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Job and Kubler-Ross
Biblical and Buddhist Grief: A Comparison
Job's lamentations, according to Patricia Byrne (2002), represent the painful process of redefining his place in the world. Before Satan's challenge to God to test Job's faith, Job's life was the envy of his neighbors. With seven healthy and vibrant sons and three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand oxen, five hundred donkeys, and an untold number of servants, Job was a profoundly wealthy man (Job 1:2-4, King James Version). Job's sons and daughters feasted every day, leaving the reader to imagine a life of happiness and fulfillment. To forestall vanity however, Job thanked God daily for all he had been given. When Satan challenges God to test Job's faith, all this is stripped away and his body and mind are tormented with disease.
Job begins his grieving process by cursing the day he was born and wishing he had died on that day before he took his first breath (Job 3:1-26). Job appears to be in a state of shock and anger, although it is hard to intuit the emotional content from some of the passages. For example, Job could be either angry or depressed when making the statement: "Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?" (Job 3:11). Hope appears to be lost and Job wishes that the life he has been given had never happened. The third chapter in the Book of Job probably fits best into the anger phase of Kubler-Ross's five stages of grief (Kellehear, 2013), although shock and depression also seem evident. The co-occurrence of different stages of grief is consistent with...
The statement: "… the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21), seems to indicate a lack of comprehension of how serious his situation is. At this point in the story, Job had lost all his livestock, servants, sons, and daughters, so Lyon's point is well taken. Lyon considers the seventh chapter as an example of the anger phase of grief, specifically 7:11-15. Within these passages Job has seemingly recovered from the deep despair evident in chapter three and has begun to vent his rage and frustration. As Job vents, argues, and discusses his fate with his friends, Job transitions back and forth between the first four stages of grief as defined in Kubler-Ross's model, but never fully reaches acceptance before God steps in and restores Job's former life.
Roshi Joan Halifax (2006), a practicing Zen priest in New Mexico, had to contend with grief on a personal level when her mother passed away. Although she recognized that a 'good' Buddhist would let go of any remaining attachments to her mother and accept the reality of death, she instead found herself immersed in her own sorrow. When she later took a trip to the Himalayas and Tibetan monks instructed her to "… let her [mother] be undisturbed by grief" (p. 261), she discovered that she was ready to do exactly…
References
Byrne, Patricia Huff. (2002). "Give sorrow words": Lament -- contemporary need for Job's old time religion. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 56(3), 255-264.
Halifax, Joan. (2006). A Buddhist's perspective on grieving. Explore, 2(3), 260-261.
Kellehear, Allan. (2013). On Death and Dying: Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and the Five Stages of Grief. EKRFoundation.org. Retrieved 18 Sep. 2013 from http://www.ekrfoundation.org/five-stages-of-grief/.
Lyon, Deborah S. (2000). Before Kubler-Ross: Lessons about grief from the Book of Job. Obstetrics & Gynocology, 96(1), 151-152.
Job in the Bible and the Grieving Process Review story Job Bible, focusing suffering grief. Examine story correlates grieving process defined Kubler-Ross. 3) In a paper 750-1000 words include: a) Compare contrast grieving process defined Kubler-Ross story Job religion. The understanding of the process of grief helps many to understand how to deal with their emotions and also how to react physically to the loss. Kubler-Ross described a five stage process
grieving process focus work Kubler-Ross' grieving process stages grief. Review story Traditionally, the conception of grief is intrinsically related to death and, indeed, death is certainly one of the most readily applicable situations in which grief is manifest. However, grief and the process of grieving is applicable to virtually any negative situation, such as the loss of a job, a home, or of a romantic relationship. Grief is often magnified
Job and Suffering Humans have a lengthy history in dealing with the idea of suffering. Can anyone forget the relates the trials of Job, a devout man of God, at the hands of Satan, and his theological discussions with various characters on the nature of suffering and the relationship between God and Mankind? The poem attempts to address a basic problem for humanity -- the problem of good vs. evil --
Grieving It is human nature to grieve over a loss or something upsetting that has happened in a person's life. It should be noted that there are many ways of handling grief. Many experts have given their opinion and talked about how to deal with it. Furthermore, different religions have their own guides and ways of dealing with grief. Lastly, it should be noted that every person has a way of
Grief and Religion The Five Stages of Grief and Religion In 1969, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, a Swiss researcher, presented a list of five stages that individuals experience when dealing with death; and since then these principles have since been applied to loss and grief in general. The five stages of the Kubler-Ross model are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance; and it can be asserted that these stages are experienced in one
Yet, Kubler-Ross is not without critics, as many contend that there exists no real evidence that stages are present in coping with death (Stages pp). According to Robert Kastenbaum, using the term "stages" implies that there is a set order of set conditions, and asserts that there is no evidence that dying people go through the exact Kubler-Ross stages in their proper order (Stages pp). He believes that any patient