Gyani Jasbir Singh, Vancouver, BC, Canada

For a living person, body is considered a temple for the soul. Body and Soul complement each other. To have a human body is a blessing of the Almighty whereby the purpose of a human being is to seek God by being God-conscious every moment in one’s life. While living in this world and carrying on with daily chores of life, the state of being God-conscious can be achieved according to the Sikh Faith by remembering the Name of God, being kind, truthful, honest, content, benevolent, loving, accepting the Will of God, caring for the whole creation of God and by being in service of others.

According to the Sikh Scripture: a body is pampered in the company of Soul. Without Soul, body is left to role in dust. In Soul’s company body has respect and dignity and it is in soul’s company that body is related to the world. It is in Soul’s company that body is decorated, without which it is reduced to dust.

After death, it is important that the dead body be disposed of in a proper manner. Depending upon resources and facilities’ availability, and for environmental reasons, cremation of a dead body is the first choice for the Sikhs. In the absence of proper facilities or lack of resources, the dead body can be disposed of in flowing water, or buried. There is no such taboo restricting the disposal of a dead body other than the concern for general environment.

According to Sikh code of conduct: ‘where arrangements for cremation cannot be made, there should be no qualm about the body being immersed in flowing water or disposed of in any other manner. After the cremation, when the pyre fire burns itself out and cools down, the whole bulk of the ashes, including the un-burnt remains, should be collected and immersed in flowing water or buried at that very place and the ground leveled.

According to the Sikh faith when a person dies, i.e. the soul departs from the body the corpse is considered as reduced to dust.

In the Guru Granth Sahib, our holy scripture, it is said, "If one anoints a corpse with the aromatic sandal-wood paste then what is one to gain out of it? If one throws corpse upon a heap of dirt, what will the corpse lose thereby?"

Generally we cremate the dead body just because that is a convenient way to dispose of the corpse. We do not do so because it will help the soul go to heaven. It is important that the dead body be disposed of in a proper manner.

"None of these methods helps or harms the soul in any manner. The soul remains unaffected by any treatment of the dead body. Therefore, the Sikhs are not restricted from donating the dead body or body organs for educational and research purposes or for saving life." Dr. Gurbakhsh Singh, Sikh Faith

If a dead body can be used to benefit the human race, to better understand the anatomical structure and make-up of the body and the way in which we ought to keep it healthy and protected, Sikhism does not object to the body works exhibit. If the exhibition of a dead body is used towards research and study to help provide us with a greater sense of knowledge then there is no reason for disapproval. Bodies that are donated to hospitals, for example, are only accessible to those researchers who study the body to further aid in the development and contribution to both the medical field and, ultimately, humankind. This exhibit is useful and serves a purpose to, not only researchers and doctors, but to the whole public which can benefit by seeing how the body works and, hopefully, understanding how to care for it.