These basic tenets of Buddhism are evident in the rituals practised in a Buddhist Funeral. After a person dies in a Buddhist family, some rituals have to be practised in order to make sure that the deceased’s soul rises to a higher stage in afterlife. Prayers are chanted calling upon the good energies of the deceased for his or her ultimate deliverance from this cycle of life.

A traditional bath to the body marks the beginning of the Buddhist funeral rites. Buddhist monks read out from religious scriptures, and these chants are believed to give the soul the right guidance to achieve spiritual liberation. Then the Lord Buddha’s teachings that highlight the significance of kindness and concern are read out loud by the monks. Meanwhile, the body is made ready for the final journey. The relatives normally place some money in the casket along with the deceased. This is done to pay for the dead person’s journey across the mythical River of Three Hells.

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The casket is then put before the altar at home for friends and relatives to pay their final respects. The relatives and friends give condolences to the dead person’s family, while the visitors pray for his soul. The ceremony is accompanied with recitation of relevant sutras by the monks. Once the chanting is over, people bow before the altar to pay their final regards. The family members then thank the visitors for sharing their sorrow by giving them token gifts.

After these rituals are done, the body may then be either cremated or buried in accordance with the beliefs of the family members. In all, the rituals aim to bring a sense of acceptance and peace to the grieving family while praying to promote the departed to a higher stage of knowledge and enlightenment.

Death is a sensitive time. After all, funeral present the family with a need to transition into moving on with life. Get the best casket for your loved one’s burial. This article, The Significance Of Rituals In A Buddhists Funeral has free reprint rights.

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A funeral should reveal how the deceased lived his life and it must be planned out in a suitable manner. There is a standard pattern which most funeral services adhere to, and any deviation would usually depend on particular religious and cultural inclinations of the deceased and his or her family.

The first stage is the visitation, which can take place over a few hours or could extend for a few days. In this, family members and acquaintances get together in memory of the deceased. The next phase is formal funeral proceedings at any site like a church, a chapel, a mortuary or any other place that bore a special significance for the deceased person. However, you must ensure that you have called for a funeral coach, if the venue of the funeral is at some distance.

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Once this is done, the family and others move to the cemetery to take part in the next phase of the funeral. This can be handled by either a family member of the deceased or the clergy depending upon the preference of the family. You will need to consider several aspects, including who will be leading the service, the kind of flowers you want, and if you want an image or any other article owned by the deceased to be displayed.

The burial is the final part of the ceremony, and its location depends on the burial tradition of the family or personal preference of the deceased. The deceased can be buried in plots owned by the family or in mausoleums, or be cremated and have their ashes scattered where they had desired.

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All of us have dreams. But all of us do not have faith in ourselves so that we can have those dreams and live them in our lifetime. In fact, the secret to have such assuredness is simple. And the reason why we hesitate so much is also straightforward.

Let us start with the first question that can be asked to us..

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Why don\’t we do everything we always wanted to do?

Often, our thoughts stop our actions. Sometimes the more we think about it, the less we become committed to accomplish what we initially wanted to do. Because the more we think about it, we come up with more and more reasons for not doing it.

Is it then possible to be sure that we will definitely accomplish what we want to do in our life?

Yes, definitely! For a start, let us look at the power of habits..

If we have an appointment for a meeting tomorrow night, we might not spend too much time worrying whether we can reach there or not. We would not be bothered about the likelihood of having a car accident and not being present at the appointment. In the same way when we walk to the bathroom, we may not worry if the toilet would be broken down.

We have so much more sureness about these types of \’normal\’ activities we indulge in every day. They are the habits.

However, we are doubtful about our dreams

The interesting part is that there are several things that we are not very sure about. These are the things that we really want to do in our lives – our Dreams!

So what\’s the secret for the certainty that we will achieve our dreams?

First: Simply make it a daily habit!

We can get started by being more confident about our acts meant to meet our desires – the type of dreams that actually fosters our life.

So, for example, if your dream is to give and contribute to society and giving is a key desire in your life, there is no reason to doubt that it\’s possible for you to contribute to others. It can just become one of your daily habits.

Second: Make is as important (and equally easy) as brushing one\’s teeth.

Realising dreams can be just like brushing one\’s teeth. It simply doesn\’t feel nice if we do not brush our teeth for pretty long, isn\’t it? We can\’t bother to spend hours considering which toothpaste we should use or wait to clean teeth till there is some need to do so. We feel a little out of sorts if our teeth are not clean. So we clean them. That is all!

Looking at our example, if giving is what we desire most, then we should ask ourselves a few questions: What if giving is truly as important as brushing one\’s teeth? What if it is giving us a comfortable feeling? What if it aids in remaining healthy?

Irrespective of how much or how little we own right now, we surely can start offering it and sharing it today. As such, no matter how improbable the realisation of dreams might appear, we can start walking towards them today. We can definitely do, if we see it as a crucial issue, a top priority that we should stick to every day! Then we will be uncomfortable if we do not do it. Just like cleaning our teeth.

and Third: Always give first, then we will get

When we are ready to give first before we have even got what we yearn for – what we are dreaming of – we are sending a strong message to ourselves which says, \’there is enough, and more will come.\’ It lets us know the joy today – the joy of sharing.

If you want to be wealthy, be munificent. Then you are sure to be blessed with abundance. If you are intelligent enough to do so, do not hesitate to teach others. Then you will learn more. If you feel like giving, just give the whole of you. And do it without expecting anything in return. Just let go. The act of giving is its own reward. The simple satisfaction of giving.

So do not be hesitant to dole out and share what you have, for it will not prevent you from achieving your purpose, whatever it is. It will only help you to realise your dreams more easily. And your journey through that path would be full of joy.

But are not habits smaller, in comparison with our BIG dreams?

Just do it, don\’t be concerned about the \’scale\’

Because anything is possible in life. We might start things in a small way. And these small things will always take us to another action, and another. Having certainty in our small actions and executing them one by one always takes us forward. But if we thought it was \’impossible\’ to do something now because it just seemed \’too big\’, it will never happen.

The secret to achieve your dreams has always been here, and will always be here. The people who create miracles, inspirations, and the real sense of joy, already know this. They are always using it.

Visions and miracles do not happen accidentally. We choose to create them.

So, are you likely to start moving towards your dreams today?

Contents are excerpted with minor modification from ONE, a book written by Masami Sato. To get a free copy of ONE, visit www.B1G1.com and start sharing the joy of giving. Feel free to use or republish the content of the above article, fully or partially, as long as it is preserved in its original content, with proper attribution to Masami Sato and www.B1G1.com.

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The origins of tithing can be found in the Bible, yet many Christians and non-Christians alike, practice some form of tithing today.

Tithe is conventionally a Christian term that signifies the contribution of one tenth of one\’s earnings as donation to one\’s Church as a type of Church giving. However, every other religious system has similar practices within itself. In Islam the word used is \’Zakat\’. In the Sikh religion of India the name for it is \’Dasvandh\’ which again signifies setting apart a tenth of one\’s earnings for pious acts. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru who started the practice. The sacred texts of Hinduism like the Bhagavadgita and the Upanisads state that \’true alms\’ is that which is given as a part of one\’s duty in the right place and at the right time to a worthy individual, from whom nothing is expected in return.

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The word tithe derives from the Hebrew word \’asair\’, which means to donate one-tenth portion of something, mostly a person\’s earnings. Nowadays tithes or tithing is optional and is given in cash. Still, in some European countries church can demand tithing and thus make it enforceable by law.

Denmark is an example where members of the Church of Denmark pay a church tax, which varies between municipalities. The tax is generally around 1% of the taxable income. And in Finland members of state churches pay a church tax of between 1% and 2.25% of income and the Church taxes are integrated into the common national taxation system.

Anyway the custom of regular tithes was not instituted until after Exodus. Tithes were popular all across the Near East in olden days, as well as in later Lydia, Carthage and Arabia.

The Hebrew custom of giving tithes finds mention in the Bible, starting with the gift from Abraham to Melchizedek, the Canaanite king and priest (Genesis–:20). Tithing was also common in former Lydia, Carthage and Arabia. The practice of tithing was espoused by the early Christian church, and was discussed in councils at Tours in 567 and at Macon in 585. Formal recognition to these was given under Pope Adrian I in 787.

The practice of tithes in some Christian churches is contentious for the reason that it is putting into operation an Old Testament idea to a New Testament establishment (the Church). No proof is available in the New Testament that tithing can be applied to Christians. Actually, it was mandatory only for Jews living in the promised land to pay the tithe even according to the Old Testament, as it was in practice a form of income tax that was necessary to help not only the government of the then Israel, but also the shrines and the priestly class.

Modern day Tithing

Despite it\’s origins in the Bible and ancient Christianity, today it is a special way to give every time you receive. Giving EVERY time you receive is such a powerful form of giving because it allows the giver to experience something incredibly powerful – more on that later.

Let us return to history. That section of the Bible that Christians refer to with regard to tithing is Malachi 3:10. Lots of Christians tithe to their church as they feel that they are under obligation to do so according to the Bible. And many Churches then as well as now insist that their members contribute to the church to help it carry on its activities. In spirit though, if the giving is not done out of free will and with a happy intention, it does not accomplish its proper benefit – if in fact you want to create a proper benefit by the gift.

Controversy about Tithing

Tithing has often been a disputed issue. The subject of should a Christian pay tithe is often brought up in many Christian get-together.

In a Wall Street Journal article about tithing titled \’The Backlash Against Tithing\’, Suzanne Sataline writes, \’As Churches push donations, congregants balk; \’that\’s not the way God works\’.\’

Regrettably, the different ideological perspectives, desire to dominate, and a narrow outlook, can lead to a Jekyll and Hyde scenario – the pure goodness of giving being lost in the fog and misinterpretation of religion. In spite of the disputes, tithing is still a fully and marvellously powerful act that any person can do to turn around their lives to face a fuller pathway.

For those who are interested in finding out more about a Christian perspective in tithing there are plenty of materials to go through. For those who are keen on knowing the reason WHY tithing is so compelling, what follows will be useful.

Why is Tithing so powerful?

This is indeed a very forceful question because if you just heedlessly take a certain path without considering what the whole process entails you may be advancing on the wrong road.

If more people who regularly tithed knew exactly why tithing works when it is done in the spirit of pure giving, then it would probably unleash a greater desire to give even more. And for those that give irregularly, it could inspire them to give first every time they received.

To see the actual \’why\’ of how proper gifting gives rise to more we have to learn something about Quantum Physics and Quantum Mechanics. The rules that govern these disciplines are unlike those in our physical or Newtonian world.

The movie \’What the Bleep\’ describes the quantum world through simple examples. The movie segment linked below describes a little about how matter becomes waves and acts like fluids when observed from a quantum physics perspective : http://video.yahoo.com/watch/1349535/4653525.

The movie describes an amazing world viewed from a quantum space. When a beam of electrons is fired through a plate with a slit in it onto a wall – as you would expect, it would it within a single line on the wall straight opposite the slit.

If the experiment is conducted by using an energy wave that reacts the way a water wave does, one gets a foreseeable result. As the wave strikes the plate it rebounds off the plate but where there is the opening, a part of the wave goes across through the opening. Coming out of the other side of the opening, the surging water moves out in the pattern of an arc, resulting in a new wave just as in the old laboratory tests done in schools in analysing wave patterns. As the surge of water strikes the wall across, it will have maximum force in the middle straight opposite the opening and will have lesser force all across the wall. This is exactly like the line the electrons make.

If we added a second slit in the plate, again we would get a predictable result with the wave experiment – two small waves would appear through the slits and when those new waves touch each other they would cancel each other out creating an interference pattern. Several waves would now hit the wall making a stripped affect on the wall. All this is as expected for wave energy behavior, so nothing new here.

Now this is where the quantum experiment gets interesting. With the two slits in place if electrons were fired at the plate we would expect to see two lines to be created on the wall. But guess what – instead a stripped affect appears – an interference pattern is created! This is totally unexpected. Somehow the matter had changed into a wave. You would think that electrons were bouncing off each other creating a wave; so then if you fired the electrons one at a time and then see what happens. The result is the same! This can only happen if the electrons leave as a single particle, splits into a wave of potentials when it hits the plate, passes through both splits and then interferes with itself on the other side of the plate. This is simply amazing – matter behaving like a wave – or solid behaving like a liquid. Maybe the world is different to what we think it is after all!

Despite the apparent \’solidness\’ of this world that we live in, it would appear that actually we live in a world that is more like a liquid – liquid energy or flux, which behaves like liquids in our physical world. And as we know from simple physics that fluids of a similar nature always come together and those of a dissimilar nature move apart and separate into clear areas of distinction. Oil and water is a simple example of this. Chromatography also shows the effect very graphically when a single substance can separate into its individual substances in clear bands much like how large groups of people split off into smaller groups of similar interest, energy or intention.

The secret of it all is that when we give we feel delighted and know utmost joy. As a donor we get the best of gifts, which is the gift of contentment. Often we think that it is the one who gets a gift that gets the thing and thus overlook the fact that the giver is the real getter. If anybody is in doubt about this equation, then look at yourself with kids around and observe how intently you feel when you give to them and how much you enjoy irrespective of how they respond.

When we understand that we are first giving to ourselves when we give and that we do this because we want to feel joy then we have a key. This key unlocks the door of understanding to giving. And when we give repeatedly the momentum builds up just like a wave getting bigger and bigger the more we add to it with our giving.

The truth that we feel happy when we gift things alters our power equation fully – we feel good and in that moment we are lovelier to others. Have you ever known a vendor on the street peddling things that we do not want like tissues, which you usually do not buy, but one day you buy and the motive for doing it is just to see that vendor happy and relieved? A similar situation could be seen in relations to buskers playing music at a street corner.

A contended individual radiates a natural magnetism that draws others to him and in doing so he enriches himself. It is clear-cut. They pull towards them both those who are desirous of experiencing that feeling as well as those who have already known the richness of it.

Similar to water and oil, givers and non-givers tend to collect together in different places. And the greatest place to get something is a place where givers come together! But of course you will be allowed entry into that group only if you are ready to give! Givers relish to give to those who love to give.

So even though we can run to quantum physics for our answers, they also lie right in front of our face. Like attracts like – simple. Everywhere you look you see this happening. Lions hand out with lions, students hang out with students, women hang out with women, guys hang out with guys, \’poor\’ people hang out with \’poor\’ people and \’rich\’ people hang out with \’rich\’ people. And yes – givers hang out with givers.

So if you every give from guilt then it will have the reverse effect for you – you will attract others feeling guilty and guilt-feeling people are not usually that joyful and happy. Guilt is a short step away from anger emotionally; so people giving from guilt often make the jump in that direction. Where as joy is almost at the top of the ladder of human emotions – and the jump from there is just to love – which we are all looking for.

When a person starts giving he is just a couple of steps away from love – rather surprising to realize that isn\’t it. Particularly because most people are frantically searching for love. Now we know the answer is straightforward -start giving! And giving money is not the beginning and end of it, it is only a small part of giving – it will generate a niche of joy for us, however small what is given.

There is also a psychological aspect to giving regularly. Even though at first this aspect doesn\’t seem connected to the emotion of joy – in the end it directly connects us to the feeling of joy.

When we give something – especially something we don\’t feel we have much of – then we send a powerful signal to our brain that life can be trusted. When we give something and later on we look back and we observe that all worked out well we connect with trust. The opposite of trust is fear. So again, a party of fearful people would not be a happy and joyful one so their attraction point would be pretty darn low. However, a party of trusting people would be a joyful experience and would attract others seeking that experience. So in the end when we trust it converts to joy and again we are only one step away from the number one thing that most of us are seeking – love.

The sum and substance of what has been ignored for years is fully in front of us for anyone to bond with in finely. For Christmas my son got a good amount of money. I queried him as to what he planned to do with all that money. He replied that he wanted to set aside almost whole of it. Then I enquired how much of it he would like to give to someone. It was something that he had not even taken into account until I introduced the idea. What would be the result if upon receiving anything our first consideration was to give away part of it – do you think we would know delight in abundance?

Transaction based charity – or transaction based generosity

This leads us to the power of transactional giving. Many businesses give when they have lots of money. When they have little they tend not to give. Because of this their potential levels of joy are always go up and down based on the market trends – they have no control. But those who give EVERY time they receive are in control and connected with their experience of joy regularly.

Transactional giving rather than total giving is based on the highs and lows of business and so is a self-evident way of giving. The method is that when you get something you also give something – straightforward. If your business is bad you might give but according to the income. And when business is marking a rising graph, giving can also improve.

A key factor of transaction based venture is that a person can celebrate the joy of giving mutually with everyone involved – clientele/commune – personnel – and venture itself. A customer knows that when he buys from a business he is giving without having to expend anything other than the time to select and buy from that outlet he experiences the power of giving – reason for the conventional CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility, to change instantly to Customer Social Responsibility, with the ability of the customer to effectively respond to the sharing by valuing the venture and have that added sensitive though subtle reason, for opting to do business with the venture.

Your personnel will also be able to partake in the happiness of giving as every time they manage to close a sale, they realise that they have managed to give something to a needy person. This is an extremely satisfying experience especially in a team as it can get converted into motivating the team and encouraging the staff.

Any venture, even a completely new one with no profit margin, can manage Buy1GIVE1 transaction-based giving – there are no problems in every sense to be part of it and everything is controlled by the business. The payment amount per deal begins from as low as one cent and rises to any large amount the person can decide with every business left to choose their own type of gifting and providing to sustain on the basis of their business type and success. There is simply no justification not to give in this manner when the advantages that ensue from giving are so many. Enterprises that are presently giving to a cause can easily change over very promptly and effortlessly to Buy1GIVE1 transaction-based giving while still helping the same cause giving additional substantial benefits to the venture.

When the game is over business -based giving is a present day form of tithing that is practical and possible for anyone, at any place. Now that we realise that it is not about the actual money that we give such as a tenth of the income, but only the fact that we are gifting it that makes the change. When we enter the fraternity of donors we move into a special and fortunate world that only those who give to others are allowed to enter. And unless you start giving today itself, you just may not start doing it and might never will till you start. So begin today.

\’We\’re not here to gift in order \’to take.\’ We want more to be able to give more.

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Christian funerals are performed according to the Church rules. However, given the fact that there are over 200 denominations of Christians, the traditions can change depending on the affiliation of the family.

The very first ritual in a Christian funeral that is conducted before the actual ceremony relates to gathering around the dead person for a night and chanting prayers for the departed soul. This important tradition is known as wake. As per the present day customs, this is when the family and acquaintances pay a last visit to the deceased and offer their final respects. The body is either laid at the residence or at Church and the duration of paying visit is fixed according to prescribed norms. In old times, the wake was followed by absolution, which involved absolving the deceased of all his or her sins in the present life, and placing a cross on the chest and performing the ritual of offertory where people put gifts in the casket.

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The following stage is the actual service itself in which the dead person is put into a hearse and brought to the Church, where the priests and others recite prayers and hymns from the Bible. Then, the clergy calls upon a friend or family member to give a eulogy or tribute to the departed’s life. In certain cases funeral rituals include the ringing of bells to signify the end of the service. Then the casket with the deceased’s body is transported to the burial place for the last set of rituals, known as the burial service which precedes the burying.

Lastly, the family members organize a lunch for the friends, relatives and acquaintances who are attending the funeral. The main objective of this tradition is to partake in the sorrow of the family and support them so that they can come to terms with the loss.

Entrust the delicate matter of funeral needs in the hands of considerate professional undertakers. Also published at Funeral Rites And Rituals.

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