Every culture on the face of the globe has its own view on death, and sometimes it even goes further to define what kind of death that can be called a good death; the manner of dying that is considered the best one, and how society perceives someone’s way of losing his / her life. And Balinese also have a definition of good death in relation with the manner of dying and their own view on someone’s way of losing life.

As in many other culture, an easy and sudden death is a good death for Balinese, a death which is preceded by a long and painful dying, acute sickness or extremely old age is a bad death. The easy and sudden death is deemed to be a good death not because it inflicts minimum pain and suffering to the deceased but rather that the deceased do not have to owe any service to his or her family. A long and painful death with long period of sickness and old age will make the deceased depend on the family to treat and to take care of him or her as a result he or she will owe a great service to his family. It is a proud for other family members that the deceased does not owe anything to anybody, he or she leaves the world without carrying any debt.

Balinese see that a good death is a reward for good person; he or she will not be allowed to experience pains and sicknesses at the moment of their departure. A long and painful death is believed by Balinese to be the result of someone’s wicked mind, speech and conduct; it is a punishment for his or her sins. Balinese also believe that those who practice black magic will suffer a long and painful death since his or her magical power will sustain his or her life for some time but does not make his or her condition any better.

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