We Do Ash Wednesday A Lot

 

 

 

 

"Remember - You Are Dust"

Last week, I was up at the State Fish Pier in Gloucester talking to my friend Mike (not his real name). The topic of conversation got around to the Easter season.. I asked Mike when Easter was this year.. He told me he had no idea.. I asked if he had already been to Ash Wednesday services.. He told me that he had - and several weeks ago.. "Ah..." I said, "So y'all are in Lent now."  I went on to tell him that Ash Wednesday is my favorite Catholic holy day. I love the smear of palm ash on people's foreheads.  I love the "Remember - You Are Dust" bit. Very Buddhist. Very "First Dharma Seal" (I didn't tell him the Buddhist stuff.. I don't think I've told him that I'm a Bood yet..). "And - " I said, "We do Ash Wednesday quite often when we are together on this pier."  "How's that?" he asked..  I told him, "Well - almost every time I leave you when it's time for me to go home and cook some dinner for Doff, you remind me that we never know when we're going to die, and specifically - that you yourself might die tonight -  and to keep movin', and to keep doin' what I need to do - because we never know when our time is up." Some people might find Mike's daily reminder morbid, or (especially young people) maudlin. I find his reminders to be helpful. "Memento Mori" - "Remember - You Are Dust" - "Don't waste your motherfucking time." It's like a daily dose of the Buddha's teaching in the Sutra of Forty Two Sections: The Buddha asked a Shramana [a seeker], "How long is the human life span?" He replied, "A few days. " The Buddha said, "You have not yet understood the Way." He asked another Shramana, "How long is the human life span?" The reply was, "The space of a meal." The Buddha said, "You have not yet understood the Way." He asked another Shramana, "How long is the human life span?" He replied, "The length of a single breath." The Buddha said, "Excellent. You have understood the Way. " ~