University of Virginia Library

11
DEATH, MORTUARY RITES, AND
THE PATH TO REBIRTH

The `death orientation' of philosophical Buddhism is only too well
known, and requires no elaboration here. In its presentation of the human
predicament, the painful a priori meaninglessness of human life, and the
preoccupation with death and its conquest, philosophical Buddhism shares
much with contemporary existentialism. In village Buddhism, too, there
is great ritual emphasis placed on death. Death is in fact the most important
rite of passage. It is significant that mortuary rites are officiated by monks
and are conceived of by all participants as Buddhist ritual.

In terms of the themes examined in this study, our major interests in
mortuary rites are two. First, death causes a change in man's status, and
his fate after death is defined in terms of bun/baab and kam (karma), and
rebirth. Village mortuary rites not only state the change in status but are
also concerned to secure for the dead a good status by merit-making and
transfer of merit. Participation in mortuary rites is itself defined as merit-making
for the living. Death brings into action the village social structure,
especially the relationships and obligations vis-à-vis different generations.
These in particular include the ritual obligations of the junior generation
of luug-laan to the senior generation of phuu thaw. The second focus of
interest is the role of the monk in mortuary rites. Monks in their ritual
roles have often been described as mediators between death and rebirth.
How in fact do they mediate, how do they derive the power for effecting
this dangerous transition, and how does this role link up with monkhood
as a village institution?

Villagers distinguish between normal death and abnormal death. The
latter is sudden `unnatural' death (tai hoeng), brought about by childbirth,
accidents, homicide, and sudden virulent disease. The form of death is
believed to have vital significance for the fate of the soul (winjan), and
special precautions are taken in the case of sudden death. My method
of exposition is to describe first in some detail the sequences in the
mortuary rites pertaining to normal death, and subsequently to state briefly
how abnormal death is handled. I follow the convention of stating within
parentheses the meaning attached to ritual acts by the actors. I describe
an actual case study in order to provide context for the proceedings.

MORTUARY RITES: PHASE I

Doy (dressing and laying out of the corpse)

Soon after death the corpse was cleaned and dressed in new clothes by
the immediate relatives living in or visiting the house of the deceased.
One of the ritual acts was the `bathing of the corpse', which consisted of
pouring water on the deceased's hands. This rite is usually performed
by the kinsmen present, especially the luug-laan (children and grand
children). (We are already familiar with the ritual act of bathing and
pouring water in Songkran rites; as in those rites, here, too, it is said
that the living pay their respects to and ask forgiveness of the deceased.
Also it is said that the corpse is cleansed for the passage of its winjan to
heaven.) The hands and feet of the corpse were tied together with thread,
and the body was laid out face up on a mat and pillow in a sleeping
attitude.

A coin (one baht) was put in the deceased's mouth, which was then
closed with beeswax. (This is to enable him `to buy his way up to heaven'
and purchase a house and land there.) A pair of flowers and a pair of
candles (`everything is done in pairs') and a 2-baht note were placed in
the hands, tied together in the waj (worshipping) position. (The money
serves the same purpose as the coin in the mouth; `the candles and
flowers will be used by the deceased to worship Buddha'.)

The corpse was laid out with the head pointing west. (This means that
he has already gone to the new world. `Normally when we are alive we
point our heads to the east when we sleep. The dead are pointed in the
opposite direction.' West is the direction of death.)

The visible orifices—the eyes and the mouth—were closed by means
of wax. (`This is to prevent the living members of the family from losing
interest in life. For they know that finally they too will die in the same way.')

At the head of the corpse were placed a number of ritual articles.
(Informants said that all the things the deceased used when alive were
put near the coffin so that they might not forget to take them to the
cemetery. When these objects are placed at his head, the living say: `The
articles that you used, we give them to you to take away' (khong cao kei
chai, kha hai pai).) The objects were: (1) the mattress and blanket he
used when alive (these will be taken to the cemetery and burned with the
corpse); (2) a basket containing a dish of rice and another of fish and
chilli (`for the winjan to eat'); (3) a vessel containing water (`for the
winjan to drink'); (4) some clothes (for the deceased to wear in heaven);
(5) a knife (to be given to the monks for use in the temple); and (6) a red
cloth (which is later to be used to cover the coffin—pha pok heep).

3 Bun Phraawes festival: the great story of Wesandaun is recited from the decorated pulpit; the painted
cloth draped at the back depicts the story (see Chapters 10 and 12)

khwan ceremony being performed for two pregnant women, who are wearing head
cotton and are sitting to the right of the officiant (paahm) who is reciting with hands
the attitude of worship and with the palm-leaf text in front of him. In the centre
ecorated phakhwan and food offerings, lustral water, etc. (see Chapter 13)

4b Women worshipping on the Buddhist Sabbath at the wat

At the head and feet a string was tied to posts just above the corpse, and
on this string was draped a white cloth called the pha hak hua. (It was
compared by the abbot to the five precepts—`the mourners wish the
dead body to be pure as the white cloth'.) The anthropologist, however,
notes other symbolic meanings. The white cloth above the corpse is later
also used to cover the coffin and is finally given to a monk as the bansakula
cloth. White signifies death; it is also ideally the proper colour for a layman
to wear to the temple. The red cloth (which is also used later to cover the
coffin) is brought home directly after the cremation, and is later purified
by the monks. It thus represents normal secular life and its continuation.

The place where the corpse is laid out has symbolic significance in
relation to the values attached to different parts of the house (see Chapter 2).
It lies in the centre of the huean yaai (the `large house' which is the
sleeping room), bridging or straddling the `invisible' barrier between
the parents' room (hong peueng), which is the eastern half, and the room
of the married daughter and son-in-law (hong suam), which is the western
half. Death obliterates the taboos that surround the huean yaai in ordinary
life; normally closed to distant kin and outsiders, the most sacred part
of the house is thrown open to all mourners. Furthermore, the position
of the corpse—head to the west lying in the son-in-law's quarter, and
feet to the east lying in the parents' quarter—is a reversal of the normal
auspicious directions, and especially in the case of parents is a `denigration'
of the dead body.

The death had been reported to relatives and the headman, the latter
of whom in turn is said to have instructed villagers to help the bereaved
household. (This highlights the norm that death requires the participation
of the community.) People of the village, kin and non-kin, assembled to
`make the coffin' and help conduct the mortuary rites. A large gathering
of all ages was present, and many household heads contributed money
gifts ranging from 1 to 5 baht. These amounts were meticulously noted
down.

Old women of the mother category (mae) prepared cigarettes and
betel-nut packets; the young women—both married and unmarried—
cooked food; and the men of all ages constructed the coffin and decorated
it. When the coffin was ready it was carried into the house and the corpse,
with the mat and clothes, was put into it. Four paper flags were stuck in
its corners, and all the paper money contributed by the mourners was
stuck on bamboo sticks, which were then planted in its sides.

Some of the men, mostly young, were entrusted with the task of cutting
firewood in the forest and making a pyre at the place of cremation there.
Once they had gone into the forest they would not be allowed to return

home until the cremation was over. (If they did, they would carry disease
to their relatives.)

In the mid-morning monks and novices arrived to chant and were
presented with food. It was after lunch that a long spell of chanting took
place, two sets of chants being recited. The first was suad kusala, which
said that whatever merit and demerit the deceased had acquired, might
the merit increase and the demerit disappear. The next was the suad jod
muk, recited by two monks. (We were told by the abbot that it `tells the
winjan of the deceased the way to heaven'. A second interpretation of
this particular suad was given by a layman, and this is the fullest interpretation
we recorded. He said that at death the four elements, tat winjan
(soul), and khan ha (body and mind) become scattered. The recitation
of the suad by two monks has the purpose of calling together these elements
and reconstituting them;[1] at the same time the way to heaven is indicated.
All the chants were in a general sense meant to give merit (haj bun) to
the dead.)

Funeral procession

The coffin, as is always required, was carried out with the feet of the
deceased leading and pointing west. (Villagers said that the coffin also
is carried to the cemetery pointing `west', once again emphasizing the
direction of death.) As it was being taken out of the house, jars of water
in the house and the house ladder were turned upside down. Then the
jars were filled with water again and the ladder replaced in its original
position. The anthropologist notes these as ritual reversals. (Villagers said
it is done so that the winjan will not find its way back to the house.
A Buddhist twist was also given—that these acts meant that human
beings are subject to the cycle of existence.)

The coffin-bearers were three sons of the deceased and a son-in-law
(luug kei). Before they actually lifted the coffin, flowers and candles were
distributed to them—a ritual act common in all situations when `specialist'
services are requested. (But the flowers have additional significance in
this context. The coffin-bearers are exposed to the danger that the dead
man's phii may take hold of them or harm them. On arrival at the cemetery,
therefore, they will use the flowers and candles to pay respect to the
deceased and acquire for themselves the power and strength of Phraa
Buddha and Dhamma to counter the possible malevolence of the phii.)

The funeral procession was led by monks. A long cord (dai chung phii)
was fastened at the foot of the coffin, and the monks held it at the other

end. (The monks are said to lead the way (hon tang) to heaven.) If a young
kinsman of the deceased, usually a grandson or son, has been specially
ordained to make merit for him, he would lead the procession. The monks
were followed by the coffin, then by the males, and finally the females.
Persons of all ages attended the cremation.

On the way puffed rice was thrown on the ground. (`Once a person
dies he will never be reborn as the same person. The puffed rice similarly
cannot be grown again.' A second meaning attached to this act is as
follows: `Puffed rice is thrown so that phii will come and welcome the
dead man. If it is not offered to them, they will enter the coffin, which
will become heavy for the bearers; puffed rice is thrown to lure the phii
to the cemetery so that they do not prowl around the village.')

When the procession reached the cemetery, it was met by other monks.
It is worth noting that it is customary, at a grand rite of passage, to invite
monks from other village temples to officiate together with the local
monks. Monks from five nearby villages were specifically invited. Altogether
there were twenty-two monks and novices conducting the cremation
rites.

The cemetery is situated away from the village, in the proximity of
the wat and to its west—a clear expression of the fact that death is the
business of the monks and of the distinction that the place of death is
separated from the stage of life.

Cremation

The funeral pyre had already been built by the young men despatched
in the morning. The construction consisted of two posts planted in the
earth, with firewood piled laterally between them.[2] The coffin was conducted
three times around the pyre in a counter-clockwise direction. It was
then placed near the pyre with the dead man's head pointing west. (The
circumambulation was explained by informants in two ways: (1) old
laymen said that it represented encirclement by death and birth (wian taj
wian koed), or the cycle of death and rebirth. (2) a monk explained that
each circumambulation signified in sequence: (a) roop-pa-pob—body
state—that is, `let the dead man be reborn as a human body', (b) kammapob—`let
the dead man be reborn and have wife and children' (actually
the strict meaning of the Pali concept is the `state of sensual existence'),

and (c) juan-ra-pob—state of walking—that is, `let the deceased travel
a good path in his next life'.[3] The anthropologist notes that the counterclockwise
circumambulation is a reversal of the clockwise circling of the
wat in collective Buddhist rites. If the latter `binds' the sacred and also
signifies `ascent', the former `unbinds' or scatters the body to its destiny
after death.)

The people assembled at the cemetery collected dry sticks and placed
them on the pyre. (`It brings merit to help burn the corpse.')

The white cloth covering the coffin was taken off and two men, standing
on either side of the coffin pyre, threw it to each other three times. This is
the bansakula cloth already referred to.[4] (Villagers interpreted the throwing
of this cloth three times in much the same way as they interpreted the
circumambulation.)

After the monks rendered a set of chants, they were presented with
gifts of packets containing tobacco, betel and money, and they chanted
a blessing in acceptance of the gifts.

The next sequence was the pouring of water on the corpse. Two monks
in succession poured coconut juice on the corpse's face (`Water of the
young coconut is as pure as the Five Precepts.') Relatives of the deceased
and villagers poured scented water on the corpse. (While pouring, one
usually says `I come to wash your face, may you ascend to heaven.' As one
informant put it, `The face is washed because after death he goes to the
other world. Water is poured to cleanse and make the corpse beautiful.
People usually say, while pouring: "When being reborn, don't bring
any disease with you. Don't starve, be rich in the next birth." ' He also
explained that monks cleanse the corpse first because they `keep the
precepts and practise morality'.)

The cord which had previously been attached to the foot of the coffin
when the monks led it to the cemetery was now fastened to its head.
Two monks held the cord and recited a brief chant. (This is called the
suad-anit-cha, which says that all bodies are impermanent; ageing, struggle
and death are inevitable processes.) Three other groups of monks repeated
this sequence. A log had been placed between the coffin and the monks,
and none of the monks stepped over this barrier. (No interpretation of this
was forthcoming. The anthropologist is tempted to say that monks stand
at the threshold of death, but do not actually enter that realm.) This

concluded the ritual role of most of the monks, who then returned to the
wat. Before leaving they were individually presented with gift packets
(bang-maag) which also contained money.

The ritual was now approaching the actual cremation. The four paper
flags were removed from the coffin and planted on the pyre. The abbot
moved to the head of the coffin and held one end of the white cloth placed
on its top. He rendered a brief chant and then took the cloth. The clothes,
mattress and blanket of the deceased were placed near the pyre, the
coffin was lifted on to the pyre, and the remaining monks and the villagers
lit the firewood. While the corpse burned, the monks chanted. (`This is
to tell the way to heaven.')

The people left the cemetery after the pyre was ignited. It is the custom
that when they return to the village from the cemetery, they must first
go into the wat compound and only then to the funeral house (home of
the deceased), where they are feasted. The wat immunizes the dangers
of death.

That evening a ceremony took place in the funeral house which I should
like to emphasize. Beginning on this evening, the monks came to the
house for three nights in order to chant suad paritta mongkhon `for
protection and for blessing'. Certain objects were put in a fishing net:
these were the clothes of the deceased left in the house and the tools used
for cutting wood for the pyre. A thread was attached to the Buddha image,
then it was held by the abbot; next it was wound round a bowl of water,
then it was held by the other monks, after which the end was attached
to the net. In a subsequent section I shall deal with these protection
ceremonies and the making of lustral water. It is obvious that the monks
were purifying the objects mentioned or, to put it differently, were themselves
`absorbing' and neutralizing their impurity. As one informant put
it, `the thread is tied to those objects, and sacred words in Pali pass
through it to drive away disease and the dead man's winjan'.

The chanting was followed by the wake `to make the family members
happy (gnan hyan dee)'. Many people, both old and young, stayed on
in the funeral house until very late, the old conversing and the young
playing games. This was an occasion for young people of both sexes to
have fun together. On the following two nights as well people visited the
funeral house, both to listen to the monks' chanting and to make the
bereaved family happy.

MORTUARY RITES: PHASE 2

On the third day after the cremation the second part of the mortuary
rites took place—the collection of bones and merit-making for the deceased.
On the previous day a large number of people congregated in the bereaved
household to `make the prasaat peueng'.

Making the `prasaat peueng'

The prasaat peueng is a palanquin-type structure, which is said to represent
a palace. It may be noted it is similar to the prasaat rajawang made for
the Bun Kathin rites (see Chapter 10, p. 158).[5] (The village interpretation
is that it is made so that the dead man can live in it in heaven.) Various
gifts are placed inside and are presented to the monks on the following
day, in order to make merit for the dead man.

The assemblage of people for making the prasaat was far in excess of
those actually needed. Large quantities of food were cooked on this day,
both to feed the participants and, more importantly, to feed the monks on
the following day at a grand merit-making ceremony.

Collection of bones

Early next morning a party of villagers who had assembled at the funeral
house left for the cemetery. The party was met at the cremation site by
seven monks invited to officiate. The funeral pyre was found to be still
smouldering after three days. Water was sprinkled on it by a brother of
the deceased's wife, an ex-abbot, in order to put out the live coals. Then
the collection of the bones began. A monk initiated this activity by first
picking up a bone and putting it in a pot. Then all the others followed.
While collecting the bones, they raked the ashes in order to find the
coin that had been placed in the corpse's mouth. (`This coin, after the
burning of the corpse, is used to counter phii (spirits). Before using it
for this purpose certain magical spells have to be recited (sek-katha).' It is
used as a medallion.)

The bones were all collected in the pot, in the bottom of which a hole
had been bored by the ex-abbot. Then the young people present (luug-laan
of the deceased) washed the bones by pouring scented water into the pot.
(This ritual act is described as the laan asking the forgiveness of grandparents
(laan somma pu, somma ya), and is reserved for the luug-laan.)

Two male elders (one being the ex-abbot) then thoroughly washed the
bones. After this, `siblings' of the deceased made a human figure from
the ashes. They first made it with the head pointing to the west, then
reversed it. (The west is the direction of death; when the `body' is
pointed to the east it means rebirth and the emergence of a living human
being.) While this was taking place a classificatory brother of the deceased
dug among the ashes to uproot the ends of the two posts of the funeral pyre
construction. (`If the remains of the posts in the ground are not pulled out,
the winjan of the dead will hover around near the place of cremation.')

The deceased's son then covered the mouth of the pot with a piece of
white cloth, and secured it with a thread, one end of which, about two feet
long, was left dangling. A lighted candle was placed on the rim of the
pot's mouth and the pot placed on the chest of the figure made with the
ashes. `The candle lights the way. The pot is placed on the chest because
the heart is there.')

The monks then approached the figure, stood near its head, and chanted
three different suad. During one of them, the deceased's classificatory
brother poured water on the ground to transfer merit to the deceased
(yaadnam). The monks also chanted suad acirang. (According to the
abbot this chant refers to the impermanence of human life, which is
compared to firewood which decays with time.) During this chant the
monks held the thread attached to the pot (see Plate 1b).

Then a son of the deceased made a hole in the cloth covering the
mouth of the pot with a knife (`to let the winjan escape'). A hole was dug
in the ashes, the pot was put in it by another son of the deceased and covered
with ashes while his brother held the thread. All the males present then
collected branches from the surrounding forest and used them to cover
the place where the pot was buried.[6]

This concluded the bone-collection ceremony. In this second phase of
the mortuary rites the winjan has been purified and despatched to heaven
and subsequent rebirth.

The presentation of the `prasaat peueng' to the monks

While the bone-collection ceremony was drawing to a close, the next
ritual sequence had already been started in the village. A son-in-law
and a classificatory son-in-law of the deceased had carried the prasaat

peueng from the funeral house to the monks' living quarters and placed
it on the wide verandah.

Some people had already assembled there, among whom the majority
were women. This pattern is understandable, because the first part of the
proceedings is giving food to the monks. The women had brought baskets
of food with them, not only that cooked on the previous day but more
which they had cooked in their own houses. For this is an occasion for
merit-making for any villager who chooses; thus twenty of the fifty-two
adults present were non-kin by village recognition.

While food was being offered to the monks, another food-offering was
taking place in the compound near the bood. This was the chakkhaw or
offering of rice to the deceased's winjan. Eight persons performed this
rite, seven of whom were close kin of the deceased: two sons, a daughter,
two sisters, a classificatory brother and a classificatory sister (mother's
brother's daughter). They placed kratong (banana leaf-containers) with
food near the bood and lighted a candle; an elderly relative—the classificatory
brother—then planted a bamboo pole with a flag attached on the
western side of the bood, thereby signifying that food was being offered
to the deceased. This same elder then poured water on the ground
(yaadnam): the winjan of the dead was told to receive the gifts in the
prasaat peueng, and Nang Thoranee (the earth goddess) was requested
to convey bun and the gifts to him.

The next sequence was the presentation of the prasaat peueng to the
monks. The gifts placed inside it were: a monk's robe, a pillow and mat,
two pieces of cloth, a pair of pants, an aluminium pot, a torchlight, an
exercise book and pencil, candles and matches, and a kind of sweet
delicacy made of rice (khaw tom).

The deceased's son and a brother of the deceased's wife (the ex-abbot)
carried the prasaat and placed it near the monks. A candle was lit and put
on the prasaat, marking it as the gift to be given. The ex-abbot tied a cord
to it and handed the other end to the monks; he then said a Pali stanza
offering them the gifts.

The final phase of the merit-making for the dead was the preaching of
a sermon by a monk. A brief summary of the sermon, given us by the
abbot, is as follows: `Once there is birth, there will follow ageing, pain
and death. Animals, houses, motor cars are no exception to this rule.
The performance of cremation rites brings merit to those conducting
them; merit accrues to the sponsors of the rites.'

The sermon concluded the mortuary rites.

KINSHIP PARTICIPATION IN MORTUARY RITES

Death is not solely a concern of the kin of the bereaved family; neighbours
and fellow villagers are obliged to participate. No concepts of pollution
apply to close kin or participants; rather, participation is regarded as
merit-making. The scale of social participation at three crucial moments
in the mortuary rites may be judged from these figures. On the day of
coffin-making, on the day of making the prasaat peueng, and finally at the
merit-making for the dead—the number of adults present was 62, 78 and
52 respectively, and of these the number of kin (yad) was 32, 23 and 30.

The concepts of kinship in Baan Phraan Muan must now be defined:
both cognatic and affinal kinsmen are classed as yad, and a classificatory
terminology of the generation type is consistently applied to them (see
Chapter 2). Our data on participation in various rites show that when in
fact large numbers of kin on both sides were present in the village there
was a wide spread, up to second cousin range, on both ego's and his
wife's side.

The concept yad phii naung in fact embraces all kinds of kin on all
sides. And in this village, where generation and relative age are important
criteria of social classification, the terms for parents, siblings, children
and grandchildren are applied widely (although the kinship terminology
contains more specific terms).

Within this wide range of community and kin participation, it is the
close kin of the deceased and his or her spouse who play the crucial roles
—notably children of both sexes, sisters and brothers and their spouses,
and wife's siblings. But from the point of view of social ideology, the
kinship categorization (from the standpoint of the deceased) is in terms
of the phii-naung (siblings of same generation), playing the role of ritual
leadership, and the luug-laan (children and grandchildren in the classificatory
sense), playing the vital ritual and manual roles connected with
paying respects to the deceased. All the manual tasks—making and
carrying the coffin, cutting wood for the pyre, cooking food, cleansing
the corpse—are devoted to enabling the elders of the parental generation
to go safely to the other world, and to the making and transferring of
merit on their behalf.

ABNORMAL DEATH

Villagers view abnormal death with great fear, because the winjan may
become a malevolent phii called phii tai hoeng. These spirits are said to
hover on earth because of their attachment to worldly interests, having

been plucked from life before completing a normal life cycle. The corpses
are denied cremation because of the fear `that disease may affect the luug
and laan (children and grandchildren or other living descendants) who
may die like their predecessors'.

The corpse is buried quickly after death; this is done even if death
takes place at night. Monks are not called upon to chant beforehand or
to officiate at the burial. The corpse is not put in a coffin; its feet and
hands are tied and it is simply covered with a bamboo mat and buried.
The burial is devoid of ritual.

It is only after the body has been hastily disposed of, so that the earth
may contain its dangerous powers, that the monks are invited to conduct
rites, to invest the deceased with merit and grant protection to the living.
They are invited to chant in the deceased's house for three nights; they are
not given food on the succeeding mornings but are given gifts.

The corpse may be left in the earth for a period extending from three
months to two years, at the end of which its dangerous powers have been
immunized and it is ready for the normal mortuary rites. The bones are
dug up and cremated; they are then cleansed and put in a pot, and buried
in the manner described earlier. The monks officiate. Finally a prasaat
peueng ceremony is held to transfer merit to the dead. Thus sudden death
is also treated with ritual of the double obsequies pattern, the first phase
being the burial and the second the normal mortuary rites performed as
one continuous sequence.

ANCESTORS AND BUDDHISM

Transfer of merit by the living to the dead does not stop with mortuary
rites but goes on long after death. Parents and elders become ancestral
spirits and are generally talked of as a category; there is no firm genealogical
structuring or individual remembrance of persons beyond the parental
generation.

Transfer of merit to the dead takes place on many occasions with the
aid of monks and under the rubric of Buddhist ritual. In the majority
of cases, the ashes of parents lie buried in the cemetery, where monks are
invited to chant in order to transfer merit. We have seen in the previous
account of calendrical wat rites that at the rituals of Songkran, Bun Khaw
Saak (merit-making with puffed rice) and Org Phansa (end of Lent), merit is
transferred to the dead and offerings are made to them collectively. In the
course of every wat ceremony, yaadnam, the pouring of water to transfer
merit to the dead, is performed; the living, having given gifts to the
monks, transfer some part of the merit while the monks chant their

blessings. In the course of some rites the monks themselves pour water
from one vessel to another, and transfer merit to the living, the dead,
and all non-human living creatures.

While it can be said that villagers commemorate the dead, it cannot be
said that they practise `ancestor worship' in the sense of a systematized
cult of propitiation of the dead and a formalized relationship by which
the dead interact with the living. The possibility of occasional punitive
acts by the `normally' dead is a far cry from a developed theory of morality
of benevolence/punitiveness by which the dead live in the present and
sanction the social order. Rather the accent is that the living should
succour the dead and remember them when merit is made. Or a man on
whom fortune has smiled may celebrate his status by honouring his
parents long dead. De la Loubère made an observation about the great
which is also true in a lower key of the villager: `It sometimes also happens
that a Person of Great Quality causes the body of his Father to be digged
up again, maybe a long time dead, to make him a pompous funeral; if
when he died, they made him not such a one, as was worthy of the present
Elevation of the Son' (1693, p. 124). During the course of my field
work, the headman of the village honoured his father and mother in this
manner.

SOME IMPLICATIONS OF MORTUARY RITES ASSOCIATED
WITH NORMAL DEATH

The mortuary rites show a pattern of double obsequies which can be
analysed in Hertz's terms (Hertz 1960). The intervals between death,
cremation, and collection of bones are brief in this north-eastern village[7]
(in Bangkok and other urban centres it is much longer, and is graduated
in relation to the social status of the deceased). The ideas that soon after
death the winjan is a phii with dangerous powers, that the corpse attracts
malevolent spirits, and that in a general sense death can be dangerous
for the living are present in a clear form. The collection of bones after
cremation, their cleansing and burial, followed by merit-making for the
deceased, are generally concerned with separating the winjan from this
world, despatching it to the next (and then rebirth), and at the same
time with converting the winjan from the status of pret to ancestor.

The outstanding theme is the objective of leading the dead man's
winjan to heaven and making possible a better rebirth. Monks and laymen
do all they can to achieve this. We have seen that while the ritual manifests

anxiety about the potential malevolence of the winjan, and ensures against
any such possibility, it also shows a marked optimism, as in the prasaat
peueng presentation, that with the help of the living the winjan will in
fact go to heaven. A conspicuous feature is the direct participation of
monks and the direct incorporation of Buddhist ideas and mythology in
the rites. In no other rite of passage—excepting ordination for monkhood
—is Buddhism so directly concerned with a human event. The monks
not only act as mediators between death and rebirth, but also absorb
and neutralize the dangers and pollution of death. Their religious status
makes them immune to these dangers.

From the point of view of interpreting ritual, we have seen that the
actors may give multiple or diverse meanings to the same ritual act. The
monks' version, pitched in Buddhist terms, may be slightly different
from that of laymen, who in turn may show differences among themselves.
However, in the case of mortuary rites, interpretations seem to converge
around some basic ideas associated with death and its aftermath. Where
death is concerned the actors on the whole appear to have conscious
ideas about the meaning of their acts which the anthropologist also often
finds adequate. Such a close correspondence was lacking when we dealt
with the cycle of wat rituals.

From a comparative point of view, it is striking that there is a common
idiom in the mortuary ceremonies of the Buddhists of Thailand, Burma
and Ceylon. Thailand and Burma show a remarkable similarity in the
sequences and verbalizations of the actors; Ceylon, however, while
distinctly portraying the Buddhist orientation to death, has more elaborate
notions of death pollution, stemming from the caste system.

In the case of Burma, sources such as Shway Yoe (1896) and Manning
Nash (1965) report some details which in essentials compare with the
description I have given: for example, the dressing of the corpse and the
placing of the coin in the mouth as `ferry-money to pay for the passage
of the mystic river', the conspicuous and indispensable participation of
the monks, who preach the essential truths of the inevitability of death
and the impermanence of the body and whose `presence . . . [is] invaluable
in keeping away evil spirits' (Yoe); the monks' role in the funeral procession,
and their purification of the house afterwards; and the feasting as an
act of merit-making. Contemporary villagers in Nondwin in the Mandalay
region, as described by Nash, bury their dead; Shway Yoe, however,
reports that traditionally in Burma, and in the non-British territories of
his time, it was customary (except among the very poor), especially in the
case of the aged, to cremate and to conduct double obsequies (bone collection
and burial of bones after cremation) analogous to the sequence

practised in Baan Phraan Muan today. Both Nash and Yoe report the
different ceremonials related to natural/unnatural deaths.

It is clear that two themes are emphasized in the Burmese mortuary
rites. First, the `soul of the dead', malevolent and sensuously attached to
this world, must be safely conducted to the next form of existence.

The second theme is that available kin, friends and villagers should
collectively engage in the rites, and in helping to transport the dead
themselves earn merit as well as transfer merit to the dead.

These features and the contextual setting of death in Thailand and
Burma raise a comparative issue in respect of the Hindu notions of death,
as portrayed for instance by the Coorgs (Srinivas 1952), Malwa villagers
(Mayer 1960), Havik Brahmins (Harper 1964), and Kallar (Dumont 1957)
or as reported in other general literature (Stevenson 1954). In the Hindu
case various categories of kin are obliged to undergo obligatory mourning
interdictions; secondly, formalized notions of death pollution attach
differentially to these categories of persons and are expressed in behaviour
such as social isolation, systematic purification baths, inability to enter
the temple, to cook food, etc., during the specified period of mourning.

No such customs attach to death in Phraan Muan village. Although
death is inauspicious and the person (and spirit) of the dead man is
dangerous and malevolent, still no pollution from the dead man attaches
to his kin, nor for that matter are such notions linguistically present.
Correspondingly, no formalized mourning behaviour is imposed on the
kin.

Let me elaborate this point. While there is no doubt that death itself
is an inauspicious event and that the corpse has malevolent properties, it
is not because of the dead flesh and bones but because the spirit (winjan)
of the dead hovers dangerously. This spirit may attack the closely related
living kinsmen because of its previous attachment to kin, property, and
house. This feared malevolence—which from another point of view states
that the attachments of the dead must be severed—is expressed in various
acts and beliefs: as in Burma so in Thailand, anyone who dies outside
the community or village cannot be brought into the village and his
previous home in the form of a corpse; ritual reversals like inverting the
ladder and upturning the pots, the requirement that the funeral procession

not enter or go through the village but skirt it, the funeral wake to keep
the spirits at bay, and the chanting of the monks to purify the house—all
these highlight the idea that death and the corpse are dangerous.

But in contrast to Hinduism in India, no pollution as such attaches
to the kin, or to the mourners. On the contrary, we have seen that a strong
ideological orientation, which gives impetus to community-wide solicitude
in the death rites of a member household, is the idea that it is an act of
merit to participate. A son or grandson is positively enjoined to become
a temporary novice or monk so that the merit accruing may be transferred
to the deceased. An aspect of behaviour which throws light on how
villagers face death is the conspicuous absence of mourning, whether in
the form of felt or ritualized wailing or other behaviour connoting loss.
The point at issue is not that the bereaved do not shed tears but that the
rites do not emphasize or accent lamentation. It is interesting that Nash
reports for his Burmese village that only women and girls are permitted
to wail, and then only in a controlled manner without the tearing of
hair, gnashing of teeth, and extravagant display of grief seen in Mexico,
Guatemala, and (I may add) Ceylon and India. That this represents a
cultivated and recommended Buddhist attitude to death is lent credibility
by the observation of Evans-Wentz in The Tibetan Book of the Dead:
`it was stipulated that at the time of reading the Bardo Thodol to the
corpse no relatives should weep or make mournful wailings near the
dead nor in any other way disturb the process of separating the spirit
from its earthly counterpart, but rather the family is enjoined to perform
virtuous deeds of merit' (Evans-Wentz 1960, p. 195).

One cannot help but remark on the similarity of conception between
the verbally elaborated and conceptualized passage from death to rebirth
(or liberation for extraordinary individuals) represented in the Tibetan
Book and the village mortuary rites which effect the transition through
ritual acts.