Everyone must have heard the phrase ‘living death,’ some time or the other. But ever heard of a South Korean living funeral?
A South Korean healing center in Seoul offers just that. The Hyowon Healing Center has had over 25,000 people take part in their mass living funeral services, since its establishment in 2012.
Funeral For The Living:
This South Korean living funeral is a free service that is offered to people of all ages. From young students to retired individuals, people from all walks of life have been a part of this bizarre event.
The whole process of simulating death starts with the participants writing their last testaments, taking funeral portraits, after which they put on shrouds and lie inside a closed coffin for 10 minutes.
Apparently, those 10 minutes inside the coffin enable people to become more aware of their lives and make them more capable at handling life situations. The experience makes people appreciate their lives, seek forgiveness and reconcile with their family and friends.
A Kind Of Re-Awakening
People who’ve taken part in their own living funerals have recounted several kinds of experiences. As you become conscious of your own death and lie in anticipation of it, you tend to take a new approach towards life.
Students who took part in the event claimed that they were able to realize that they’ve been proceeding in life as though it were a competition, and that after their ‘funeral’ service, they’ve been able to approach challenges, one at a time. Some others added to this saying that it is important to learn and prepare for death at a young age.
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What Is Its Relevance?
Once we look at the bigger picture, the South Korean living funeral idea becomes less and less bizarre. South Korea ranked 33 out of 40 countries that were surveyed in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Better Life Index.
Moreover, in 2016, the country’s suicide rate was 20.2 per 100,000 residents, which is almost double the global average of 10.53, according to the World Health Organization.
All this is what prompted the healing center’s head Jeong Yong-mun to come up with this unusual idea. He is happy that he has been able to dissuade a lot of people contemplating suicide, through the living funeral service.
The Pursuit Of Happiness
Isn’t it strange that to live in the present and to cherish every moment in life, one has to ‘die’ while living? Like in this South Korean tale of ‘death and rebirth,’ humans all over the globe are forgetting that one thing that makes life worth living – happiness.
The South Korean living funeral example is just another reminder of the longstanding notion of quality over quantity of life. Who knows, people may come up with more outlandish things in their pursuit of happiness.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Reuters, Times Now News, The Economic Times
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