In a mausoleum in the Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California, a stained glass window represents a potent symbol throughout the world—ancient and modern. In funerary symbolism it is depicted in many ways: as a yellow sphere; as spreading rays of light; as a geometric pattern shaped like a many-pointed star; as lines emanating from a single point outward in a fan pattern. The ancient Egyptians depicted a single ray of the sun as an obelisk in honor of their sun god Ra.
Like many symbols, there is a duality to the sunburst. For instance, when looking at the symbol, it is difficult to discern if it is a rising sun or a setting sun—which leads to its dual meaning. The rising sun represents the resurrection, rebirth, and eternal life. In fact, many Western cemeteries were oriented to bury the deceased facing the rising sun in anticipation of the return of the Savior God Jesus. The setting sun, however, represented death and the end of the mortal life.
Gravely Speaking 
This is a question that has been pondered by many, back to the beginning of our nation. Even Benjamin Franklin weighed in on this subject! The chair that George Washington used as President of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 features the carved image of a personified sun at the horizon line identical to those we find on grave markers of the period. Franklin noted,”I have often in the course of that session looked at that sun behind the president without being able to tell whether is was rising or setting: but now at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising sun and not a setting sun.” In this case Franklin was reflecting on the hope before the new nation, but the fact that he acknowledged the two options the sun carved on the chair-back offered–rising or setting–confirms it is a symbol that has always had the duality of meaning.
i just posted a comment on the sun post…. here’s the back of the president’s chair referenced by Franklin (the chair is in the American Revolution museum in Philly)