From this World to the Next: Christian Identity and Funerary Rites in Nepal

By Bal Krishna Sharma

This book explores and analyses funerary rite struggles in a nation where Christianity is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and many families have Christian and Hindu, Buddhist and Traditionalist (kiranti) members, who go through traumatic experiences at the death of their family members. The context of mixed affiliation raises questions of social, psychological and religious identity for Christian converts, which are particularly acute after a death in their family. Using empirical research, the focus is on the question of adaptation and identity in relation to church life, within the familial and social sphere of individual Christians and within the wider society in which they live, particularly with reference to death and disposal. The author has used an applied theological approach to explore and analyse the findings in order to address the issue of funerary rites with which the Nepalese church is struggling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Regnum Studies in Mission
• Release date: Sep 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781911372509

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REGNUM STUDIES IN MISSION

Christian Identity and Funerary Rites in Nepal

Series Preface

Regnum Studies in Mission are born from the lived experience of Christians and Christian communities in mission, especially but not solely in the fast growing churches among the poor of the world. These churches have more to tell than stories of growth. They are making significant impacts on their cultures in the cause of Christ. They are producing ‘cultural products’ which express the reality of Christian faith, hope and love in their societies.

Regnum Studies in Mission are the fruit often of rigorous research to the highest international standards and always of authentic Christian engagement in the transformation of people and societies. And these are for the world. The formation of Christian theology, missiology and practice in the twenty-first century will depend to a great extent on the active participation of growing churches contributing biblical and culturally appropriate expressions of Christian practice to inform World Christianity.

Series Editors

Julie C. Ma        Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK

Wonsuk Ma      Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK

Doug Petersen  Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

Terence RangerUniversity of Oxford, Oxford, UK

C.B. Samuel      Emmanuel Hospital Association, Delhi, India

A full listing of titles in this series

appears at the end of this book

REGNUM STUDIES IN MISSION

Christian Identity and Funerary Rites in Nepal

Rev. Bal Krishna Sharma, PhD

Copyright © Bal Krishna Sharma 2013

First published 2013 by Regnum Books International

Regnum is an imprint of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies

St. Philip and St. James Church

Woodstock Road

Oxford, OX2 6HR, UK

www.ocms.ac.uk/regnum

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The right of Bal Krishna Sharma to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a license permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licenses are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-908355-08-9

Typeset by Words by Design

Cover design by Words by Design

The publication of this title is made possible through the generous financial assistance of The Commission on Theological Education of Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland (EMW, Dr. Verena Grüter), Hamburg, Germany

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Foreword

Background

Introduction

Funerary Rites in the Nepalese Church

Different Perspectives on Funerary Rites

The Context

Nepal’s Economy

Multi Social

Multi Political

Funerary Rites in Nepal

Funerary Rites in General

Hindu Funerary Rites in Nepal

Buddhist Funerary Rites in Nepal

Traditionalist Funerary Rites in Nepal

Jewish-Christian Funerary Rites

Introduction

Development of Funerary Rites

Afterlife, Theologies of Death, Resurrection, Burial and Cremation

Christianity in Nepal and Christian Identity

Introduction

Rise of Christianity in Nepal

The Christian Movements

Meeting Places

Identity

The Meaning of Christian Identity

Christian Identity in Relation to Rites of Passage

Death Rites as a Sign of Identity

Case Studies

Introduction

Findings from Pilot Survey

Three Case Studies

Interviews of Christians from Hindu Background

Introduction

Christians from a Hindu Background

Interviews of Christians from Buddhist, Traditionalist and Christian Backgrounds

Introduction

Christians from Buddhist Background

Christians from a Traditionalist (Kirant) Background

Two Non-Nepali National Respondents

The Implications of Identity Factors

Introduction

Christian Identity in Religious Issues

Rights to Religion and Christian Identity

Christian Identity in Funerary Rites

Worldviews

Christian Attitudes to the Bible

Christian Attitudes to Non-Christian Communities

Wider Community Attitudes Towards Christians

Pollution and Purity

Ghosts and Spirits

Mourning Period Rituals

The Problem of Land for Burial

Crematoria

Change is Possible

Culture of Cremation

Culture of Burial

The Roles of Men and Women

Guilt Feelings and Christian Identity

Symbolic and Conceptual

The Theology of Funerary Rites

Options Open to Nepalese Christians

The Perception of Christian Identity

Conclusions

Introduction

Tripartite Relationships and Tensions

The Christian Response to Funerary Rites

Possibilities of Further Research

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Preface

This book explores and analyses funerary rite struggles in a nation where Christianity is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and many families have Christian and Hindu, Buddhist and Traditionalist (kiranti) members, who go through traumatic experiences at the death of their family members. The context of mixed affiliation raises questions of social, psychological and religious identity for Christian converts, which are particularly acute after a death in their family. Using empirical research, the focus is on the question of adaptation and identity in relation to church life, within the familial and social sphere of individual Christians and within the wider society in which they live, particularly with reference to death and disposal. I have used applied theological approach to explore and analyse the findings in order to address the issue of funerary rites with which the Nepalese church is struggling.

For the need of adaptation, this study seeks to understand funerary rites of the host culture alongside Jewish-Christian characteristics of adaptation, especially in terms of the Nepalese Evangelical Christian context. It also poses the challenge of finding an identity in a wider cultural and societal milieu. The case studies and interviews have portrayed tripartite relationships and tensions between an individual, family and church or community at the death in a ‘split’ family where a Christian convert’s loyalty to the deceased and the family is tested. Participation and non-participation in the last rites create problems for both the church and the family, and some solution needs to be found. The study has discovered that adaptation of the funerary rites technique rather than of content could ease this tension in a ‘split’ family, and enhance a family and community reconciliation and solidarity. The mode of disposal whether burial or cremation, could be used and a theology of cremation be developed in order to provide a theological framework.

During my research on the subject, I utilized both secondary and empirical methods to gather needed materials–literature and secondary sources; primary and sources with case studies, interviews, observation, and participatory observation, analysis and conclusion. For clarity and in-depth understanding, respondents were contacted more than once. They were made aware that their responses would help individuals, families, churches and the wider society on the issues of funerary rites: cremation, burial and Christian identity. Most of the respondents were excited about this project though some were reluctant to respond, if the conclusion of the study seemed contrary to their beliefs about their perceived mode of disposal. Christians in general were in favour of utilizing the mourning period for Christian witness and social solidarity.

Respondents were chosen from different caste and ethnic backgrounds in order to find out the funerary rite situation in their own caste or ethnic groups. In a community and hierarchical society in Nepal, ‘who said’ becomes more important than what is said. Therefore, people from various caste and ethnic backgrounds had to be included in the interviews so that people from that community could identify with what was being said by a person of their own community.

Finally, I hope this work will encourage Nepali Christians to review their opinion of funeral rites and bring in fresh Bible-based attitude towards it. Any kind of criticisms are welcome for further research.

Dr Bal Krishna Sharma

List of Abbreviations

Foreword

Nepal is currently experiencing very rapid political, social, and cultural changes. One very important aspect of these changes is the rapidly increasing number of Christians in the country. All Christians must wrestle with the question of how much of their past needs to be jettisoned in the light of their new religious identity, which of their inherited practices are merely cultural and which are religious and therefore ought to be given up. Christians also face with Muslims the problem of following a religion that has its base outside the country and therefore of being unfairly suspected of not being truly supportive of their home country; this perception they have worked hard to dispel.

Dr Bal Krishna Sharma’s PhD thesis was based on interviews and a questionnaire carried out in Nepal with Christians of the author’s acquaintance. Very valuably, Dr Sharma provides a considerable amount of material in case studies from the individuals interviewed, which demonstrates the struggles that Christians face in developing a separate identity and in dealing with Hindu and Buddhist relatives at times of bereavement. He clearly establishes that most Christians believe that they should bury their dead and that this is a key cultural practice differentiating them from their Hindu, Buddhist, or ‘Traditionalist’ past. He also documents the considerable cultural disquiet that exists among non-Christian Nepalis about the Christian practice of burial, despite the fact that burial is quite widely practised by Janajati groups, especially in the east of the country, and everywhere by certain religiously defined sub-groups within Hinduism. This disquiet focuses on the problem of ghost attack by the spirits of those buried, and it leads in many cases to local Hindus and Buddhists forcibly exhuming the body of the buried Christian and cremating it.

The documentation of these debates is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of religious practices in contemporary Nepal. Given the current controversy over whether Christians should be barred from burying their dead in the vicinity of Pashupati, as they have done in the past, Dr Sharma’s detailed examination of the issues is very timely and should be consulted by all who want to understand the Nepali Christian point of view.

Prof. Dr. David Gellner

Professor of Social Anthropology,

University of Oxford

Chapter 1

Background

Introduction

In Nepal, Christianity is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and many families have both Christian and Hindu, Buddhist and Traditionalist (Kiranti) members. This raises questions of social, psychological and religious identity for Christian converts, which are particularly acute after the death of family members. This book, using empirical research, focuses on the question of identity in relation to church life, within the familial and social sphere of individual Christians and to the wider society in which they live, particularly with reference to death and disposal.

We will concentrate on issues relating to funerary rites in families in which Christians and non-Christians live together. At the death of both Christian and non-Christian members, the family goes through difficult and traumatic experiences. In such a situation, how Christians need to respond, is one of the main focuses of this research.

The emerging church is influenced by its missionary origins and social reality, raising questions of self identity in relation to individuals, family and church. Funerary rituals become a window to understand this tripartite relation for meaningful and coherent existence. Involvement or non-involvement, both have an identity issue, and it can be experienced in an individual, family and church, society or nation. Identity of an individual, family, church or society becomes the focal point of all ritual performance and this has been well addressed in this volume.

Every culture and religion is conscious of its self identity or takes it for granted. Personal, family, social and religious identities are combined to indicate who we are in a given cultural context. When various cultures and religions meet, the receiving culture and religion are expected to change and accept what is given. Christianity encountering Nepalese religions and cultures has asked people to accept everything that the missionaries have given without any critique, and it has led to further complications in accepting or rejecting cultural practices that are part of the everyday experiences of people. Hiebert, a missionary to India asks a very relevant question:

How should new converts relate to their cultural past – to the food, dress, medicines, songs, dances, myths, rituals, and all the other things that were so much a part of their lives before they heard the gospel? What responsibility do missionaries have to young churches regarding all this? How far can the gospel be adapted to fit into a culture without losing its essential message? And who should make the decisions about the old culture? These are crucial questions we face constantly in our work.

If everyone in a family or a community embraces Christianity, cultural identity and adaptation may seem less important at that time, but when a family, or a community splits on the basis of religious affiliation, the situation becomes more challenging. Hiebert sees three approaches on contextualization: ‘…denial of the old: rejection of contextualization, acceptance of the old: uncritical contextualization, and dealing with the old: critical contextualization….’ What Hiebert was implying through this is that there are Christians who completely reject their past non-Christian cultural and religious elements, and there are Christians who accept past non-Christian culture and religion without rejecting anything of it, and critical contextualization means rejection, acceptance and giving new meanings to non-Christian cultural and religious elements. He has discussed all these three approaches from pragmatic and applied theological perspectives and suggests studying the beliefs, customs and practices of people ‘…with regards to the meanings and the places they have within their cultural setting….’ According to Hiebert this belief system has to be ‘…evaluated in the light of Biblical norms….’

Contextualization is one of the most important issues in the missions of the church today. In order to make the Christian Gospel relevant to Nepal, principles of contextualization have to be accepted. Finding identity in an existing culture is a part of contextualization and Christians in the first century were trying to find that. Though the term contextualization is recent in its origin, it has been a part of the church from its inception:

Concern over issues of contextualization has been a part of the Christian church from its inception, even though the vocabulary of contextualization dates back only to the early 1970s. It is a perennial challenge—one that Christians have faced every time they have communicated the Gospel across language and cultural boundaries. The church has struggled with this problem through the ages as it has evolved from one era to another. Essentially, contextualization is concerned with how the Gospel and culture relate to one another across geographic space and down through time. Contextualization captures in method and perspective the challenge of relating the Gospel to culture. In this sense the concern of contextualization is ancient—going back to the early church as it struggled to break loose from its Jewish cultural trappings and enter the Greco-Roman world of the Gentiles. At the same time, it is something new. Ever since the word emerged in the 1970s, there has been almost an explosion of writing, thinking, and talking about contextualization.

Whiteman observes that ‘…words such as adaptation, accommodation, and indigenization, were used to describe the relationship between the Gospel, church and culture, but contextualization, … and a companion term inculturation … are deeper, more dynamic, and more adequate terms to describe what we are about in mission today’. In order to make Christianity relevant to a host culture, contextualization is essential as Whiteman says:

Contextualization attempts to communicate the Gospel in word and deed and to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context, presenting Christianity in such a way that it meets people’s deepest needs and penetrates their worldview, thus allowing them to follow Christ and remain within their own culture.

An individual, family, church or society that seeks identity in difference from others or tries to maintain the sameness to the past tradition, or find a balance between the two, needs to consider Biblical norms for critical contextualization or adaptation. A Christian who lives in a family where others are Hindus or Buddhists finds a challenging situation, especially at the death of a family member. A person’s conversion to Christianity in a real sense is tested at the death of a family member. A Christian accepting Hindu ways of funerary performances and being involved in them, or not accepting them at all faces social consequences. Accepting the old ways upsets the church and rejecting them upsets the family and her/his wider social milieu. He or she is caught in the middle. Though Hiebert brings out three perspectives on contextualization, his approach is more general than specific on any cultural or funerary issue. Rejection or uncritical contextualization of funerary rites in Nepal may create confusion to both Christians and non-Christians, and Christian ‘identity of difference’ may be at danger of not having a distinct identity. If Christians reject everything of Hindu, Buddhist and Traditionalist (Kiranti) funerals, they lose their wider community identity and their isolation creates misunderstanding in their family and community. At the same time, if they accept everything of non-Christian funerals, there is no distinct Christian identity at all. For the purpose of continuity and discontinuity in identity, as Hiebert suggests, critical contextualization is essential. It rejects and accepts cultural practices and gives new meanings to some of them. What I argue here is that Nepalese Christianity is not in a position to reject or accept non-Christian funerary rites, it has to find a middle path between what to reject entirely and what to accept. Christians in Nepal are Nepali Christians and have various cultural expressions and they need to have space for its practice. They need to find their identity not only in ‘Christian’ things but in terms of broader national and ethnic identity in order to be salt and light in their communities.

Adaptation is a natural process. In a religiously pluralistic society Christianity cannot exist in isolation, rather it may adapt certain practices of existing religions in its host culture. That adaptation has to be carefully observed and applied although it often occurs spontaneously. Sheppy says that the Apostle Paul accepted the principle of adaptation, or acculturation in different situations differently. In Athens Paul engaged in acculturation by accepting the unknown god of their culture as his ‘God’ while adapting his method of proclamation. He was sensitive to people who were religious in their belief system. When it came to the issue of circumcision among Galatian Christians, he resisted the prevailing cultural norms of circumcision and took the issue to the Council of Jerusalem for their final decision. This provides a Biblical example of the principle of adaptation to religious and cultural practices. But one thing is clear - that the emerging religions in multicultural and multi-religious contexts cannot resist adaptation. The extent of adaptation has to be determined by being faithful to the Biblical texts and being relevant to the current contexts.

Despite attempts of contextualization, offence of the Gospel has to be accepted. Whiteman says:

Another function of contextualization in mission is to offend—but only for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. Good contextualization offends people for the right reasons. Bad contextualization, or the lack of it altogether, offends them for the wrong reasons. When the Gospel is presented in word and deed, and the fellowship of believers we call the church is organized along appropriate cultural patterns, then people will more likely be confronted with the offense of the Gospel, exposing their own sinfulness and the tendency toward evil, oppressive structures and behavior patterns within their culture.

When Heibert talks about critical contextualization it has to do with challenges Christianity faces when it is introduced in a new cultural milieu. In order to maintain the cultural and Christian identity of an individual, family, church and or society, critical contextualization seems to be more appropriate than complete rejection or acceptance of a host culture or religion. To do this it is essential to understand and analyse traditional beliefs and practices that Christians have left behind, and their reasons for doing so. What we discuss about Hindus, Buddhists and Traditionalists (Kirantis), and their funerary rites and the meaning attached to them are very important and crucial for critical contextualization. These beliefs and rites need to be critiqued in the light of Biblical truths and Christian experiences over the ages. The first Christians in Nepal felt they had to establish their identity as Christians by burying their dead rather than by cremating them. They wanted to find their identity by being different. At the same time they insisted on observance of caste by Christians in order to be accepted socially, finding their identity in sameness. In a ‘split’ family a Hindu finds her/his identity in her/his religious practices and a Christian finds it in her/his religious practices. Individuals of various religious aspirations need to find their identity not only in sameness or in their own circles, but also in differences or outside of their circles for family and social solidarity and reconciliation. In order to attain this, cultural adaptation, enculturation, or contextualization of the host culture is an essential ingredient. Judeo-Christianity was contextualized in the first century when it existed in religiously pluralistic contexts and there is the possibility of Nepalese Christianity moving towards contextualization of funerary rites for realizing identity in a society and nation.

Christianity was introduced to Nepal in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, and lasted only for about seven decades, after which Christians faced harsh deportation to neighbouring country, India, because Christians were thought to be agents of Western or British rule. Since the 1950s, when it has been accepted in Nepal, emerging Christianity has been faced with diverse challenges that require systematic investigation. In the Hindu/Buddhist/Traditionalist (Kiranti) religious contexts funerary rites play important roles both for the dead and the living. The advent of Christianity in the 1950s brought new challenges to Christian identity particularly with respect to funerary rites: cremation and burial.

Once people embrace Christianity from their traditional religious backgrounds they are left with uncertainty and in confusion with regard to what they are supposed to be doing when death occurs in their family or social milieu. This raises the question as to what might be legitimate reasons that forbid Christians from participating in the funerary rites of their Hindu or Buddhist relatives. What prompts Hindus and/or Buddhists to exhume the bodies of Christians and cremate them? The following issues are causing concern among Nepalese Christians:

1.Hindu/Buddhist on exhumation and cremation.

2.Christian insistence on burial.

3.Whether Christians are prepared to adapt or give new meanings to some of the Hindu/Buddhist funerary rites.

4.Ways in which death and funerary rites could be utilized for greater social harmony and solidarity.

5.The reasons Christians seek their own distinct identity in a Hindu and Buddhist dominated nation.

6.The reasons Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians go through traumatic religious, sociological and psychological experiences in a family where members of different religious traditions live together and one of them dies.

Funerary Rites in the Nepalese Church

By way of background it is appropriate at the outset to describe the experience of the Nepalese church in relation to funerary rites. Empirical study will reveal in-depth the traumatic experiences the Hindu/Buddhist converts have gone through over the funerals of their loved ones. The following incident highlights the complexity of the situation. In the early 1980s I was commissioned by my church to visit a place in the far-western region of Nepal to preach to and teach converts about the basic Christian faith. On my arrival in the particular village I was encouraged to see the enthusiastic faith of both old and young Christians. I was fascinated by a young person’s zeal for the Lord and his enthusiasm for gospel work. But all his zeal and enthusiasm were shattered after a year when his Christian mother died and he was compelled to return to Hinduism and perform the funerary rites in a Hindu way. When his mother died, she was buried in their own cultivated land, since Christians did not own any common burial ground. His relatives and villagers started to accuse him of not cremating his mother, and not performing Hindu funerary rites. Because of this, it was said, her ghost haunted people in the village. They forced him to exhume her body after fifteen days, cremate it and perform all the Hindu funerary rites. This discouraged him to the point that he completely dissociated with the Christian community and felt guilty because of his rejection of the Christian faith. He was approached by some Christians to ‘repent’ and come back to the church, but he declined saying that there was no point in returning now.

There are other similar cases, which also portray the reality of the complexity of the situation. Most people who responded to the Christian message did not think at the time of their conversion about the social, cultural and religious consequences they would have to face in the future. People who had thought about family and social pressures did not respond positively to the gospel message and made excuses that they would believe in the gospel in future after the death of their parents. These responses reveal the complexity of funerals in the Nepalese context. The converts’ religious allegiance is tested at the death of their parents or family members. Non-participation in the rites means that a person has become disloyal to the deceased and disobedient to the family, clan and society. So pressure mounts when the family members challenge rites.

Different Perspectives on Funerary Rites

Jupp has written extensively on the changing trend from burial to cremation and Christian theology and pastoral practice in the United Kingdom.

Jupp observes that a Christian theology of cremation has not been developed by scholars. Though cremation is increasing in Christian dominated nations, people are left without a theology of cremation. Burial language or ritual is used even for cremation. Attempts are made to address the issue from Christian theological perspectives, but it is still inadequate.

There are several scholarly contributions that are excellent presentations in their own areas of researches. But they have not addressed the issue of funerary rites in a family where Hindus and Christians, Buddhists and Christians, and Traditionalists (Kiranti) and Christians live in a family where people of several distinctly different traditions live together and engage in the funerary rites of their family members according to their own religious beliefs. My concern is how this ‘split’ family manages death and disposal, and explore the possibilities.

I have chosen the following approaches to study death and funerary rites in a ‘split’ family. The use of anthropological, sociological, psychological and theological approaches will help me to see death rituals and Christian identity in broader perspectives.

Anthropological Perspectives

Every ritual carries a symbolic meaning with it and it unifies, integrates, restores, sacralises and reinforces identity. Rituals are not confined to religion and primitive society alone they have a wider arena. People go through different kinds of experiences in life and in ritual ‘the raw energies of conflict are domesticated into the service of social order’. Malinowski argues that people make use of extensive magical rituals for dangerous undertakings in order to ‘secure safety and good results’. Anxiety and rituals, evident in the enactment of funeral, reverence and security are important ingredients in observing them.

Death is a reality, and the detailed rites provide the symbolic meaning of continuous life. Funerary rites in general are concerned with the ongoing future life of the deceased rooted in spontaneous words and actions, signs and symbols as well as established formal ones. They also provide symbolic meanings to the fear, anguish, and separation because of death both in a family and in society. Philippe Aries argues that death rites are not only a ‘…defence of society against untamed nature…’, but ‘…the ritualization of death is a special aspect of the total strategy of man against nature….’

Like any other rites of passage, according to Arnold van Gennep, funerary rites also have three stages, ‘a stage of separation (pre-liminal) from a previous state of life, a stage of transition (liminal) between two states of life, and a stage of incorporation or integration (post-liminal) into a new state of life’. These stages can be understood both from the perspective of the mourners and the deceased. These three stages can be seen as ‘the emotional detachment, phase of meaninglessness, and emotional attachment to a new focus of identity’. This is very clear in the Hindu tradition, as the mourners pass through the stages of mourning from separation, transition (e.g. sutaka) and incorporation, illustrated in Hindu traditions by the Shraddha rituals.

1.3.2 Sociological Perspectives

Rituals have strong social implications. They integrate people back to a family, community, society or a particular religious or non-religious group. Every society has expectations from its members. If a member violates certain norms of the society, it punishes the offender and/or restores her/him back to society through the means of purification or other process, such as a ritual. It not only repairs or remakes an individual morally, but builds a link with the past, present and the future. Rituals help to provide identity to an individual and a society. Weber says that the use of rituals crystallizes customs or beliefs that become part of a society, as in the case of Hindu caste system and funerary rites. The identity of an individual and a society changes as new responsibilities are accepted. A deceased individual receives a different identity, yet her/his identity also continues ‘through heirs and successors’. Responsibilities are created and reinforced with ritualistic vows or promises.

Ritual is important and relevant at times of crisis and when a person’s or community’s sense of identity is challenged. Malinowski says, ‘…death is the supreme and final crisis of life….’ In order to overcome the anxieties of such crises rituals are invented and performed. In this moment of anguish members of society draw close together to express solidarity in their bereavement, pain, and the loss of their present identity. It means death shatters all plans and expectations and people feel how unworthy they are in this world.

Psychological Perspectives

Death in a family and subsequent rituals also has psychological dimensions. Sorrow and grief at the death of a dear one has no boundaries. Rosenblatt argues that despite all cultural, social, religious, psychological, and biological influences in a particular context, ‘…people everywhere experience grief, that people everywhere experience the death of close kin as a loss and mourn for that loss….’ But the mode of expressing grief in various cultures may differ. Cultural and mythological influences can be evident in the formation of an individual and accordingly she/he expresses grief at the death of their loved ones.

Cultural ideas and ideals, then manifested in their narrative form as myths, pervade the innermost experience of the self. One cannot therefore speak of an ‘earlier’ or ‘deeper’ layer of the self beyond cultural reach. As a ‘depth psychology’, psychoanalysis dives deep, but in the same waters in which the cultural river flows.

When death occurs in a family, there is bewilderment, disorientation and a loss of perspectives, energy and motivation. With a sense of loss, people experience pain and there is social withdrawal. This is called the intermediary or liminal period. There is a feeling of guilt, anger and frustration and ‘…the bereaved needs to focus on loss and weep, as well as recognize and deal with anger and anxiety….’ If this emotion is not released, then according to Parkes, ‘…anything that continually allows the person to avoid or suppress this pain can be expected to prolong the course of mourning….’ Parkes identifies three stages in bereavement, which are ‘numbness, pining, and disorganized despair’. There is bereavement at every death of a family member. But the intensity of bereavement is measured on the basis of who dies in a family. People feel more shocked at the death of a young person than at the death of an old person. When the mind does not accept the reality of death readily, then it becomes difficult to integrate affected persons in the family and community. Time is required to help them to realize the reality of death and how they have to cope with the loss.

Therefore it is evident that the psychological dimension of death and bereavement should not be neglected. Christians have hope in the future resurrection and reunion with the deceased, but that does not mean they are not human now. In Nepal the government gives two weeks leave for bereavement for a Hindu when his parents, husband or wife dies. Hindus engage in elaborate rituals during this period. Since Christians do not observe post-mortem rites, they say that they do not need leave during that period. I am suggesting that Christians need to utilize this opportunity for leave for the period of bereavement when they can and they need to be consoled from the scripture and fellowship. This period should not be understood only in terms of ritual activities, but a period of restoration and integration. After the funerals Christian leaders and church members visit bereaved families and spend time in prayers and Bible reading in order to provide fellowship and comfort to them. Such activities of Christians have become very productive for familial and societal relationships.

Theological Approach

This book takes a theological approach in the discipline of applied theology. It has used explorative-descriptive method which tries to address the attitudes of people in various practical issues. This method tries to answer the questions like: What is the attitude of Nepalese Christians with regard to funerary rites? It is oriented towards the practical application of knowledge and the solution of practical problems’. Hence, Funerary Rites in Nepal: Cremation, burial and Christian identity is studied through applied theology approach.

The rituals not only address human needs here and now, they also express the future hope of an afterlife and symbolically portraying beliefs in God or gods, and the various stages of the journey of the deceased. Tylor observes that of ‘…all forms of religious devotion, homage to the deceased has occupied a very important place in the life of a man, since through it are revealed many of society’s fundamental beliefs and practices….’ Malinowski had a similar view. On the other hand, Ernest Becker saw death as something that haunts people with fear and in order to help people to deny its reality, they are persuaded to believe in an afterlife. A once loved and honoured individual becomes a horrifying corpse when it begins to decay. In order to give due respect to the deceased and generate hope for reunion in the other world, funerary rites have to include adequate disposal. Funerary rites have dual implications, one for the living and another for the departed. With the help of rituals, the living are comforted that they have fulfilled the religious obligation to their departed ones. The