Hindu beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife: 1) Life is seen as a temporary transition to resolve karma and potentially achieve moksha (liberation from samsara or the cycle of rebirth). 2) A good death occurs when one has lived well according to dharma, in old age, with rituals performed, and with the mind fixed on God. 3) After death, the soul is led by Yama's representative to hell, the realm of ancestors, or the gods depending on karma before potential rebirth.

2. A life well lived is one of austerity, meditation, good action.

3. Death, as is life, is seen as temporary and an opportunity to either to ideally reincarnate to a life closer to liberation or actual moksha / joining with Brahman. If not ideal, a person could be reincarnated into a lower level of life or caste.

5. A Bad Death or “akalmrtyu” A bad death is very much feared by Hindu’s not only because of the effect that it would have the process of reincarnation for the person dying but also on the family that remains. Bad deaths are one that are premature, violent and uncontrolled – all being unprepared for, in the wrong place and at the wrong time accompanied by the presence of bodily fluids and an unpleasant expression. Not only does the dying person have responsibility in the quality of their death, so do the family’s actions effect the quality of the death.If the rituals are not performed or not performed correctly, then the soul fails to move on, may haunt their families and will cause bad luck for them. The worst death is one of suicide for selfish reasons. But there are exceptions for other kinds of suicide (i.e. religious suicide and assisted suicide where it is seen as merciful or part of a person’s dharma to assist the one suffering.)

6. ‘God comes to a hungry man in the form of a slice of bread!’ In what form does God come to a person begging to die?” Mahatma Gandhi

7. Hindu Afterlife At the time of death the god Yama sends a representative of his to claim the soul from the body, leading the soul through a long dark tunnel toward south. Based on a karmic ledger kept by Yama on the deeds of the life, the soul enters hell or “naraka” or heaven / realm of the ancestors or “svargan.” In these realms the soul exhausts it’s karmic credit or debt and then is reborn. But in the case that the soul has released itself from all earthly desires, the soul immediately goes to the realm of the gods and merges with Brahman.

9. Mourning Ritual - continued Until the 10th day the males of the family do not shave or cut their hair and the females do not wash their hair; on the 10th day these actions are performed On the morning of the 13th day the Shraddha ceremony is performed, there is a fire sacrifice and pinda ceremony The Shraddha is conducted every month for a year and then annually after that; the rights are performed by the same person who performed the last rights originally The last rights are usually performed by a male family member

10. Mourning Ritual - continued - The chief mourner is usually the eldest son and they perform the “rite of the skull”- The ashes of the deceased are collected and usually immersed in the Ganges River- Depending of cast and community there is a certain number of days after the death that must pass before the family is reintegrated into society

11. Mourning in America Today, in America and India, religious hymns, or bhajans, are set to music when the mourners gather Today the funerals are more Judeo-Christian People die in hospitals and go to funeral homes In the crematorium the eldest son turns the incinerator on Some India Americans travel back to India to immerse the ashes in the Ganges or some may send the ashes to a service there in India that will perform the traditional ritual of placing the ashes in the Ganges.