WELCOME TO OUR BLOG
Welcome to the SevenPonds.com blog – a community-driven extension of SevenPonds.com! I hope you find comfort and community in the resources and stories featured here. I’m always happy to hear from readers and can be reached at suzette@sevenponds.com.
FEATURED
-
Rutgers Health Study May Improve End-of-Life Care: Medicare data analysis finds that people typically follow one of nine paths -
Mary Oliver’s “Heavy” Speaks to the Weight of Grief: The poet eloquently conveys the dizzying effect of loss -
Did Our Ancestors Leave Behind a Map of the Afterlife?: Archaeological discoveries suggest link between ancient monuments and burial sites
-
Categories
Tag Archives: Buddhism
Buddhism and the Eastern Middle Ground
In Buddhist tradition, our death falls into a plane of existence that continues even after our final breath
The relation of life to death, what happens after the end, what we do with the years we have and what we leave behind, remains perhaps the most consistently affecting and important issue plaguing human life. Religions throughout the ages … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural Perspectives
Tagged Buddhism, Christianity, Death, Freud, Heaven and Hell, Karma, Psychology, Reincarnation, Science, Six Realms of Existence
Leave a comment
Bardo: a Sacred Belief in Tibetan Buddhism
That in-between state separating this life and the next
While it’s a commonly known fact that Buddhism adheres to the belief in reincarnation after death, there is much to explore in the grey area between lives. In the Tibetan language, the word “bardo” literally means “intermediate state.” This belief … Continue reading
Bizarre Death Ritual: 19th Century Buddhist Self-Mummification
This short-lived death ritual was believed to be a road to enlightenment.
In late 1800s Japan, several Buddhist monks called Sokushinbutsu attempted the rare ritual of self-mummification. Driven by the Buddhist quest for enlightenment and the belief that this requires non-attachment from the physical body, these monks prepared to take their own lives … Continue reading
Hinduism: How the World’s Oldest Religion Is Not, Strictly Speaking, a Religion
Hindu death rituals are carefully defined and lovingly observed
Every culture, and every person within that culture, has a different way of dealing with death. A different set of rules, beliefs, practices, personal and societal rituals, strategies for dealing with the inevitable trauma and equally inevitable aftermath. Hinduism, the … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural Perspectives
Tagged Buddhism, Cremation, Dharma, Eastern Traditions, Hindu Death Rituals, Hinduism, Karma
6 Comments
Looking at the essay, “The Love of My Life” by Cheryl Strayed
Bravely confronting the ways we choose to grieve
“The first time I cheated on my husband, my mother had been dead for exactly one week.” With this powerful statement, Cheryl Strayed begins her personal story of love, life, and death that could very well alter the way we … Continue reading
Posted in Lending Insight
Tagged Buddhism, Cancer, Cheryl Strayed, Cultural Perspectives, Death, Grief, Grief Loss and Bereavement, Grieving, Healing, Sadness, Unexpected Loss
8 Comments
The End-of-Life and Death in India
Cultural and Religious Traditions Across the Vast Country
India, home to over a billion people, is also home to a plethora of cultural and religious traditions. The birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, India also hosts a large number of followers of other major religions, including large … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged Buddhism, Cremation, Cultural Perspectives, Death and Dying, Funeral Traditions, Hinduism, India, Jainism, Sikhism
5 Comments
