Abstract

In the Chinese Malaysian Buddhist community, when a person dies, funeral rites are performed to ensure the well-being of the deceased. On reflection, some of these funeral rites are not common to Buddhist practices in part due to the intermingling of philosophies of Daoism (Dàojiào), Confucianism (Rújiā), and Chinese traditional beliefs (zhōnghuájiào). It is a deeply rooted cultural and religious belief that only through such rituals can help the deceased achieve liberation from the misery of death. The observance of rites and rituals for the deceased through ignorance and fear is not founded on moral or ethical values, but míxìn (superstition) has no relation to the philosophical doctrine preached by the Buddha. The principles that underlie míxìn (superstition) rituals are not based upon the four noble truths and the eightfold path of textual Buddhism. Although a few may have heard of such concepts, these have no bearing on their daily religious life. The rooted beliefs that only such rituals can help the deceased achieve liberation from death's misery are incompatible with the central Theravāda Buddhist doctrines of kamma. The objective of this chapter is to take due cognizance of some prevalent funeral rites incompatible with Buddhist teachings of the nature of death and kamma. This chapter scrutinizes some relevant texts in the Pāli Canon on the significance of Buddhism’s concept of merit and its direct consequence on the well-being of the deceased. The findings are expected to generate a basic reappraisal of rites and rituals and to bring about a sense of security in knowledge to Chinese Buddhists who wish to perform a Theravadin Buddhist funeral. In the end, a proper Buddhist funeral is about respect and gratitude for the deceased.