Memento Mori, a Latin phrase meaning “Remember Death”, has been – since the mediaeval times – an anchor used by philosophers and ascetics alike as a constant reminder of death and decay, aiding them to shift their focus away from desires for sense gratification and towards what’s philosophically or spiritually profound. This reminder is often conveyed through the use of skulls, flowers, candles, etc., each signifying impermanence and the persistence of time.
At first glance this concept feels grim and dull, impractical for a family man or any person with deep and sincere love for life and the benefit of society. Despite its ability to make us feel more grounded, humble, moral, content and altruistic one might still feel that such a way of thinking would turn the society towards a lack of drive, passivity and inertia.
And it’s highly likely that to an undeveloped mind, constant reminders of mortality would induce fear, a sense of unfairness, limitation, despair and disappointment, but one could introduce a subtle change and turn ‘Memento mori’ to actually mean something along the lines of another popular Latin phrase called ‘Carpe Diem‘, meaning ‘Seize the day’. How many times have you procrastinated or not grabbed an opportunity or not made the best of the time available with a loved one and regretted it later?
I have a weird sense of appreciation and love for life, and I see memento mori in a broader and deeper sense. To me, ‘memento mori’ means not to cling to anything because the process of nature is such that things are constantly evolving and transforming, and even if you cling, there’s nothing to worry about because when you can’t give up on something, the process will achieve that for you; it will dissolve it away. It will take away the people, situations and things you no longer need.
Then you can truly appreciate everything and everyone in your life, for you know that nothing would last forever, not even YOU. And this is the true freedom because everything belongs to the one who seeks not to possess. Then you can truly enjoy, and then you truly live. Hence, ‘Memento Mori’ is subtly transformed to yet another but not so popular Latin phrase, ‘Memento Vivere’, meaning ‘Remember to live’.
Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly. What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.
– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
It also teaches us to not rush toward the end because what happens in the end? What happens after a flower blooms? The petals fall! So before the petals fall, enjoy the flower stem, the bud, the blooming, all the scents, colours, and the humming of the bees. And don’t worry about petals falling either because after the petals fall and soil covers it, someday there’s a new stem and new bud and a new flower. This is the dance of life and death, inhale and exhale, systolic and diastolic. Two sides of a coin. The grand and eternal game. This, I think, is the true idea behind Memento Mori.
What are your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments below. If you found this post helpful or entertaining, do share it with your loved ones. Memento Mori 😆
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