And so the student decided instead of a casket burial or cremation, he asked if it would be OK to be shipped to Heinrich’s beautiful mountainside property in Maine (where he had done fieldwork) and be given a shallow burial where he could be recycled by nature’s most commonplace undertakers. He wanted to be “beetleized.”
This wasn’t a crazy notion. Ecology-minded scientists often discuss how they want to be buried.
William D. Hamilton, perhaps one of the greatest biologists in the 20th century, famously wrote an open letter saying that when he died he wanted to be laid out on the forest floor in the Amazon jungle….
Cistercian monks are buried directly into the ground after the cowl is gathered around them to protect their face and hands. Actually, the burial I saw was in a southern monastery where the cowls are made for the heat: light cotton and without the extra material. His brothers fixed a handkerchief into his hood to cover his face and then piled the dirt straight on. I don’t think there is an ideological reason for this, as some communities do use caskets, or a casket may be used for a particular reason. Thomas Merton was buried in a casket due to the delay getting him back from Thailand.
Although I think the burial plans discussed in the article are a bit extreme, I have left instructions to keep things toned down for my own send off. I am to be buried (cremation is a no no in the Orthodox Church) in the earth with no concrete vault. The coffin is to be plain and made of wood without silly things like foam rubber mattresses, silk pillows and other foolishness.
IMHO people spend waaayyy too much money on funerals these days. There is no reason why anyone should be spending much over a thousand dollars on a coffin. Embalming is an unnatural and repulsive process that strikes me as both environmentally unfriendly and pagan. (I will make a concession on this point if there is some unavoidable delay in burying the body for more than a few days.)
For those interested, there are many ways to keep the expenses of a funeral under control. There is no requirement to hold a viewing or funeral in a “funeral home.” At one time it was normative to hold the viewing in the front parlor of the house. Family and friends would call and pay their respects there. A pickup truck or SUV can do the same job as a hearse.
Indeed in all but eight states there is no requirement to employ the services of an undertaker at all. Many arrangements can be planned in advance to save money (and also stress on grieving family members when your time comes). Plots or mausoleum vaults can be secured in advance (not a bad idea since it allows you time to shop around and price compare). Many cemeteries require in-ground vaults or concrete liners. But some do not.
Inexpensive coffins are readily available if you are prepared to do a little searching. Most undertakers for obvious reasons don’t stock these or encourage their use. It cuts into their bottom line. Many churches, monasteries and clergy make simple coffins appropriate for Christian burial. An excellent example can be found here…
http://tinyurl.com/yhdhrcp
Simple Christian grave markers can be found here…
http://tinyurl.com/yzs2aqr
Under the mercy,
John
I have likewise left instructions for a very simple funeral. I don’t want to be cremated (I largely agree with the Orthodox on that) nor do I want to be embalmed. I witnessed embalming once while I was doing CPE, and it is truly horrific. I think the process borders on body desecration.
I am an organ donor with the instructions they are to leave my bones and whatever the organ donor folks don’t take in a casket. I would very much prefer to have a wooden casket like those No. 2. speaks of. There is a catholic monastery in Chicago (I think its something like monasterycaskets.com) that do really high end wooden ones, but are still way cheaper than the $5000+ casket jobs you get at most funeral homes.
For fun, I googles “discount caskts, Fort Worth” to find the place that used to be out on the east side. Apparently, cheap funerals is the coming thing, headed up by this slogan:
WE WILL BEAT ANYONEâ€S PRICE ON A FUNERAL SERVICE OR CASKET BY 10%
from here:
http://www.texasforeverfunerals.com/
do the smiley’s here still not work? Well, consider me smiling.