Dying the Good Death : The Pilgrimage to Die in India's Holy City

Justice, Christopher

ISBN 10: 0791432629 / ISBN 13: 9780791432624

Published by State University of New York Press, 1997

Seller Inventory # 271657-n

Synopsis:

Dying the Good Death is a unique ethnography, the first to focus on the experiences of dying at the end of the life cycle. In a region of northern India, some people at the end of their lives leave their villages and travel to the Hindu holy city of Kashi to die. These pilgrims expect that by dying in Kashi they will obtain the spiritual reward of moksha--liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.

Based on fieldwork conducted in Kashi's hospices or "mansions of liberation," Christopher Justice introduces us to a number of dying individuals and their families, providing rich and evocative descriptions of their remarkable experiences. The social contexts of these experiences are explored through descriptions of the families who provide care and the priests who chant the name of God twenty-four hours a day. The book also has clear implications for the potential ways in which we may choose to face the ends of our lives.

About the Author: Christopher Justice is Postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Studies of Aging in Ontario.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Dying the Good Death : The Pilgrimage to Die...
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Publication Date: 1997
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: New