ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 deals with loss, deaths, funerals and the search for missing persons. It shows how Buddhist monks and nuns were significant in consoling people after experiencing untimely death and ambiguous loss. This chapter investigates how the survivors handled their loss and found that ceremonies, temporary ordination and transference of religious merits to the deceased were of greatest importance. Both Buddhist and local ceremonies are discussed and the chapter examines how rituals and ceremonies became part of the survivors’ lives in new ways. They offered psychological reassurance and religious efficaciousness and were the communication links between survivors and the deceased.
