Dying ‘Buddhish’: Death, Diversity, and Worldview Complexity in and Beyond Australia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26034/lu.jgb.2024.4861Keywords:
death, deathstyles, end-of-life, Buddhish, Buddhism, AustraliaAbstract
Buddhism contributes significantly to spirituality and wellness practices in contemporary Australia, influencing a new way of life not just for converts, but also broader society. Less frequently observed, however, is how Buddhism and Buddhist-inspired phenomena contribute to a new way of death or “deathstyle”. This paper examines the position of Buddhism within mainstream end-of-life and death care in Australia, focusing on those phenomena we describe as “buddhish”: derived from or inspired by Buddhism, but sitting outside its institutional structures. Our research, comprising online service scoping, a survey, and interviews with deathcare workers, suggests that buddhish deathcare is successful in Australia because of its compassionate and pragmatic approach. It also occupies a middle way, drawing on but also distinct from the biomedical, religious, and spiritual. In analysing the triangulation of buddhish death in this manner, this article advances our understanding of postmodern or new death movements, theories of worldview complexity in the post-secular age, and how Buddhism is contributing to both.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Hannah Gould, Anna Halafoff, Ruth Fitzpatrick

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.