Mulch Therefore We Are
Saturday afternoon was spent in the yard mulching fallen leaves. Mulching is good work. The leaves are prepared for decay, a return to humus, bedding for future generations of trees. Does life have an absolute beginning, and a final end? Where is a line of separation between what is living, and the process of return to inanimate nutrients? The terms of botany are conveniences important to humans, so that we can assess and compare our understanding of this very old cycle of living-dying-living. Language, a mere convenience.
A few images which I captured over the past week of Fall colors. A contemporary edition of a Japanese lantern along with the flaming tigers eye sumac plant seems apt for this season. The five elements of Buddhist cosmology are represented by the lantern: The closest piece to the ground represents the earth (chi); the next part on top of it represents water (sui). The portion encasing the lantern’s light represents the fire (ka). The air (fu) and the spirit (ku) are symbolized by the upper section that is close to the sky.
Nutrient compounds, the building blocks of life, are symbolized by the small hand-blown glass vessel.
Enjoy!
2 thoughts on “Mulch Therefore We Are”
As is stated in the Bible’s Book of Common Prayer: ‘we therefore commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.
“In sure and certain hope . . ” What an odd phrase! I would say that “certain hope” is an oxymoron, for something is either hoped for or it is certain, but not both.
The sense that some form of consciousness or life is guaranteed after death by a person’s belief is surely one of the cruelest and most egregious of fantasies. It feeds believers the false sense that what is done on earth can be forgiven or undone in some kind of afterlife. Would the members of Hamas be so willing to trade life for death if they had not been assured of a spot next to Mohammed in heaven? We have seen or heard of this kind of sacrifice for millennia, a way to find eternal salvation by giving up one’s mortal life for a greater cause.
Sorry to be a dogma downer, but this is clearly utter nonsense. We have but one chance at enjoying our very narrow window of life before we actually do become dust once again. When we complete our cycle and return to the earth to nurture future bits of life that will use our nutrients, we leave a smattering of thoughts and impressions to those of our species who knew us or have been influenced by our musings. Even then, what we leave behind will be open to interpretation and we will not be able to clarify or correct.
I suppose there may come a time, if we do not completely obliterate ourselves, when life spans are counted in centuries instead of decades. But eventually they too will belong to the past, to follow their ancestors (us) into a form of oblivion. Infinity is only a concoction of the human mind. In nature the infinite does not exist, for everything has a turn, a beginning and an end.
To quote Pete Seeger’s lyrics:
To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under Heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
“sure and certain”, the phrasing is a clue that the writer or speaker has his fingers crossed. Agreed with your comments. If I were to add anything, I’d suggest that one life is enough. Just to have been born, to have entered being/consciousness is to have beat the odds.