As a Hindu, we believe that a person’s body is temporary. It’s simply a vessel to carry their athma, or their eternal soul. Your soul stays consistent but comes back in different forms in different lifetimes but the goal is to escape samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, and achieve moksha. Your actions and words is what will dictate whether you are reborn again, and in what form, or whether you are liberated from the cycle and achieve moksha. This ties in to how Hindu funerals are conducted as well as the grieving process. In Hinduism, the body is cremated and then ashes are spread at a sacred body of water or some other place of importance to the person who passed. At the funeral, you wear white, there are prayers conducted asking for liberation of the person’s soul and acceptance of them. You wear white. You share memories. And you pray.
Dhua for David
My Monday night was a special one. It was my first shift on my own at the clinic, meaning there wasn’t anyone to ask questions to. I kind of knew what I was supposed to do but also had no idea what I was supposed to do–but it was going to happen. Fake it ’til you make it? And made it I did. From helping reunite two different families with missing family members to using my Hindi/Gujarati to act as an Urdu translator (very similar languages) to working with an incredible group of people, it was a good night. The highlight of the night was meeting David though.
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