Which is better - Cremation or Burial ?

1. 39

   dranjeshposted 14 years ago

   Every year more than 50 million people die worldwide. The two main forms of funeral rites adopted by most are either cremation or burial.
   
   The Parsis (Zoroastrians) in Mumbai, India, a small community, leave their dead out in the open in the Towers of silence to be consumed by vultures.
   
   In the past some civilizations would embalm their dead in the process of mummification.
   
   Now the question is :
   Can the method of disposal of the dead can contribute to or alleviate the distress that the ancestor has to go through in the subtle realm ?
   
   Which is better - Cremation or Burial ?
   
   "Through spiritual research methodologies, we have examined the effect of some of the main modern types of funeral rites from the point of view of helping our ancestors in the afterlife."
   
   Do visit this link for details and you are welcome to post in your valuable comments...
   
   <snipped - do NOT start threads for the sole purpose of promotion or posting links!>

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      RKHenryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Vultures?  Are you kidding me?  Hell no, no way!  I know I'd be dead and all, but if someone left me to the vultures, I'd be well on my way of making their lives just as miserable as my death.  Vultures?  That's nasty.  Gross.

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      1. 87

         Shil1978posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         What happens when you are buried you think? Decomposition is nasty as well - if you chose to watch the process of it.

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            RKHenryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Fire is just fine with me.

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   2. 59

      mohitmisraposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The Parsis consider this as the last act of charity.

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      1. 59

         mohitmisraposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Makes no difference to me.Its just dust anyways,will be gone.

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2. 0

   sandra rinckposted 14 years ago

   I think I would rather just not die but being mummified sounds cool.  Probably a crime nowadays though.  Sucks you know, you gotta pay to be alive and you gotta pay when your dead.
   
   Money, money, money ugh!  I don't honestly really care what happens to my body when I am dead, I personally wont be in it.

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   1. 87

      Shil1978posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Would never want to be mummified for sure. Wouldn't want people to see me that way - all shriveled up with my insides being sucked out, ugh!!

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3. 70

   darksideposted 14 years ago

   1) There's a beach in Newcastle where I'd like my remains scattered.
   
   2) But I don't want to be cremated.

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      Jewelsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      But you don't want your body chopped up and scattered?

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4. 62

   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   Won't they stink then? Or is this exactly your purpose?

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   1. 70

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You got it!

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5. 73

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   no embalming, mo cremation - people should be buried fresh and free so all their goodness can rot into the ground and revitalize their surroundings.
   
   i really believe that, is that weird?

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   1. 92

      Rochelle Frankposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Actually there are some places like this. I think I read f one in N.California-- in a beautiful forest. No casket, as I recall. Perhaps a cardboard box, or unfinished wood.

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      1. 59

         countrywomenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         The thought of the body lying in the serene Yosemite area is so peaceful and wonderful (especially in fall season when the flowers would fall and cover the body)

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            sandra rinckposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah my mom says she would like to be left on a snowy mountain.

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6. 77

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   Since we are running out of space everywhere in the world I would say cremation is the best way to go.

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7. 76

   AEvansposted 14 years ago

   I prefer burial as I am not a bit thrilled about my body being burned, although I do know I would never know it, or so they say.

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8. 84

   kerrygposted 14 years ago

   I want to be cremated. As a good gardener, I am very fond of worms, but I am not interested in being eaten by them.

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9. 89

   Paragliderposted 14 years ago

   Francis Drake style, burial at sea:
   
   Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,
   And dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe.

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10. 51

    lawrettaposted 14 years ago

    Well as for me,i will like to be buried the old fashion way. In a casket and put 6fit in the ground, wearing my bridal gown.

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11. 61

    VENUGOPAL SIVAGNAposted 14 years ago

    Cremating is the practice of caste Hindus. This may the best way to keep the earth clean. If burried, the flesh, bones, nerves, blood, etc. decomposes and creates a lot of small creatures. That place of burial will remain useless for a very long time, indeed for decades. Even afterwards, the bones can be unearthed in some places.  This will make drinking water unsafe. Cremating, that too electric cremation is best.  But leaving a body on the rooftop for vultures is certainly not good. Dead or live, it was once the body of a man... how can we tolerate it being bitten by vultures and others?

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12. 59

    mugshotposted 14 years ago

    Cremation happens alot in the UK, this started around 120 years ago and is the outcome of the fact that there is just no consecrated land to bury all the dead nowadays and what land is available costs a small fortune.
    
    Religious beliefs before this time in the UK was that people had to be buried as close to a church as possible and those who had done criminal wrong were purposefully not buried on consecrated land so their spirits would not rest.
    
    Things changed when consecrated land ran short and the religous leaders had to convince the UK people that cremation was okay. 
    
    All my family that have sadly passed (God bless them) have all been cremated but I hope to be buried in the small village of Kozarsko in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria. The burial ground is on a hill overlooking the village in the foothills of the Rhodope mountains.

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    1. 73

       Lady Guinevereposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I would like my body parts to be utilized to save lives and then cremated.  Religions tend to forget that the body is ashes to ahsed sust to dust.  Dust it came from and dust it shall go.  The soul and mind lives on.

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13. 74

    crusadorposted 14 years ago

    cremation or burial doesn't make any difference to a dead. Each and every particle of the body has to go back from where it orginated. Ultimately everything is to get mixed in the soil and this way several nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium etc. shall be added to the soil and utilized by plants and living beings. Crematiom shall result in loss of few nutrients. Decomposition is the best way of utilization by soil microbes and all living things.I'm convinced that something that has lost it's utility shouldn't occupy any space on this earth.Hence, cremation is the best choice.

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14. 89

    compu-smartposted 14 years ago

    This topic brings me to a subject that's always in my mind with many people being killed, either by murder or accidents where bodies cannot be recovered, and because of this, I think we should all consider alternative funeral arrangements if this does happen to us!
    
    For example. What if someone wanted to be cremated, but because there is no body!, what would the loved ones do for a funeral!?
    
    Just a few things that cross my mind about this subject, i thought important to share!
    
    As for me, I will be donating my body to the medics.! It's the least I could do to help others especially under the circumstances! to give back for all the free medical help Ive had and have!

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15. 89

    Paragliderposted 14 years ago

    Just as an aside, I knew a man who operated the crematorium for a medium sized town. It was in use fairly continuously. He said it was quite high-tech. Gas-fired and closely temperature controlled. There were fine water sprays at different heights in the smoke-stack, and various filters and fans, the aim being to ensure that no visible smoke would appear, as that can distress the relatives.

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16. 54

    Shalini Kagalposted 14 years ago

    Many of us today have made a Living Will where our bodies will be donated to the medical colleges for research. Most students of surgery find it hard not to have human bodies to work on. It's hard for people with a religious bent of mind perhaps - but I know in the city I live in in India, if you have made a Living Will specifying your wish, the people from the hospital attached to the college come in and are extremely professional - they handle everything - the eyes are removed for donation first. It also frees your children from having to make decisions on your behalf.

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17. 57

    Hell N0posted 14 years ago

    They'd both suck if we were still alive.

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18. 75

    Eaglekiwiposted 14 years ago

    Burial ( with a nite-light) just in case

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19. 0

    fierycjposted 14 years ago

    I like watching movies where people die a lot. At least it keeps ever aware of the frailty of life. But here's what kills me in a movie though. Where the bad guy has been seeking to kill the good guy for a really long time,then he finally gets the chance.and instead of getting it over with,he starts making this awfully long speech.i'm like,just kill the guy already,when he's dead he's dead.he's not gonna be in some afterlife or wherever and go like,damn just imagine what this guy said to me before he shot me.
    My point is,when you're dead,you're dead. It doesn't matter what they do to you. You're still dead, anyways.

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20. 0

    Leta Sposted 14 years ago

    Odd post.  But it should be of course, left up to the individual and the family's wishes.  Work the obit desk of a large newspaper, .  You learn a lot about this stuff...

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21. 61

    Ron Montgomeryposted 14 years ago

    Now there's one more thing I like about Zoroastrians.  Was Freddy Mercury consumed by Vultures?  I have instructed my family to have my remains ground into cat food.  Dead bodies are a valuable commodity that should not be wasted.

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    1. 0

       Leta Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       LOL Maybe the body should be zapped for moisture and the resulting water given to the Navajo Indians to replenish the holy mountain up there so business interests wouldn't have to use gray water to make snow for skiing?  What'ya think?
       
       How's the weather in Flagstaff?

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22. 67

    Juliet Christieposted 14 years ago

    When one thinks of the amount of money spend for casket and all that goes with burial I would opt for cremation. But my children and husband would never go for that. Cremation is a clean process that does save a lot of land space but I suppose the earth does need the nutritents that decompostion supplies

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