No sarcophagus, coffin placed directly in the Earth.

[patrice]

Those were JP II's wishes.

Interesting. I'm surprised.

[MADem]

1. It was three coffins, actually

The cedar one was placed inside one of zinc. Those two placed in one of walnut, then it was buried...just like the Saint who used to occupy that same grave.

[patrice]

3. Darn, I thought there was something he and I agreed about.

I want to just be wrapped in some cloth of some type and planted in the dirt. Recycled.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Unfortunately,

the heavy metals that have accumulated in our bodies, classify us has hazardous waste.

[MADem]

16. If he is beatified, it gets worse, I fear

They'll dig him up, like they did good Pope John, and lay him out again. They put a wax mask on Pope John when they did this...and they buried JP2 with a silk cloth over his face.

I know some think he was not embalmed, but he was. I read an interview with the guy who embalmed John (they maintained the fiction about him when they dug him up, too, but he was preserved, because the guy said he was!) and the embalmer was thrilled with his work after all those years. He was irritated that they put the wax mask on him because he said that John looked the same as the day they put him in the ground.

[maxsolomon]

2. why are you surprised? he was serious about that dust to dust stuff

myself, i'm hoping to be left out in the open on a raised platform native american-style.

the birds can have my flesh.

[patrice]

5. I've heard that Tibetan Buddhists do that.

Not on platforms, I think, but left out for the birds to take.

[signmike]

6. I'd as soon go in the ground and let the worms do their work...

THEN the birds will have their turn.

[patrice]

7. Then cats get the birds.

Obviously the best course!

[goodboy]

4. I`d like to be jettisoned into outer space, where I came from. (nt)

[wuushew]

8. cost to launch into orbit is $10,000 per pound

maybe when they perfect space elevators the price will come down.

My lifeless corpse is going to science or cremation. I find cemeteries like golf courses a waste of valuable real estate.

[MADem]

17. Be careful about science!

You could end up in the lips of a Hollywood Starlet!!! They make a more permanent collagen from ... people. Yuch! How people can go in and have people injected into themselves, I cannot fathom.

But perhaps that is your destiny...?:D

[Abelman]

9. Two ways:

Either covered with cement and a statue of me formed around my dead body

OR: Buried naked with a tree planted over my grave. I'd be fertilizer!

[AzDar]

10. I like the tree idea...always wanted it to be a fruit tree..so folks can

eat me!(that sounds a bit rude, doesn't it?)LOL

[LiberallyInclined]

19. a third way-

i told my wife that if i die first, i want a taxidermist to stuff and mount me(and NOT in a necrophiliac kinda way), and the wire me up as a lamp...cause if she dies first, that's what i have in mind for her.

[Canuckistanian]

12. I want a Klingon funeral

Someone staring into my eyes as I die and screaming into my face.
Then a Klingon will say, "He is an empty shell. Dispose of him as you will."

[SemperEadem]

13. I want to donate my body to The Body Farm

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/10/31/body.farm/
http://web.utk.edu/~anthrop/

I can't stand the thought of being buried in a box or being burned to a crisp. I know I'll be dead, but while I'm alive, I can't bear the thought of those two ends. I'd rather my body serve a purpose rather than aimlessly rot.

[Dem2theMax]

14. This sure doesn't look like dirt to me.

I don't think he got his wish after all. Unless his idea of 'directly into the earth' meant 'surrounded by marble.'

Here's the link to the article that goes with the picture.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4424477.stm

[MADem]

18. It makes sense

If he is beatified, he comes up again and is laid out for that ceremony. It would be a bit dicey if he were surrounded by dirt, even with the three coffins.

[hunter]

15. Eventually there will be a check box on your official will.

After your usable organs are recovered, what would you like us to do with the remains? (circle one)

Anything To Oil
-or-
Soylent Green


"Buried to become dust" will not be an option.