Hi there!
I just wanted to post a bit of a random question because my curiosity warrants it.
I'm not sure if I'm on the right track, but I think I saw a part of a Buddhist funeral rite and I am interested to know about the symbolism of it. I'm hoping someone here can share an explanation as I am interested in learning something new.
I live a couple of blocks down the street from a mortuary. Usually there isn't much happening over there except, every once in a grand while, there's a big service with lots of cars all around.
A couple of days ago, I drove past just as a big service was getting out. There were a lot of Asian folks escorting a coffin or an urn (I couldn't see it) to a hearse which was waiting by the door. I had time to notice the scene as the mortuary is on an intersection where I was stopped. The people caught my eye because there appeared to be a monk with a bald head wearing a flowing orange robe assiting with the coffin or urn as it was placed in the hearse. Everyone seemed to be sort of "lined up" in processional form as they walked towards the hearse.
At the very front, there was a young woman "stationed" facing the middle of the hearse and not looking to the side to watch the coffin being loaded like you'd expect. She was sort of looking off into the distance. What made this intruiging is that she was wearing a bright white robe with a tall hood over her head. I mean, it could have been a male, but I thought it looked like a girl. Anyway, there were other mourners behind her, but none of them were wearing hoods. A bit further back was a group of 10 or so people who had white bandanas tied around their foreheads.
By that time, I had to make my turn, so I was unable to make any other observations. I just thought it was really interesting to see. Can anyone explain what the person in the robe was meant to signify? And the headbands?
If it's rude of me to ask, I apologize.
I tried to look it up on the 'net, but there seem to be so many varieties of Buddhism in different countries, all with different rites. None of the sites explained what I was looking at, though one made a brief reference to wearing a hood. I just wanted to gain some understanding about the ways other people do things.
Thanks!
.....Kelly
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