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Brief Historical Perspective
About twenty-five years ago, I was asked to perform last religious rites for a departed soul of a friend's father in Cleveland. I did not know what to do, so immediately I referred to many religious books. Regrettably, none of them had any written procedure. However, somehow I managed to pull it through. It was not up to the mark, in my opinion, and I always wanted to improve the performance. Consequently, I have endeavored to compile a simple and thoughtful procedure and guideline for funeral of a loved one in North America.
Some time in 1994, I was discussing this topic with Dr. Balabhadra Bruce Constain of Canada who was then living in Columbus, Ohio, and he agreed to help me prepare a draft of such procedures. In 1995, Balbhadraji prepared a draft, which is incorporated in this document.
In order to facilitate this project, in spring of 2003 a few members of the Jain Center of Central Ohio met and discussed the difficulties faced by families during funeral of their bved ones. An ad hoc committee of concerned people was established. A draft document was prepared and circulated amongst the few concerned community members.
I sent the original draft prepared by Balbhadraji to Rashmibhai Shah with a request to share it with others. We had a few exchanges of information, which resulted in new draft procedures, which are also incorporated in this document.
I refer to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) guidelines for the funeral, as well as newspaper articles, and National/local Funeral Homes Association's web sites to incorporate as many things as necessary to have workable practices for the funeral of a loved one. I spent countless number of hours in editing, writing, rewriting, researching and making eyewitness accounts of funerals I personally attended. Finally, a draft copy of this document was circulated to a few others in North America. Mr. Prakash Modi of Toronto, Dr. Sulekh Jain of Houston, Texas and Jasvantbhai Mehta of Edmonton, Canada, sent many positive comments, which have been included in the final document.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all who helped in preparation of this one of a kind document for the Jain Community of North America particularly - Rashmibhi Shah of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, for providing the copy of initial draft and Mrs. Bharati Salgia for proof reading and guiding me at every stage as I proceeded to prepare a "how to do' manual for the funeral of a loved one.
I am also very thankful to Drs. Shary Ratliff, Kerry Cheesman of Capital University and Dr. Tarunjit Butalia of The Ohio State University for providing much needed editorial comments and rearranging words for clarity and smooth reading.
I am sure this document has many deficiencies; however, everyone who has touched this document had their heart in the right place with a view to helping people in their expressed need.
This document is not copyrighted; please make changes as you see fit in your own special circumstances. This is our gift 'in need to the whole Jain community of North America.
Tansukh J. Salgia
Columbus, Ohio August 15, 2004
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