According to the custom of cremation which was practised by ancestors and which is followed from generations to generations, monks give sermons and chant before the actual burning of the body.
So how can all of these rituals be performed effectively so that the deceased can benefit from them?
Everybody wants to dedicate the merit for the deceased, for the deceased’s refuge and remembrance. So anything possible whether it is a personification or an exposition in terms of an idea will be used, to make people realise that a dead person cannot take anything but merit with him or her. The various rituals surrounding death and cremation may be used to illustrate aspects of the Dhamma.
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