Is it better to be cremated rather than buried?

Now a days more people are being cremated rather than buried, I used to think that cremation was horrible but lately i think it is far better, when you think it is a cleaner process and it saves space, after all our bodies are completely inflammable.I had arranged a few years ago to be buried but now have changed my mind, what are the views of SW folks.

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ABCDEF7 · M

In Hindu religion they always cremate. They believe that this will help their soul to escape quickly from the body.

Hindus believe in the soul being indestructible; and that death symbolises end of the existence of a person's physical being, but the start of a new journey for the soul. This soul then reincarnates in some other life form, and passes through the same cycle of taking birth, growing and eventually meeting death- only to begin the cycle afresh. Cremation of a person's dead body is therefore, supposed to rid the departed soul of any attachments to the body it previously resided in.

It burns away everything until nothing remains. On the other hand, burying is a very slow process of dissolving the five elements inside the body back into the five elements of the cosmos.

Fire is considered holy in Hinduism. Also, a traditional belief among Hindus says that a person's body is composed of 5 elements(earth, fire, water, air and sky) of cosmos. The cremation ceremonies of Hindus are directed towards returning the body to these elements. The body is progressively returned to earth, air, sky and fire by burning it under skies; and the ashes are respectfully collected and poured in a river.

By cremating the body, the physical remnants of the ghost are entirely wiped out from the face of earth, so that the ghost may continue with its journey forward after the 11 days.

A Human Being does not always die from old-age, he may die due to diseases. If he is burnt, the micro-organisms in his body will die (no pathogen survives at the temperature of fire). Thus, burning of a body after a person is dead ensures that you are not committing murder, and also you are preventing it from being a source of spread of any disease.

It is said that excessive mourning over a deceased prevents the soul from being completely detached from its loved ones, and keeps it from undertaking its new journey- that of taking up a new life. Cremation (and subsequent ceremonies in mourning) help to remove most of those things that can act as a reminder for the person's existence, and thereby also assist the family in getting over the loss.

Sorry for the long answer, and thanks for the read.