What Is Happy Death? From the Perspective of Happiness Education

This paper is to review what is happy death from the perspective of happiness education. To discuss this study logically, four research questions are addressed. First, what is the concept of human death? Second, what are life and death from the Eastern and the Western religious viewpoints? Third, what is happy death in terms of happiness education? Last, what are the implications of happy death for Korean higher education? To defend these research questions, a descriptive content analysis method will be used, with a cross-cultural approach. In order to discuss the questions, this paper is defined as the following: happy death is limited to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Christianity. In particular, this paper is mainly focused on Suttanipata and Dhammapada in Buddhist Sutras, Analects and Mencius in Confucian Classics, Tao Te Ching and Zhungzi in Taoist Scriptures, and the Old Testament and the New Testament in the Christian Bible. The significance of this study is to provide basic theories and useful resources regarding happiness education for educational theorists and practitioners, finding the theories of happy death in the Eastern and the Western religions. Based on the results of this study, as Zhuangzi's saying, what has made one's life a good will make one's death also a good. That is, happy death depends closely or entirely on happy life. Finally, the author wishes that this academic paper would provide educational practitioners and theorists with basic theories and useful resources for happiness education and death education.