Catholics are forbidden from keeping the ashes of cremated loved ones at home, scattering them, dividing them between family members or turning them into mementos, the Vatican has ruled....I wonder if there is a time when the living can let the dead rest in peace.
Ashes must be kept “in a holy place, that is a cemetery or a church or in a place that has been specifically dedicated to this purpose. The conservation of ashes in the home is not allowed,” he said.
“Furthermore, in order to avoid any form of pantheistic or naturalistic or nihilistic misunderstanding, the dispersion of ashes in the air, on the ground, on water or in some other way as well as the conversion of cremated ashes into commemorative objects is not allowed.”
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
ruling for dead/living Catholics
Am I wrong, or is there something intrusive and somewhat desperate in it all?
The last sentence thankfully reminds me of the Diamond Sutra, otherwise at this juncture I truly am clueless about how else to go about with my zazen. There are many English translations, most differ slightly yet generally the same context, this is an excerpt from Lapis Lazuli Texts, "‘All different types of sentient beings, whether born from eggs, born from wombs, born from moisture, or born from transformation; having form or no form; having thought, no thought, or neither thought nor no thought—I will cause them all to become liberated and enter Remainderless Nirvāṇa.’ Yet when sentient beings have been liberated without measure, without number, and to no end, truly no sentient beings have been liberated. "
ReplyDeleteFrom my teachers translation of the heart sutra:
ReplyDeleteTHEREFORE IN EMPTINESS, NO FORM, NO FEELINGS, NO PERCEPTIONS,
NO FORMATIONS, NO CONSCIOUSNESS;
NO EYES, NO EARS, NO NOSE, NO TONGUE, NO BODY, NO MIND;
NO COLOR, NO SOUND, NO SMELL, NO TASTE, NO TOUCH, NO OBJECT OF MIND;
NO REALM OF EYES UNTIL NO REALM OF MIND-CONSCIOUSNESS;
NO IGNORANCE AND ALSO NO EXTINCTION OF IT UNTIL NO OLD AGE AND DEATH AND ALSO NO EXTINCTION OF IT;
NO SUFFERING, NO ORIGINATION, NO STOPPING, NO PATH, NO COGNITION;
ALSO NO ATTAINMENT, WITH NOTHING TO ATTAIN