Aging Japanese hope for a "discreet death"

IKARUGA, Japan (AFP) - A heart attack or sudden natural ailment would be a dream come true for the pilgrims who flock to this Japanese town where, nestled in the bamboo, an ancient temple is reputed to fulfill a modern wish: discreet death.

Winter is the most quiet time for the Kichidenji Buddhist temple, but a group of four elderly people braved the cold weather to make their annual pilgrimage and pray they would not burden families in their final years.


"I want to pop off. I think more and more people feel the same way in the greying society," 68-year-old housewife Haruko Nakashima said as she prepared to pray. The temple, established in western Japan by scholar monk Genshin in 987, is said to help the faithful "pop off" from this world because the holy man's mother passed away peacefully after wearing clothes he had cast prayers on.

Devotees believe if they put their underwear in front of the huge statue of Amitabha, an incarnation of the Buddha, and pray, they will be able to die in a way their loved ones secretly long for.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050220/lf_afp/afplifestylejapan_050220225746

most people want the same thing. I know I do.

I don't think our churches are ready for that :)

a long agonizing death is something I certainly would never wish for myself or any of my loved ones.

(Sorry)

The world that is being constructed holds such grim prospects that the option of refusing to live in that world and denying those who are constucting the world power over the individual seems more and more honorable.

:eyes:

in fact the most vulnerable group here in the USA are the people 50-64. Lots of them have no insurance (due to downsizing/outsourcing/offshoring), and are at a critical time in their lives. These are the years when serious illnesses often manifest themselves. There are lots of folks in this age group, who are taking care of their own parents, and still supporting their kids.. Doing this, while tring to save for their retirement, and doing it all on less income that people their age used to make..

There was a time when the PEAK earning years were the ones just before retirement.. That's not the norm anymore, I fear.. I am of that age group, and I hear almost weekly of another acquaintance who has been "laid off" just before a "retirement benefit" eligibility.. It's "Sorry Sucker, thanks for all your efforts, but we can get TWO cheap 25 year olds in your place" for less money..and they will bring down the "demographic age" for the company insurance policy..

There are laws against age discrimination, but it's kind of hard to fight a corporation when you have NO JOB and you still have all the obligations you had before you were "expendable"..

These people are probably the most stressed people on earth, because their own mortality is staring them in the face, every time the look at their aged parent(s), and yet they wonder if they will even make it that far..

People their (our) parents ages were the last "gravy train" era... some of them double and triple dippers in the pension arena. I personally know an older gent who gets a military pension, a state pension, a teachers retirement, and social sec. His wife gets a teacher's pension and a city govt pension and SS.. They earned these pensions, to be sure, but they are making almost DOUBLE what they ever made when they werte both working.. People in the Boomer generation will have very slim pickin's...Our parent's generation will be the last "comfortable retirement" generation...

From here on out, it's dog-eat-dog...survival-of-the-fittest...and sadly, at the most vulnerable time in an adult life:(

I think the Japanese elders are right:)

"most vulnerable group" 50-64 you mention. I have NO health insurance now, am self-employed (somewhat, but not making much), for over ten years have been fighting a lawsuit against a developer/big insurance who destroyed my family's farm (with little hope of ever settling this), and I have a handicapped brother my age and a mother in her late 80s. On top of everything else I have joined the ranks of the Election Fraud Fighters.

All that said, I don't feel vulnerable, I feel empowered. Why I don't know, I'm probably headed for hell in a handbasket, but I know plenty of people 20 years younger than I am (meaning they are in their 20s!) who have given up; they actually think they are OLD now... yeah right life sucks, that and a token used to get you on the NY Subway.

I will "pop off" when the time comes. If it is tomorrow, I will feel cheated but that's when it will be. If it is when I am 118, I intend to keep living fully up to October of 206x...

heh heh ;-)