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Summary of Question:	Spirits, Souls And Death
Category:	Other
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 10/22/2003 12:33 AM MDT

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,

After a loved one in the family had passed away a few years ago, we were told by the granthi performing the akhand path not to cry during the ceremonies of the funeral. Talking to some other people about this I was told that 48 hours after death the spirit is still in the world we live in and we should not cry because it can actually see the people however it can communicate with anyone in any way. So by seeing people cry it actually is disturbed in a sense. Is this true? Also, I was told that if we are to dream of the dead, let's say 6 months to a year after the death occured, it usually means that the spirit has not moved on to the next world, whatever that world may be, and is still trapped within this world. Is this also true, according to sikhism or any other religion? Do our souls not just move on? Why do certain rites have to be perceived in order for our souls to reach the next stage in after physical death? For example, cremation, and the spreading of our ashes over the ganges river. What if our ashes are just left alone after the cremation, is that really a bad thing?

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REPLY
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Sat SIri Akaal. I really appreciate your questions. All faiths, Sikhi included, have rites for the dead. Some appear more suited to assist those still living, others are for the one who has died.
RE crying: frankly, Sikhs believe that death means a return home to Waheguru. While we indeed miss the loved one, and it's hard to avoid grieving since they are not HERE with us in body, we should rejoice that they have gone home.

The one who told you not to cry within 48 hours has somewhat of a point in another sense. Some folks have trouble detaching from their bodies and from the earth plane. If the folks still living do not release the one who has died, s/he can remain attached to this plane instead of making the journey all the way home, because the folks here are holding him/her here. That's what a ghost or spirit is, in this sense. The reason we cremate (and other faiths too) is so that there is NO MORE BODY left for the soul of the one who died to remain attached to. (Other faiths believe in embalming and burying the body.) The rites we have for a person as they die/after they die serve to help their soul detach and move on to the next 'plane' or 'level' of existence beyond the earth's plane(s). Spirit/soul does not die, only the physical body dies. If a person has maintained a strong spiritual practice (sikh or otherwise), they usually have no trouble withdrawing from their body and moving on. A Sikh is taught to meditate on the Naam daily, and with each and every breath. When the last breath a Sikh takes is combined with the Naam, s/he is liberated.


Whether or not one's ashes are thrown into the Ganges is not as critical, in this sense, as the cremation is. Many Sikhs die in lands far from India, and their families are in no position to sprinkle their ashes in the Ganges.

As for dreaming about someone, I disagree. If care has been taken to assist through prayer and letting go so that the soul departs the body, that person is not (necessarily) still stuck on this side somewhere. Most of the important people in our lives are beings we have known before. Dreaming about them should be no surprise if we were close to them. One should not feel alarmed about such dreams.
I hope these answers help. Guru ang sang,
-DKK