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Last Thursday, my father, Irving Rosenberg, left his

body. He requested to be cremated, and then my sister

is paying to have his ashes buried beside my mother.

Burial is Sunday.

 

My family was not of a religious inclination, and

there will be no ritual or religious component to the

burial. My friends know that I am a Wiccan priest,

and a long-time student of things Hindu. They have

asked if I'm doing anything Wiccan or Hindu to

commemorate my father's passing. Well, obviously not

in my sister's presence! But I'm curious about what

Hindus do at a funeral. I recall reading that

Ganesha's presence is not invoked for honoring the

recently deceased. And that for a certain period, the

immediate family in mouring should not participate in

pujas, or other celebrations. Any other details?

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

 

 

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My sincere condolences, Len. My prayers to you & your family for

strength and for your father's deliverance.

 

Hindu Funeral rites vary with regions and corresponding customs.

>From my experience, an offering of food be made to the departed soul

for 12 days after the passing. On these days the only lamp lit

(traditional oil lamp) will be for the departed soul. On the 13th, a

puja is performed for God with lit lamps and offerings made to God.

The home is cleansed spritually by sprinkling holy water after the

ceremony.

 

After this, puja to God can be performed daily. Generally, the

karthaa

(one who is eligible to perform the rites, generally a direct

descendant) and the family will not celebrate any festivals for a

year.

 

Of course, if a child is born in the family within that period, it is

regarded as an auspicious sign and the mourning is discontinued.

 

There may be other practices depending on one's customs. But I hope

this helps in some way.

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These views are that of orthedox vaideeka lineages. In tantrIka lineage the

passing is a moment of rejoicing and no daily rituals are broken.

 

in fact when my father dies, while the body was lying in the house to be honored

by friends and relatives, i did my navavarana pooja much to the astonishment of

the non-taantrikaas in the family.

 

in Hindu tantric tradition there is nothing to be done except in the case of

gurus where the tantric cremation is conducted. and thereafter there will be

kaula shraadha.

 

in the case of non taantriks there is 11 days of mourning and no religious

rituals are carried out in the house. On 3rd day of the death (in some cases 5)

there is sanjayana where specific bones are taken along with some ash that will

be kept in the house and on an apropriate day confined to a river or the sea.

 

In the olden days daily "Shradha" ceremony would be done by the Son or in the

case of matrilinial lines (like mine) nephew for one whole year. There the

annual shradha is conducted on the basis of the Moon position at the time of

death.

 

Thats all

 

Len Rosenberg <kalipadma108 wrote:

 

 

Last Thursday, my father, Irving Rosenberg, left his

body. He requested to be cremated, and then my sister

is paying to have his ashes buried beside my mother.

Burial is Sunday.

 

My family was not of a religious inclination, and

there will be no ritual or religious component to the

burial. My friends know that I am a Wiccan priest,

and a long-time student of things Hindu. They have

asked if I'm doing anything Wiccan or Hindu to

commemorate my father's passing. Well, obviously not

in my sister's presence! But I'm curious about what

Hindus do at a funeral. I recall reading that

Ganesha's presence is not invoked for honoring the

recently deceased. And that for a certain period, the

immediate family in mouring should not participate in

pujas, or other celebrations. Any other details?

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

 

 

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Namaste Len,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.

 

prainbow

 

, Len Rosenberg <kalipadma108> wrote:

>

>

> Last Thursday, my father, Irving Rosenberg, left his

> body. He requested to be cremated, and then my sister

> is paying to have his ashes buried beside my mother.

> Burial is Sunday.

>

> My family was not of a religious inclination, and

> there will be no ritual or religious component to the

> burial. My friends know that I am a Wiccan priest,

> and a long-time student of things Hindu. They have

> asked if I'm doing anything Wiccan or Hindu to

> commemorate my father's passing. Well, obviously not

> in my sister's presence! But I'm curious about what

> Hindus do at a funeral. I recall reading that

> Ganesha's presence is not invoked for honoring the

> recently deceased. And that for a certain period, the

> immediate family in mouring should not participate in

> pujas, or other celebrations. Any other details?

>

> -- Len/ Kalipadma

>

>

>

>

> __

> Sports

> Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football

> http://football.fantasysports.

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Sri Mathrey Namah,

 

Sri Len, my condolences. I am sure, the departed soul has merged with the Unity

and would be a part of the Cycle of Life.

 

humbly,

 

samvidaananda saktha,

 

 

 

 

 

Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PCcalling worldwide with voicemail

 

 

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Dear Len:

 

I too am sorry to learn of your father's passing; I lost my father

four years ago come September, and the feelings are quite fresh. I

cannot say, "I know how you feel" -- that one's just too damn

complex -- but I can honestly say, "I empathize."

 

A very nice Hindu tradition (though variations exist in many

cultures) is the Shraddanjali -- the condolence or memorial

gathering, held one week or one month after death, and/or annually

thereafter, according to tradition. An image or images of the

deceased is displayed, and friends, relatives and colleagues come to

pay respects and keep his/her memory alive. As far as I know, the

gathering is very free-form, consisting of prayers, songs, stories

and memories, etc. Other members might give specific examples, if

they wish.

 

I'll date myself with this one -- but a while back, while browsing

thru a table full of bootleg DVD's in Little India in Queens, NYC, I

picked up a sweetly sentimental DVD called "Shraddanjali to Smita

Patil." She was a very great actress of the 70's and 80's who

specialized in "serious" art-house films and won great national and

international critical acclaim (I believe the Cannes Film Festival

honored her work at one point, and she's still a favorite in film

series focused on India). She unexpectedly died in childbirth in

1986, at the young age of 30, and her legendary status was sealed.

 

Anyway, when I finally got around to watching the Shraddanjali DVD,

it was a truly head-spinning experience -- bhajans sung over

lengthy, graphic footage of her funeral pyre; interspersed with film

clips and interviews with friends, loved ones and professional

associates extolling the greatness of her artistic achievement, and

how nice she was as a person. Then more pyre, maybe an excerpted

song-and-dance routine or some slice of heavy drama from an old

film, then another interview, more funeral procession footage,

sprinkling of ashes into the Ganga, etc. Wow. You really did get a

taste of Smita as a person -- while, not incidentally, catching a

pretty intense taste of eternity.

 

So that's a Shraddanjali. I have one every summer for my father, I

suppose you could say, which consists of inviting a bunch of his

pals (from childhood to later-life) up to his (now my) self-built

cottage on the shore of a still-mainly-wild lake deep in the woods

of northern Maine, on the U.S.-Canada border. They sit around and

tell old stories and have a few laughs, maybe take the canoe out for

a paddle. Invariably, a few guests stray up the steep hill behind

the house and return with baskets full of blueberries, which they

cook up into something tasty. One of the best of that old crew (he

and my father graduated high school together in 1950) just passed

away this winter, so this year it seems we'll making it a

Shraddanjali for two.

 

Again, my sympathies and best wishes go out to you in this difficult

time.

 

DB

 

, "ganpra" <ganpra@r...> wrote:

> My sincere condolences, Len. My prayers to you & your family for

> strength and for your father's deliverance.

>

> Hindu Funeral rites vary with regions and corresponding customs.

>

> From my experience, an offering of food be made to the departed

soul

> for 12 days after the passing. On these days the only lamp lit

> (traditional oil lamp) will be for the departed soul. On the 13th,

a

> puja is performed for God with lit lamps and offerings made to

God.

> The home is cleansed spritually by sprinkling holy water after the

> ceremony.

>

> After this, puja to God can be performed daily. Generally, the

> karthaa

> (one who is eligible to perform the rites, generally a direct

> descendant) and the family will not celebrate any festivals for a

> year.

>

> Of course, if a child is born in the family within that period, it

is

> regarded as an auspicious sign and the mourning is discontinued.

>

> There may be other practices depending on one's customs. But I

hope

> this helps in some way.

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