Death in Gensokyo

[Attrition]

READ BEFORE PROCEEDING : There is a very real possibility that 90% of what I'm about to say is conjecture.

So, death. After reading The End of the Maiden's Illusion (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/778), [SPOILERS AHEAD] I started thinking about death in Gensokyo. In The End of the Maiden's Illusion, Reimu dies and decides to get reincarnated. On the ferry ride across the Sanzu River, Komachi tries to convince her to ascend to become a celestial so she won't be gone forever. So, I deduced that there's 4 options after you die. (assuming the person has a choice in the matter)

Option A: Ascend and become a Celestial
Option B: Get reincarnated
Option C: Go to the Netherworld
Option D: Hell

Now, I understand you're probably thinking "Who would ever choose to go to Hell?" I'm not saying going to Hell is a choice, but a possibility. And, becoming a Celestial has a few different criteria, so it's also out of the hands of the dead person. Let's look at each option individually.

Ascending to Celestial

Becoming a Celestial means you'd have to achieve Nirvana through reincarnation, or be judged worthy by the Yama to be able to ascend. Tenshi is the only celestial that comes to mind at the moment, so I'll use her as an example. Tenshi seems to be able to come and go from the living plain of Gensokyo as she pleases, despite being dead. I'll come back to this point later.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation means you get reborn as another living thing.Only problem is, the original "you" is lost to allow you to become whatever you get reborn as, whether it be a water spider, a mosquito, etc. (if I'm wrong feel free to correct me on any of this as I'm not the most familiar with the subject)

Netherworld

The Netherworld being "the land where ghosts and spirits reside after death", (From the "Netherworld" page of the Touhou Wiki) the spirits of those who have passed on, live on in the Netherworld. The most obvious example of someone who died and now lives in the Netherworld is Yuyuko Saigyouji. As we all (should) know, Yuyuko nearly stole springtime from Gensokyo during the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom. She can interact with the living world, despite A being dead, and B the gate/barrier between Gensokyo and the Netherworld. Yuyuko can interact with the people in the living world as well.

So, remember what I said about Tenshi despite her being dead? I'll explain that now.

Being a Celestial or living in the Netherworld seems to mean you can come and go from Gensokyo at your leisure, and interact with the people there. So, if you die, and fall into the category of either Celestial or Netherworld Resident, you're never truly dead, are you? If you can return to where you once lived and talk to your friends and family, albeit as a ghost or Celestial, you're not really gone. The only way you're truly gone is to be reincarnated or get sent to Hell by the Yama.

Anyway, feel free to add your own input and tell me what I got wrong.

TL;DR Version: People die but don't really die

UPDATE: Crossed out incorrect info

[Helepolis]

You're having some incorrect information in there.

Tenshi, her true name being Chiko, became Celestial through "promotion" of her family's good serving, while being alive. She didn't die to become one, neither did her family.

[Attrition]

You're having some incorrect information in there.

Tenshi, her true name being Chiko, became Celestial through "promotion" of her family's good serving, while being alive. She didn't die to become one, neither did her family.

Anything else that needs fixing?

[Clarste]

Yuyuko is a special case, since her body is sealed underneath the tree. This prevents her from passing on like all other residents of the Netherworld eventually do. It's basically a holding zone for spirits that aren't ready to move on the next step yet.

You're also a bit harsh on the concept of reincarnation.

[CyberAngel]

Ascending to Celestial

Becoming a Celestial means you'd have to achieve Nirvana through reincarnation, or be judged worthy by the Yama to be able to ascend. Tenshi is the only celestial that comes to mind at the moment, so I'll use her as an example. Tenshi seems to be able to come and go from the living plain of Gensokyo as she pleases, despite being dead. I'll come back to this point later.

According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, celestial are either hermits that achieved immortality or the dead who entered Nirvana. The former have physical bodies, the latter don't. Tenshi is former. Both can descend to earth, though latter need to "borrow somebody's body".

Reincarnation

Reincarnation means you get reborn as another living thing.Only problem is, the original "you" is lost to allow you to become whatever you get reborn as, whether it be a water spider, a mosquito, etc. (if I'm wrong feel free to correct me on any of this as I'm not the most familiar with the subject)

It's more of a philosophical question, but it's possible to reincarnate and stay "yourself", just look at Akyuu. She is a special case because she keeps her memories, so others who reincarnate just lose their memories, their spirit remains intact (otherwise what's the point of a reincarnation?).

Netherworld

The Netherworld being "the land where ghosts and spirits reside after death", (From the "Netherworld" page of the Touhou Wiki) the spirits of those who have passed on, live on in the Netherworld. The most obvious example of someone who died and now lives in the Netherworld is Yuyuko Saigyouji. As we all (should) know, Yuyuko nearly stole springtime from Gensokyo during the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom. She can interact with the living world, despite A being dead, and B the gate/barrier between Gensokyo and the Netherworld. Yuyuko can interact with the people in the living world as well.

It's possible only because, during Perfect Cherry Blossom, Yukari weakened the border between Netherworld and Gensokyo, and still haven't fixed it properly. It's actually a big deal that ghosts from Netherworld can get into Gensokyo, Youmu actually has to gather them and bring them back.

Being a Celestial or living in the Netherworld seems to mean you can come and go from Gensokyo at your leisure, and interact with the people there. So, if you die, and fall into the category of either Celestial or Netherworld Resident, you're never truly dead, are you? If you can return to where you once lived and talk to your friends and family, albeit as a ghost or Celestial, you're not really gone. The only way you're truly gone is to be reincarnated or get sent to Hell by the Yama.

"Living" and "existing" are different things. "Living" has nothing to do with being inside or outside the place where dead should be. There are just "alive" and "dead" forms of beings. Humans, youkai, fairies or whatever are all "alive". Different kinds of spirits are "dead". A "living" being usually becomes a spirit - its "dead" form - after death. While "dead" and "alive" should stay in their worlds, it's possible for the "dead" to be in the world of living and vice versa. (Instances of still living beings visiting Netherworld being called "dead" are purely metaphorical.)

[Attrition]

You're also a bit harsh on the concept of reincarnation.

Ah, I don't mean to be.  Like I said, I'm not that familiar with it.

[Drake]

There is no choice in the matter for what happens to you (once you're truly dead no backsies). When one dies they make their way past the Road of Liminality and get to the Sanzu River in order to then get to Higan. Even the dead at this point still exist and they can buy things at the various stands on the road and interact "normally" (you can't talk). It's actually still possible at this point to come back to life, but the dead often don't realize that they're dead at this point. The dead pay for the trip across the Sanzu River with the total of all money spent on their behalf while they were alive. Accordingly, the Sanzu River "becomes shorter". Once you cross the river, you find yourself in Higan; you cannot go back and are dead. At this point you wait for the Yama to judge you.

If you're guiltless, you're sent to the Netherworld to chill out as a phantom until you reincarnate, according to the circle of transmigration, or you can buckle down and achieve nirvana. Because the barrier between the Netherworld and Gensokyo was weakened, you can go to and fro between them. If you manage to attain nirvana, you can go to Heaven, and would be called a Celestial. But again, there's nothing keeping anyone from going to visit Heaven. You could also be judged by the Yama as worthy to ascend to Heaven, or you could be judged to Hell. Either way you fall out of the cycle of reincarnation. This isn't often the case though; reincarnation is generally the goal. Heaven and Hell aren't easy to get to because the cycle has to perpetuate.

The only real realm that's been talked about is reincarnation into the Human realm. There's also the Animal realm, Deva realm, Asura realm, Preta realm and Hell realm, but it's unknown to what extent the Touhou canon uses these. The Preta realm is weird because Yuyuko is already considered a hungry ghost, and the Deva and Hell realms are weird because those concepts already exist. There's also never been mentions of the Asura or demi-gods in the same sense. So, it's really difficult to tell to what extent ZUN has incorporated Buddhist cosmology, but it's there.

Tenshi cheated in that her family served the Nawi clan while they were alive, and when they died, they became divine spirits (now known as Nawi-no-kami). The Hinanawi were then promoted to Celestials for their service. Tenshi herself hasn't attained nirvana or abandoned worldly desires.

Your point about "if you're dead you aren't really dead" is more or less right. There's the barrier of Higan, and you can't really escape from Hell, but you can go fairly freely through Gensokyo, the Netherworld, Heaven, and the underground. Plus spirits of the dead, phantoms, ghosts, vengeful spirits, corporeal Celestials, etc don't have any other boundaries, and this is entirely a consequence of ZUN squishing together so many different philosophies and mythologies and entities into one space.

[Leon゠Helsing]

So people don't really die when they are killed? :V
illshowmyselfoutkthxbai

[Clarste]

You could also be judged by the Yama as worthy to ascend to Heaven, or you could be judged to Hell. Either way you fall out of the cycle of reincarnation. This isn't often the case though; reincarnation is generally the goal. Heaven and Hell aren't easy to get to because the cycle has to perpetuate.

Hell isn't outside the cycle of reincarnation: Komachi gets annoyed at Kasen for destroying spirits from Hell because it upsets the balance. Same reason as Eiki getting annoyed at Youmu cutting spirits in the Netherworld. Hell seems to serve the same role as the Netherworld except it sucks for those sent there.

[Drake]

Mm, good reminder, thanks. I gleaned this from the PMiSS article on Higan, so I was about to say that this particular detail was retconned, but lo and behold it was yet another error where they simply forgot the word "temporarily". Temporarily you're outside of samsara, where you would serve out your punishment and eventually reincarnate. Oddly enough this is similar to the Hell realm where you'd build up karma, but the phrasing suggests this isn't considered a part of the cycle here and ZUN's just doing his own thing.

[Clarste]

My impression is that this was ZUN's slightly misunderstood interpretation of the traditional Hell realm.

[yap1996]

Touhou is influenced by different elements of many cultures and religions, so why not consider Gensokyo's its own original system?

As far as I know (I'm not a devout Buddhist at all  :V , so most of the research was done in wikis and stuff ), the Heaven in Gensokyo also falls under the Deva realm, which is still in the cycle of reincarnation. In-series references include Five signs of a Deva's death, etc. They just live absurdly long, carefree lives, perhaps billions of years?

Also, generally almost everyone, regardless of realm/rank/lifespan and such, has a chance to attain nirvana. Interestingly, the human realm is considered the most conducive for achieving enlightenment, whereas the Devas ironically experience no suffering so Heaven is a less optimal "environment", so to speak.

I don't remember where I got this idea from but Tenshi's realm should be a reference to Arupa Bhumi (非有想非無想処) or the "Sphere of neither perception nor non-perception", being the highest plane of existence. Supposedly the occupants are actually formless, so Gensokyo's version is a slightly frillier one. 

Edit: Fixed grammar mistakes.