https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/Recent content in Death, Dying & Buddhist Funerals on Buddhist ResourcesHugoen-usFri, 18 Sep 2026 01:22:53 +0200https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/buddhist-funeral-rites/Fri, 18 Sep 2026 01:20:48 +0200https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/buddhist-funeral-rites/<p>There is no single Buddhist funeral. What happens when a Buddhist dies depends almost entirely on where, and the differences are larger than in almost any other area of Buddhist practice.</p>https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/caring-for-the-dying/Fri, 18 Sep 2026 01:21:51 +0200https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/caring-for-the-dying/<p>Buddhist traditions take an unusual interest in the last hours of a life, because of a specific doctrinal claim: the state of mind at death conditions what follows.</p> <p>In <a href="https://buddhistresources.com/traditions/theravada/">Theravada</a> analysis, the death-consciousness is immediately followed by the rebirth-linking consciousness, with no interval. What is present in the mind at that moment — a weighty deed recalled, a habitual pattern, something done near death, or a random past act — determines the character of the <a href="https://buddhistresources.com/core-teachings/karma-rebirth/rebirth-and-samsara/">rebirth</a>.</p>https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/the-bardo/Fri, 18 Sep 2026 01:22:53 +0200https://buddhistresources.com/practices-rituals/death-and-dying/the-bardo/<p><em>Bardo</em> means &ldquo;between two&rdquo; — an interval, a gap. In Tibetan Buddhism it names the state between death and the next <a href="https://buddhistresources.com/core-teachings/karma-rebirth/rebirth-and-samsara/">rebirth</a>, traditionally lasting up to forty-nine days, during which the consciousness encounters a sequence of experiences and either recognises them for what they are or does not.</p>