Monday, March 16, 2009

A Passage in the journey of Life: A day of Rituals

The altar was set.

The coffin and body is at the back of the altar.

The photos I had taken earlier was needed.

Thus began the days of rituals.

I am a Christian.

My sister, Kim, is a Buddhist.

She is the closest to my mum and over the many years she had dedicated everything she had- including her lifetime and savings - for the care of my mum. As a project manager, I had to permit Kim and accord her a special privilege in the decision on the selection and performance of ceremony, customs and rituals.


Kim and my mother's god-daughter Anne, were dedicated Buddhist followers and practitioners. They both help arranged for the performance of the rituals.

A group of two monks and a high priest from Tibet happens to be in Ipoh on some pre-arranged assignments to perform prayers and functions organized by the Buddhist society.

Anne heartily got them and they agreed to come over to perform the first prayers for the day.

The monks arrived and performed the daytime prayers for two hours and thereafter they had to leave for their earlier appointments which had to be postponed in order to attend to our needs.

We are truly thankful and in particular, to Anne, for the privilege and blessings to have these high priests conduct the prayers.

For the evening prayers we had to arranged for another group of monks.

Anne and my sister Kim had a close friend by the name of Sayalah, who is a nun in a Buddhist monastery in Kuala Lumpur, and they help arranged for another group of Tibetian monks to come over for the evening prayers and the performance of the rest of the other rituals.

Sayalah and two Tibetian high priests travelled by bus to Ipoh and my son William then picked them up at the bus terminal to our home.

The evening prayers were conducted and the rest of the rituals were performed. The following day, Sunday 15th March 2009, mum's body was cremated at the Kek Look Seah Crematorium in Ipoh.

Today all members of the family were at the crematorium to collect the ashes and placing it into the urn.

It will be placed at the columbarium where my mum had previously bought a space for herself .

She had made sure that she will on that day be placed beside my dad's urn. It was her only wish on the day my dad passed away.





Finally, my mum gets to be with my dad!

I carried the urn and put it into the cell besides my dad's place. I said in silence: "Mum, you are now with dad again.

That's her ultimate wish.

May God bless their souls. Amen.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prof Mave,

I express my condolence.
Finally she could rest in peace with the other loving ones.

Purple~MushRooM said...

Maverick,

My condolences. Your Mum went away peacefully. What's more important, she is with your Dad now.

Take care!

Maverick SM said...

TBulan,

Thank you for the kind words.

Purple~Mushroom,

Thanks and greatly appreciate your kind words.

Anonymous said...

may her soul rest in peace....u take a gd rest okay.....
u do not know me...i am a muslim girl....i do not know u either...but i like ur blog n read it often....

Anonymous said...

Maverick,
My condolences to you and your family. The grief over the loss of a loved one is hard to bear but I hope you will pick yourself up. Your mum lived a full life and let her now rest in peace beside your dad. Do take care of yourself.

sun

workingman said...

Doc,

my deepest condolences.

David, Sena

Anonymous said...

Mav, you may not believe this, but my tear drips while I write this comment...
My condolence ...

Anonymous said...

my condolences

Gukita said...

Mave,

My condolence again. No matter from what belief we are, a mum is a mum and need full respect and caring. She was blessed with wonderful children who took good care of her till she passed away. Since she is Bhuddist, I supposed, it is most proper she be accorded ceremonies according to that belief system. And from your account she was accorded first class treatment... that just shows how much she was respected and love. And at last to be with the beloved that had passed away... no matter if our belief is otherwise..

Arena Green said...

My deepest condolences to you Mave .. this post reaffirm my respect for you. I take comfort in the fact that your mum passed away in a peaceful manner. Hope you will too. God bless.

Maverick SM said...

Zmas,

Thank you so much for the grace. I am grateful to read of your care and concern.

Sun,

Thank you for your comforting words.

David the Workingman,

Thank you, brother.

AK,

Thank you AK. Thank you for the great empathy shown. Thanks again.

Hasilox,

Thank you.

Gukita,

I am exalted by your words appended. Thank you so much, my brother.

Anak Merdeka,

Thanks AM and I am happy to read your writings; I thought you have forsaken us.

Dan-yel said...

I express my condolence for you. But I'm sure she's glad to finally able to join your father.

Anonymous said...

my deepest condolence to you and your family

your mum is at peace now since she has her wish granted that is to be with your dad.

take care

Anonymous said...

mav,

god bless you.

you are a good man.

Maverick SM said...

Dan-yel,

Thanks.


Suredumb,

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Maverick...
My deepest condolences on your recent bereavement. She is in peace with her loved ones now. The most important thing is you have been the filial son when she was alive...nothing beats filial piety. We can eat and sleep well even though our loved ones are gone...without any feelings of guilt or remorse. You and your mum must be pretty close cos you have that 6th sense to take her last photos...ikatan batin eh?? Cherish those good ole memories you have with your mum. Nice reading your blogs too.. :)

Anonymous said...

doc,
My deepest condolence again but glad to know that eveything went down well on the d-day your mum was a blessed lady and u will always have memories of her to be a source of comfort and strength in life journey

Take care

June.W said...

Mav, my deepest condolence and shocked me when i knew about de news. It was just few days ago i commented how cute and pretty she look, and now she has left. In another way, it was a relief when i knew she left peacefully in her sleep, she must be a real great and harmless person that she was granted this good way to leave, i'm sure she knew that all her children is doing great, she has no more worry, therefore she left peacefully and join ur dad. But I'm sure she will be here with you in ur heart as if she has never left. Take care, Mav.

Maverick SM said...

Henley,

Thank you for all the kind words and I felt humbled.

I hope I have been that good a son to my mum; but I believed I hadn't done enough to make me feel that good.

Chang,

Thanks and I sure have lots of memories of my mum and dad; I love them.

June W,

Thanks June and I pray that my mum will continue to teach me and guide me.

Anonymous said...

Maverick,

My condolences to you and your family. May your family and you be comforted during these difficult times. God bless.

Stan, a M'sian in Philippines

Maverick SM said...

Stan,

Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your kind words.

Anonymous said...

My condolences, and I am very sure she is in good hands now and is happy.