THE BODHI OF ASHES DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE THE BODHI OF ASHES 1 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE “Mu ni kaeru Mi zo yuki shimo no itoi nashi” “Returning to the void This body! No longer bothered by the snow and frost” Tojaku, November 8, 1799 – Japanese Death Poems (JISEI) Although the void, the body, the soliloquy and the despair, even the snow and frost, are still the same after the WWII and the industrialization, as death is, but the funeral rituals have lost a lot of their meanings and manifestations. The way of honoring and dealing with the deceased has re-morphed from traditional Japan to the modernized MacDonald-ized one. Before describing the traditional or the modern Japanese way of death, it is important to clarify the concept of death and afterlife in the Japanese Buddhist culture (according to a Tokyo metropolitan government survey in 2001, 85% of the respondents said funerals they have participated in were Buddhist in nature). This leads to the story of Buddha himself. The Bodhi tree appeared on earth on the same day that Gutama Buddha came to life, looking towards the east from the Maha Maya’s womb. At Uruvela, after 35 years, Gutama met the tree again to lay beneath it and witness the great enlightenment moment. Beside Hiranyovati River, after 8 decades from when Gutama Buddha was born, he finally let himself merge with the universe into nothingness, everythingness, into the Nirvana. (Nirvana is the final emancipation of the soul from transmigration, and consequently a beatific enfranchisement from the evils of worldly existence, as by annihilation or absorption into the divine.) Webster online dictionary. Gutama spent around 45 years of his enlightened life preventing himself from reaching Nirvana, to spread truth and peace on earth. He lived his life as a real Bodhisattva saving humanity from its ego and desire. After getting rid of his individuality, which is manifested in the body, and reaching Nirvana, Gutama Buddha’s body was cremated and his ashes were distributed among his family and pioneer believers. Afterlife, in the Buddhism’s teachings, is a heaven like place that is free of “Bother”, grief and desires. Afterlife’s pure land, aka. Buddha Field is the cocoon which gives the deceased the chance of rebirth into a life from which is easier to reach Nirvana. From this perspective, Death is merely a cycle of life, in which the deceased moves from the current life to the next one (which is a life also).This process is repeated sempiternaly till the THE BODHI OF ASHES 2 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE deceased breaks it down by having the ability to understand the truth of the perennial life, in other words, becoming a Buddha. Funeral rites to Funeral ceremonies The difference in terminologies is not merely the only difference between the way of dealing with death in traditional Japan vs. the modernized one. Language and intellect are two faces to the same coin, any changes occurred in the linguistics are for sure a reflection of changes in the human’s perception and vice versa. The difference cannot be understood clearly by direct comparisons, the best way to expose them is by explaining each one individually. First- the Funeral rituals: The main purposes of the rituals in traditional Japan are:1- Ushering the deceased’s spirit safely to the other world. 2- Strengthen the family ties as well as the relations between the deceased’s family members and the community. The rites are consisted of four types, the first two rites are to deal with the deceased’s body and the second two are post-funeral, dealing with the spirit of the deceased. They are as follows: 1- Sosei; the rites of attempted resuscitation. 2- Zetsuen; the rites of breaking bonds 3- Jobustsu; the rites of achieving Buddhahood. 4- Tsuizen; the rites of memorial services. The next section will explain the first two types (the part related to the deceased’s body): 1- Sosei; the rites of attempted resuscitation. The resuscitation took place when a person was dying, the family members are trying to give him last water (matsugo no mizu) in a final attempt to resurrect the dying person. After the failed resuscitation attempt and the victory of the “Black Shadow” (kurobi-gakari), as death was referred to, the mourning family places an announcement (mochu) stating that they are “in mourning”. THE BODHI OF ASHES 3 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE After the announcement and the bathing rituals (yukan), the deceased is called Bodhisattva (hotokesama) and he is ready to cross the river, which lies at the boundary to the world of the afterlife where he will try to gain the Buddhahood. 2- Zetsuen; the rites of breaking bonds The wake, funeral and the announcement of leave-taking rituals are mainly the constitution of the Zetsuen rite. The Zetsuen practices were performed to keep the deceased’s spirit from returning home. The wake; it began after sunset with a priest chanting a sutra. After the chanting, all family members and neighbors gather in the deceased’s house. The family members stay awake all through the night, after the guests leave. Incense and candles are burnt all the time to protect the deceased’s body from evil spirits possession. The wake may last two or three days. The funeral; it starts after the wake period, usually it starts with a priest’s sutra recitation. The funeral takes place in the deceased’s house by presence of family members, friends, community members and priests. The coffin, at the end of the funeral, is shut permanently as it is the last time for the deceased to be seen. The coffin is removed from the house through the window to be on its way the graveyard. 3- Jobustsu; the rites of achieving Buddhahood. Memorial services. The main purpose of this rite is to transfer the spirit of the dead (shirei) to the status of an ancestral spirit (Sorei). During this journey, in Buddhism, it is believed that the deceased’s spirit is judged every 7 days to determine whether it deserves to be a Buddha. The judgment is takes place during the chuin period (chuin period is the duration from the time of death to the arrival of deceased’s spirit to the other world). The mourning period lasts for 49 days, the 1st and the last 7th day are considered to be the most significant ones among the whole 7/7th days. The memorial services; there are two types, the first one correlated to the deceased in particular, which has three kinds of rituals. 1- Shotsuki menichi; the annual death day rite, which marks the day of the person’s death every year 2- Maitsuki meinichi; the monthly death day rite, which marks the day of the person’s death on a monthly basis. THE BODHI OF ASHES 4 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE 3- Nenki; the periodic anniversary rite, it conducted on the intervals of 1st, 3rd, 7th, 13th, 17th, 23rd, 27th, 33rd, 37th, 50th and 100th year anniversaries. The second type of the memorial services, which is correlated to all the deceased members of the family. They are mainly performed at shagatsu (New Year), Bon festival (Festival of death 13-15 August) and higan (Vernal and autumnal equinoxes). Second- the Funeral ceremonies: As mentioned before the differences between the funeral in traditional Japan and the modernized one are not only related to the terminologies, but the rites themselves as well. In the following section, the funeral ceremonies will be shortly explained. The Funeral Ceremonies in the commercialized Japan could be listed as follows: 1- The encoffining (Nykan). 2- Transportation of the deceased (shukkan) and the consultation. 3- The bathing ceremony (Nyuyoku service). 4- The wake and the vigil. 5- The funeral ceremony. 6- The cremation (Dabi) The last three points are directly related to the project, hence they will be expanded. 4- The wake and the vigil; A wake takes place in the evening of the same day when the person has died. Sometimes, under special circumstances, it takes place in the evening of the next day; it is usually between 6 and 8 pm. 5- The funeral ceremony; The funeral usually occurs in the morning of the next day after the wake. The coffin is transferred to the funeral hall and it is set at the center of the funeral altar. The funeral ceremony lasts for a couple of hours attended by family members, friends, and the priests. THE BODHI OF ASHES 5 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE 6- The cremation (Dabi); The cremation is an exclusive event draws the line between life and death. It is permitted to the deceased’s family, close relatives and the conductor. Although it is the climax and the transition of the deceased, families attend it but never actually observe the process itself. After the cremation, family members gather to collect the ashes and bones. On the same day, right after that, they gather again to have the 7th day memorial service as an elevated ritual. THE BODHI OF ASHES 6 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE The main spaces in the project (program) 1- The GORINTO; as an introduction to a sutra, this space, Gorinto, which means the five elements (Cube, Sphere, Pyramid, Air ring and Lotus Flowers)will include a symbolic manifested entity explained as follows; - Water crescent with floated Lotus flowers, as a group they represent the Perfection, Receptivity and… - The adjacent ellipse with floated triangular fire represents the activity necessary to reach the enlightenment. - The circle (includes the water crescent and the triangular fire) represents the wisdom. - The whole circle is contained within a square (the four elements) which represents the cube, i.e. Godai, which in itself represents the earth ring. 2- The wake; The wake is basically four boomerang like shapes; they intersect with the main circle (the projection of the ground floor roof opening). Each intersection will include a deceased, and the center behind the four deceaseds is untouchable Enlighted/lighted space. 3- The Funeral; The main atrium of the funeral stage is a typical floor (like the funeral floors) with a centered light beam as a projection of the deceased/spirit. The funeral space is an empty floor, except for the centered coffin and the condolers. The space’s emptiness allows it to reach the nothingness and everythingness. 4- The cremation; Starting with the Sui space, the space is protected with the water from the four corners against the evil spirits. With a centered transcendent staircase, Sui is the main atrium of the cremation stage. The cremation will take place in the skin of the floors as the crematoriums are buried in the walls and will be witnessed through panoramic glass windows by the deceased’s family members and friends. THE BODHI OF ASHES 7 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE The water will keep transcending to protect the deceased’s spirit in this critical moment. 5- The Bodhi space; A pure box, which is constituted with wooden columns (that will contain the ashes for 7 days) and covered by a circle-subtracted roof to have this magnificent relation between the earth and the sky. In the middle of the box, there is a Bodhi tree, whereas ashes will have their eternal place after removing them from the columns. The ashes under the tree will give their owners the chance to be enlightened and reaching Nirvana (Gautama Buddha has got enlightened under a Bodhi tree). When people visit the tree to honor their ancestors, they do not just honor their relatives, but they honor the humanity which is buried under this tree as well. They also honor Thagatas (people who do not know where they came from or where they will go) as the design approach takes into consideration the right of the homeless, the left behind, and the Modernized Rapid City victims to be buried with honor, visited and be remembered. The box is floated above water, as it plays the role of the river on the boundary between the two worlds. The water is forbidden to be crossed by the alive human beings, that is why the visitors should go through the Maha Maya first. 6- The womb (Maha Maya); The Bodhi tree’s roots are protected by the Maha Maya, who is the Gautama Buddha’s’ mother, the name represents the “wombing”. People move from the main entrance, which is within the plaza, to this sacred space, and then they rotate around the cone (a womb) within the space itself (which reflects another layer of wombness). Around the cone, people transcend the stairs until they arrive at the grand presence of the holy Bodhi. 7- The Plaza; Not only do death and life meet in the ashes (which are buried in the roots of the tree) and the tree (as the tree for sure is such a life symbol), but also on many other levels. The wooden columns that were once part of vibrant trees now have the ability to contain death –Ashes- between their tissues. The plaza also can be the meeting point of the vital city and the death, represented within the erected part. One of the design’s concerns is how to merge death, and life (which is exposed in the city with its strobe lights, sounds, smells and life). The plaza is the THE BODHI OF ASHES 8 DEATH IS MERELY A CYCLE OF LIFE intercession space between the two entities. With its clearness it provides people the space to be interacted and socialized at. At the same moment, they have a visual/spiritual connection with the tree (as the eastern elevation of the building is fully transparent).