"Rest in Peace". An odd and meaningless saying.

RIP... "Rest in Peace".

the person is gone. dead/toast/meat. and we chirp up, "rip". a resurrection deal i suppose. death denial. and peace. can the nonsentient experience peace? silly shiity words to cover what we really mean which is that we feel bad and are afriad of our own demise. so we sugar it up for the grieving and indulge our own inability to accept death. meaningless bullshit formed into words.

rest in peace. it aint no rest. rest ends. and peace isnt a place and if it was lifeless meat wouldnt know it. what crap we tell each other when confronted with the ultimate end.

thoughts?

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Originally Posted by obsidian

RIP... "Rest in Peace".

the person is gone. dead/toast/meat. and we chirp up, "rip". a resurrection deal i suppose. death denial. and peace. can the nonsentient experience peace? silly shiity words to cover what we really mean which is that we feel bad and are afriad of our own demise. so we sugar it up for the grieving and indulge our own inability to accept death. meaningless bullshit formed into words.

rest in peace. it aint no rest. rest ends. and peace isnt a place and if it was lifeless meat wouldnt know it. what crap we tell each other when confronted with the ultimate end.

thoughts?

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It's not said to help the dead, they don't give a fuck 'cos they're dead. It's to placate, calm and subdue the fear of the living. That 's what, IMO, the whole funeral thing, regardless of religion, is about. Calming the fears of the living. Giving them some tenuous link to hold on to.
And a good excuse for a piss up.

^Agreed with that spot on

I've always thought R.I.P was a bit of a silly term myself.

Wishing someone to have a peaceful rest in death makes it sound like their life was a noisy, stressful, unhappy experience. If I were dead I'd want R.I.P to stand for Restart Infinite Party

It is Latin and stands for " Requiescant in pace"
Samething though- they are resting in peace

Do buddhists have similar saying , or does the reincarnation theory mean they have no need for one ?

Rest in peace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ive never quite understood it. Maybe its because our family aren't all that religious. I only found out a year or so ago after a mate was going to marry some churchgoer that certain Christians or whatever dont believe in dinosaurs, I was gobsmacked.

I've always basically assumed that the protocols associated with death are to placate the living.

For me, "rest in peace" is a wish with a very real purpose, a nice way to say "I hope you got everything you wanted out of your life and didn't die a tormented prisoner of your earthly hangups, a torment that might very well convince you to hang around this world and bother us as some sort of malevolent ghost, so please get the f*ck out of here and have a joyous ride in the next world".

Death rituals, ceremonies and sayings are all centered around the living because nobody knows what, if anything, awaits the dead.

RIP is nothing more than a sentiment that those who remain alive have taken some effort toward making the dead person comfortable (in case something awaits him/her). Sort of like throwing an extra pair of underwear in your knapsack in case you get stranded somewhere and have to spend an overnight.

Talking of odd and meaningless sayings, what about "You can't take it with you when you die"?
Can't say the thought of my idle layabout relatives pissing what's left of my money up the wall when I'm gone fills me with joy. I plan to have my money and me stuffed into a firework and give one of them the honour of ligting it - preferably with a thousand baht note.

Nah, they'll dump you in the river and piss your fortune away. Spend it yourself. If I fall over dead after spending my last satang, I'll consider myself fulfilled.

Better yet, if I run up an exorbitant bar tab, with no money, and keel over in my barstool, having traded my watch and belt for a BJ earlier in the night, I'll be happy.

Yeah, fair do's.
If only we could know the date and time when our number's up...

I always thought it stemmed from a time when the supernatural was believed in far more than now, from when ghost, ghouls, vampyres, faeries and other spirits were widely believed in. By telling the spirit to rest in peace, you were trying to stop it returning & possibly bringing ill will or even other spirits to upset your family, and make bad things happen to crops, business etc.

^ Sounds like modern Thailand actually. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by November Rain

I always thought it stemmed from a time when the supernatural was believed in far more than now, from when ghost, ghouls, vampyres, faeries and other spirits were widely believed in. By telling the spirit to rest in peace, you were trying to stop it returning & possibly bringing ill will or even other spirits to upset your family, and make bad things happen to crops, business etc.

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That's a good point but, in olden days, people were , in fact, buried with any number of bits of wealth. I believe that the saying comes from hoping that the sanctity of the grave is not disturbed by thieves and looters.

[quote=Loombucket;652084]

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Originally Posted by November Rain

I believe that the saying comes from hoping that the sanctity of the grave is not disturbed by thieves and looters.

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You mean your widow trying to pull your gold fillings out, nick your necklace, chain, ring, etc?

It's like you can't be had for defamation, or libel when you're speaking of the dead.

Never speak ill of the dead. Tell 'em to FO when they're still mobile.

I intend to die with a hard-on and a smile.:)