Why do some people prefer cremation?

About the cremation, I did not feel it at all, nor did Helen, but there are those here who say it is not as comfortable a way  to come over as being buried. 

Why? 

Well, I fancy it breaks up tissue roughly, but so far as any of us are concerned, we believe it a safer way to destroy the body than to risk being attached to it too long. A lingering disease so loosens all the particles of the body that the envelope is slipped out of easily. With others who for any reason are too closely knit together, it is painful, but at worst, it is only for a few moments—or seconds, and if a person has any spirit at all worthwhile, it is a blessing to be so swiftly separated.

Here there are as many opinions, regarding cremation, as with you, both for and against, according to individual experience—or preference. 

A slow, patient temperament dislikes it. 

To such it seems too much like being yanked over here, while with me, I am only too glad to feel it was done. I do not hanker to tarry long away from my own. So far as I can see, it is about a stand-off, with the balance if any in favour of cremation—there being only discomfort in that, and no risk. 

What do I mean by risk? 

Well, when a soul and body separate too gradually, the soul has to stay on a low plane, peopled with the scum of life. These often amuse themselves by torturing the soul with all sorts of ingenious tales as to their whereabouts. These low souls are frequently very clever and can fool the ignorant new arrival and hamper his unfoldment. He knows nothing usually of what he is up against, and they play upon his credulity and keep him from coming higher as long as they can. 

Do you get me? 

Besides, the crematory is never a gathering place for harpies. They are better amused in graveyards, which remind me that there is a reason for so many primitive minds fearing a graveyard. It is the instinctive shrinking from contamination, for these places are filled with the worst elements here crowded. The embalmed bodies last so long that frequently their souls are tied there, and so make sport for the vicious-minded here. It is one of our missions to go to places of that sort and fight for the decent people there. The weak—or vicious dead we cannot help, they are among their own and must suffer, so you can well see why I far prefer cremation.

—Harry, Letters from Harry and Helen