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Following up on my reading of Roshi Joan Halifax’s “Being with Dying,” Chapter 18 digs into the topic of caring for the body of a dying person after death. Since our society “protects” us from seeing dead bodies, most of us have very little experience in this area. Here are a few of the things I learned:

1. Familiarize yourself with the faith and beliefs of the dying, ask specifically what they want you to do with the body after death
2. Ask “what guides and supports you in your life? what do you have faith in? what really matters to you?”
3. Many traditions believe that the spirit or consciousness remains present for a time; so you need to show respect after death
4. Immediately after death, try to keep the atmosphere around the body simple and quiet. If possible, don’t disturb or touch the body.
5. Since rigor mortis doesn’t set in for about two hours, you have plenty of time to bathe and dress the body
6. When you do bathe the body, plain water might not work well as the dying person often will defecate, urinate, vomit or sweat. You may need to gently bathe with a small amount of alcohol to close the pores and some mild aromatic tea
7. If the body will be viewed at home, you may want to brush teeth, place a condom or cotton to close holes in case their is leakage
8. You might want to close the eyes and tape them shut. And use a scarf around the head to close the mouth. Once rigor mortis sets in, you can remove the tape and scarf.
9. Choose light-fitting clothing and don’t cover the body. Open windows to get air circulating. But there is nothing inherently dangerous about a dead body for a short while.
10. It is usually easiest to attend to the body before contacting a doctor to administer a death certificate. The same with contacting a burial home – they will often come right away and you’ll loose your opportunity to do something with your beloved that might feel like a vital connection to the life cycle.