,
Golgotha, depicting the death of Jesus) insulting the corpse of
Klaus Fleming.
Albert Edelfelt, 1878 either naturally, as this one
from Guanajuato, or by intention, as
those in ancient Egypt. In society, the nature of death and humanity's
awareness of its mortality has, for millennia, been a concern of the world's
religious traditions and
philosophical inquiry. Including belief in
resurrection or an
afterlife (associated with
Abrahamic religions),
reincarnation or rebirth (associated with
Dharmic religions), or that consciousness permanently ceases to exist, known as
eternal oblivion (associated with
secular humanism). Commemoration ceremonies after death may include various
mourning, funeral practices, and ceremonies of honoring the deceased. The physical remains of a person, commonly known as a
corpse or
body, are usually
interred whole or
cremated, though among the world's cultures, there are a variety of other methods of
mortuary disposal. In the English language, blessings directed towards a dead person include
rest in peace (originally the
Latin,
requiescat in pace) or its
initialism RIP. Death is the center of many traditions and organizations; customs relating to death are a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the
afterlife and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The
disposal of human corpses does, in general, begin with the
last offices before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice; in
Tibet, for instance, the body is given a
sky burial and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet.
Mummification or
embalming is also prevalent in some cultures to retard the rate of
decay. The rise of
secularism resulted in material mementos of death declining. Some parts of death in culture are legally based, having laws for when death occurs, such as the receiving of a death certificate, the settlement of the deceased
estate, and the issues of
inheritance and, in some countries,
inheritance taxation.
Capital punishment is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage,
treason, or as part of
military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as
adultery and
sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes, such as
apostasy, the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many
retentionist countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China,
human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world,
courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as
cowardice,
desertion,
insubordination, and
mutiny. Mutiny is punishable by death in the United States. Additionally, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and
death notification are embedded in many cultures. Recently in the
Western world—with the increase in terrorism following the
September 11 attacks but also further back in time with suicide bombings,
kamikaze missions in
World War II, and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history—death for a cause by way of suicide attack, including
martyrdom, have had significant cultural impacts. Suicide, in general, and particularly
euthanasia, are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures. In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by
seppuku was considered a desirable death, whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin. , the personification of death in Mexican tradition
Death is personified in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the
Grim Reaper,
Azrael, the
Hindu god
Yama, and
Father Time. In western cultures, the Grim Reaper, or figures similar to it, is the most popular depiction of death. In Brazil, death is counted officially when it is registered by existing family members at a cartório, a government-authorized registry. Before being able to file for an official death, the deceased must have been registered for an official birth at the cartório. Though a Public Registry Law guarantees all Brazilian citizens the right to register deaths, regardless of their financial means of their family members (often children), the Brazilian government has not taken away the burden, the hidden costs, and fees of filing for a death. For many impoverished families, the indirect costs and burden of filing for a death lead to a more appealing, unofficial, local, and cultural burial, which, in turn, raises the debate about inaccurate
mortality rates. Talking about death and witnessing it is a
difficult issue in most cultures. Western societies may like to treat the dead with the utmost material respect, with an official embalmer and associated rites.
Place of death (middle), the fourth
President of the Republic of Finland, had a fatal heart attack a few seconds after this photograph was taken by Hugo Sundström on 19 December 1940, at
Helsinki railway station in Helsinki, Finland. Around 1930, most people in Western countries died in their own homes, surrounded by family, and comforted by clergy, neighbors, and doctors making
house calls. By the mid-20th century, half of all Americans died in a hospital. By the start of the 21st century, only about 20 to 25% of people in developed countries died outside of a medical institution. The shift from dying at home towards dying in a professional medical environment has been termed the "Invisible Death."
Origins of death in mythology The
origin of death is a theme or myth of how death came to be. It is present in nearly all cultures across the world, as death is a universal happening. This makes it an
origin myth, a myth that describes how a feature of the natural or social world appeared. There can be some similarities between myths and cultures. In
North American mythology, the theme of a man who wants to be immortal and a man who wants to die can be seen across many
Indigenous people. In Christianity, death is the result of the
fall of man after eating the fruit from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Religious views Afterlife Much interest and debate surround the question of what happens to one's consciousness as one's body dies. The belief in the permanent loss of consciousness after death is often called
eternal oblivion. The belief that the
stream of consciousness is preserved after physical death is described by the term
afterlife.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) describe the
subjective experiences associated with impending death. Some survivors of such experiences report it as "seeing the afterlife while they were dying". Seeing a being of light and talking with it,
life flashing before the eyes, and the confirmation of cultural beliefs of the afterlife are common themes in NDEs.
Buddhism In Buddhist doctrine and practice, death plays an important role. Awareness of death motivated
Prince Siddhartha to strive to find the
"deathless" and finally attain
enlightenment. In Buddhist doctrine, death functions as a reminder of the value of
having been born as a human being. Rebirth as a human being is considered the only state in which one can attain enlightenment. Therefore, death helps remind oneself that one should not take life for granted. The belief in rebirth among Buddhists does not necessarily remove
death anxiety since all existence in the
cycle of rebirth is considered filled with
suffering, and being reborn many times does not necessarily mean that one progresses. Death is part of several key Buddhist tenets, such as the
Four Noble Truths and
dependent origination.
Hinduism In
Hindu texts, death is described as the individual eternal spiritual
jiva-atma (soul or conscious self) exiting the current temporary material body. The soul exits this body when the body can no longer sustain the conscious self (life), which may be due to mental or physical reasons or, more accurately, the inability to act on one's
kama (material desires). During conception, the soul enters a compatible new body based on the remaining merits and demerits of one's
karma (good/bad material activities based on
dharma) and the state of one's mind (impressions or last thoughts) at the time of death. Usually, the process of
reincarnation makes one forget all memories of one's previous life. Because nothing really dies and the temporary material body is always changing, both in this life and the next, death means forgetfulness of one's previous experiences.
Islam The Islamic view is that death is the separation of the soul from the body as well as the beginning of the afterlife. The afterlife, or
akhirah, is one of the six main beliefs in Islam. Rather than seeing death as the end of life, Muslims consider death as a continuation of life in another form. In Islam, life on earth right now is a short, temporary life and a testing period for every soul. True life begins with the Day of Judgement when all people will be divided into two groups. The righteous believers will be welcomed to
janna (heaven), and the disbelievers and evildoers will be punished in
jahannam (hellfire). Muslims believe death to be wholly natural and predetermined by God. Only God knows the exact time of a person's death.
The Quran emphasizes that death is inevitable, no matter how much people try to escape death, it will reach everyone. (
Q50:16) Life on earth is the one and only chance for people to prepare themselves for the life to come and choose to either believe or not believe in God, and death is the end of that learning opportunity.
Judaism There are a
variety of beliefs about the afterlife within Judaism, but none of them contradict the preference for life over death. This is partially because death puts a cessation to the possibility of fulfilling any
commandments.
Grief A common human response to death is
grief and
mourning. While it is commonly discussed as an emotion, grief also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural, spiritual, political and philosophical aspects. The state of being in grief is called "bereavement". == In biology ==