). The formulaic structure accompanying this word (to cut covenant) is usually not far behind.  The meaning of the cutting of covenant comes from the ritual exercise of cutting a beast in two parts and walking between the two pieces, a strange ritual that was said to have been undertaken by Abraham and God.

If loving-kindness is a neologism that comes about in the last four hundred years, my question becomes all the more urgent: Why would translators in two different religious traditions chose a word so similar?

Buddhist scholars also recognize that the Pali word metta often translated as loving-kindness is likewise difficult to translate. The word metta comes from two roots in Pali – one suggests to be “gentle” and the other is for “friend” (mitra).

It is difficult to track down loving-kindness and its link to metta. We have “love” as a proposed translation, as do we have “friendship.”  But loving-kindness is so far off the beaten path. It’s a word one does not find in the dictionary or in any reliable context that finds its way into the regular nomenclature of secular English. Was it perhaps borrowed from the English translation of the Christian God’s loving-kindness shown towards his followers. Could an early Buddhist translator have picked up a Christian Bible, saw this word, and thought that it demonstrated the same notion of Buddhist compassion? It’s worth thinking about. We certainly know that translated words move indiscriminately from culture to culture. When hell moved in the Japanese culture and certain Japanese Bibles picked up on the word, the translation reflected a entrenchment in cultural Shintoism that was itself a translation from the Chinese for “yellow spring.” That phrase was “Yomi no Kuni” for the land of the dead.

My admission here is that I don’t know how loving-kindness because the translated phrase of choice for metta in English. My theory, however, stands that it most likely had to do with words that were picked from the culture, and it may have been that a well-meaning translator looking for the precision of an English word that would not suggest physical love or simply friendship, or even compassion, decided that loving kindness was a much more visceral word. In such cases, this example amply demonstrates the problems with elevating translations of religious concepts into second or third languages with the task of trying to adduce comparative meaning only through those translations, rather than going to back to the sources that may affirm or deny the usefulness of such exercises.

The Two Heavenly Visions of Rajagriha and Jerusalem: A Buddhist Sutta and a Christian Apocalypse

The Sutra of Golden Light is a latter stage document that tells of the existence of other buddhas in addition to Siddhartha, the historical Buddha. These "victor buddhas" are set up as protectors to defend the holy city of Rajagriha.




In the folklore of Eastern religions, Rajagriha is an axis mundi (center of the universe) much like Jerusalem is to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Rajagriha, we have stories of the historic Buddha and the Jain messiah Mahavira living here for some time. The first Buddhist council, a congregation of 500 monks are said to have met here in a cave after the Buddha's death to verify which teachings were authentic. As a side note, the 500 number always struck me. There is no known correlate in gematria or numerology for the importance of this number-value in antiquity in ancient cultures. Yet it is the same number of witnesses said to attest to the authenticity of Jesus' resurrection according to Saint Paul.




What is interesting in the Sutra of Golden Light is the vision had by the bodhisattva Ruciraketu. According to the sutra, he envisions Rajagriha as a great palace. In the  following passage, the details stand out and are worth considering before we move into a familiar Christian text.




Then, while this sublime being entertained such thoughts with regard to the Buddha, his house transformed into a vast and expansive palace made of lapis lazuli, embellished with numerous divine jewels, its color transformed by the Tathagata and filled with perfumes surpassing those of the gods. Inside, in the four directions, there emerged four thrones made of divine jewels. These thrones came to be covered with mats of divine jewels and fine cotton raiment; and on those thrones appeared divine lotuses adorned with numerous jewels, their color transformed by the Tathagata. From those lotuses arose four Transcendent Victor Buddhas. In the east appeared the Tathagata Akshobhya; in the south appeared the Tathagata Ratnaketu; in the west appeared the Tathagata Amitayus; and in the north appeared the Tathagata Dundubhisvara. At the very moment these buddha lords appeared on those lion thrones, the great city of Rajagriha was filled with bright lights. The lights pervaded all the triple-thousand, great thousand world systems, the world systems in the ten directions, world systems as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges river. In addition, divine flowers rained down and divine music resounded. Through the power of the Buddha, all sentient beings in the triple thousand great thousand worlds too became possessed of the joy of the gods. Beings whose senses were incomplete became possessed of complete senses; beings blind from birth saw forms with the eyes; deaf beings heard sounds with the ears; insane beings regained their sanity; distracted beings became focused; naked beings became clothed in garments; hungry beings became full- bellied; thirsty beings were quenched; beings afflicted with diseases became free of disease; beings whose bodily organs were defective became possessed of complete organs. Many astounding events took placed in the world.




What we have here are heavenly buddhas enthroned on four seats of power protecting or watching over the holy city of Rajagriha. Interestingly this change also promotes moral and physical healing. The deaf have their ears open, hungry beings became satiated, and thirst was quenched. There is a sort of universal justice that occurs. There is a notable reference to the Ganges River, the spiritual center of Hinduism and comparison to "grains of sand" can't help but remind us of the promise of descendants to Abraham, a promise repeated by Saint Paul about the number who will come to believe in Christ.




Moving on, let's look at the image of heavenly Jerusalem. Here too we have an anonymous writer, though some say John imprisoned on Patmos, who has a heavenly vision. Pay attention to the details. This is the full chapter of Revelation 21.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.  There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.  The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.  The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.  The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.  The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,  the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.  The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.  Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

And just so we have our bases covered, let's not forget Matthew 19:28:

Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


The Sutra of Golden Light also tells us that one disciple wishes to obtain knowledge to gain ascendancy over Trāyastriṃśa. This word in Sanskrit means "thirty three " and indicates the same number of  gods in Hinduism, but more generally in Buddhism, just the "pantheon of  gods."  So here too, there is this desire or promise to rule over all others. The thirty three were considered devas who were often entangled (for better or worse) in human affairs and so to have power over them could infer some sort of spiritual liberation as well.

There are a number of interesting comparisons to make. Perhaps the first is the level of detail to impress just how beautiful these cities are. There is something about precious stones and jewels that somehow speak to the heavenly, even among two cultures being completely separated by time and space. Just like the gold standard used on the international economic and currency markets, there is universal agreement that a heavenly place must be adorned in the most precious elements the human mind can conjure. While there is no more death and crying in Jerusalem, in Rajagriha, there are physical miracles. We have divine beings dwelling in the presence of their people. There is this strange notion that light and the image of light pervading from the city is not caused by the city per se, but comes directly from God in Jerusalem and Tathagata (the Buddha) in Rajagriha. Why is light important? In ancient cultures, light is more than a physical phenomenon. It also has spiritual meaning and is indicative of purity or holiness/separation.



Notable differences include a judgment of the good and wicked in Jerusalem, something that is lacking in Rajagriha. Also, as a technical point, not all of Rajagriha is transformed, only the house of Ruciraketu. But the importance of this may be negligible given the status of Rajagriha at the time.




Vulture's Peak, Rajagriha

What does all this mean? As any comparative scholar knows, ancient people were limited by their imaginations, just as we are about the future, and so we don't get images of machines in the Bible or towering skyscrapers or cellphones - we get an agricultural society with parables from that culture which we suppose contain universal truths that somehow translate into our own situations. But agriculture is just one truth of most cultures at this time. Water, fire, earth, wind - the elements become intimately part of the fabric of religion. The idea of precious stones are important as they dispel the realities of poverty and pronounce kingship and royalty, not necessarily true in today's culture where ownership has increased for more people than any other time in history. Food is also a heavenly promise. Jesus describes heaven as a banquet and the Buddha talks about hungry bellies being fed - an important promise considering many were living in poverty, disease, and were residents of subsistent living.

On a theological level, one might point to the Buddha's words (Buddhavacana). In the Lotus Sutra (a Chinese and Japanese Buddhist document), it is clear that the Buddha believes he came to the earth in different forms and that the dharma is spread in many forms, some less potent, and of those that do not teach the Four Noble Truths, less likely to succeed. This tension can also be found in the Christian scriptures where Jesus points to his love of Jerusalem but calls himself the way, truth, and the life. Or we can look at Saint Paul who in Romans 11 proclaims that Israel is the root of salvation and the Christians are but grafted in. The tension concerning the rise of Christ followers against the backdrop of the historical promises made to Israel is a palpable dilemma.