Lent: Origins of Ash Wednesday: remove meat

Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

Meet me in the rectory for a "special" blessing.

"Ashes to ashes, funk to funk me, we know Major Tom's a junkie, strung out on heaven's high, hitting an all-time low," observes almost-Buddhist monk David Bowie (genius.com).

Where did it all begin? It surely wasn't with the Catholic ("Universal") Church, the great appropriator of all sorts of popular spiritual traditions it abrogates to itself with precious little explanation to its fan base.

• Buddhism has a "Lent" called the Rains Retreat (Vas or Vassa), with fasting, meditating, studying, and staying at the vihara or temple complex as the monastics go into retreat.
• The history of Mardi Gras is just as fun and exciting as the holiday itself

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  Please let me live for 40 days more.

  One of Wisdom Quarterly's "Mexican Buddhists," Pfc. Sandoval, also being Catholic, wants a Lenten sacrifice, removing meat like Catholicism (and many other Christian groups, mainly Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Ethiopian) originally called for until Vatican anti-popes like John Paul II watered the tradition down so much as to undermine it. The whole of Lent was originally about abstaining from killing and devouring animals, which is certainly kinder than the million animals killed a day in the USA for consumption with all the harm that does to the environment and climate.

Bless me, Padre, I want to go back to heaven.

Parishioners in the diocese like spectacle, cake (or communion wafers known as prasad in India and in Hinduism), along with all the candlelight, bells, recitations in a holy foreign language, and incense. It appeals to our sense of mystery and wonder.

Like most great spiritual things, India is the source. (Of course, Egypt and ancient Sumer) were replete with spiritual/religious hokum. It's not anything many civilizations were lacking -- except, oddly, one of the greatest, namely, the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). Excavations have not revealed religious practices or temples, nor has anyone deciphered their pre-Sanskrit writings.

Some mornings I draw my forehead designs, others I just white it all out. Then I hit the pipe.

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The West does asana in place of ashtanga.

The yogic sadhu ("holyman") tradition of spreading ashes all over one's body, with particular attention to designs on the forehead are definitely an ancient Indian custom. Wandering ascetics, not always having access to rivers (to wash away their sins, unskillful karma, or uncleanliness in) resorted to the very smart practice of smearing pyre ash all over themselves.

It is a great cleanser, absorbing oils and lifting dirt. It is then rubbed off like a facemask, revealing clean and rejuvenated skin. Think dry shampoo. Talcum powder became the custom in cold Europe, which needed to stay somewhat clean and not as smelly as the commoners. Cleanliness became close to godliness, which is odd because for so long it was not.

(Live Fit) Going vegan in Brazil starting this Lent

The mark of the good

Yoga practices are so cool and healthy.

Forehead art -- placing a mark (tilaka) as carefully as applied cosmetic makeup around the bindi or third eye, where Catholics now place a cross -- has been all the rage among holymen for centuries.

Incense ash will do, but pyre (cremation) ashes are more symbolic of being aware of death and accepting of our dust-to-dust journey in samsara (the continued wandering on of cyclical rebirths, which always end in death and redeaths).

• Vedânta philosophy; Why a Hindu is a vegetarian (1898)

That Saint Issa (Jesus Christ in India) would be aware of this practice is a certainty. See the scholarship of Holger Kersten, Nicolas Notovitch, and Swami Abhedananda.

It's a drishti (focal point) for darshan (to be seen as being holy), a puja (devotional) practice rededicating ourselves to our religious principles -- virtue and truth and the pursuit of all that is Good and to remind ourselves that life is fleeting.

• Buddhism's 13 sane ascetic practices or "austerities" were established to counter the extreme asceticism of some yogis who, as ineffectual "penance" for their sins, would practice extreme self-mortifications that only harmed the body while not purifying the mind/heart, leading away from the spiritual goal of liberation (moksha) rather than toward it.

The Buddha is a Catholic saint. (No, really).

So just as St. Issa/Jesus did tapas (austerities) to purify his mind and heart and exercise his spiritual powers, it is good for use to follow suit.

First things first, it's that time of year to "remove meat" (Latin carnival), to prepare our bodies for Lent to burn away sin (shake off accumulated bad karma) from our spiritual body as a penance, as a sadhana. If Issa/Yshua/Jesus could endure 40 days of not eating, we can surely endure 40 days of indulging in all the great vegan fare now available.

People want to live forever (in heaven), but they won't even stop killing (or paying someone to kill) and devouring animals for even half a season?

Ash Wednesday: a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day) and marks the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence (and sacrificing something we like by abstaining from it) before the rebirth that is Easter. It's the "long dark teatime of the soul" (Douglas Adams), as it were.

Fasting and abstinence

Not killing and not causing to kill, is that so hard? It's like the first commandment. Mercy.

Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, meditating alone without food -- and loving it.

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Where'd you go? Unknown years of Jesus

Many Lent-observing Christian denominations emphasize making a Lenten sacrifice, as well as fasting and abstinence during the season of Lent. This is particularly true on Ash Wednesday.

The First Council of Nicaea spoke of Lent as a period of fasting for 40 days [as a means of mental, physical, and spiritual purification] in advance of Easter.

Whatever the Council's original intent, this 40-day fast came into wide practice throughout the church [38].

While starting a Lenten sacrifice on Ash Wednesday (e.g., giving up porn, masturbating, meat, or cussing, or cellphone use), it is customary to pray for strength to keep it through the whole season of Lent.

• All such sacrifices (abstentions) are good tapas (austerities) performed for the sake of self-purification. If nothing else, they bring into sharp relief our bad habits, energy drains, and clear away distractions and deviance from leading the kind of "good life" we'd like to live. It's better if no one tells us what to give up. We know. We ourselves can see. It's just that letting go is so hard because we've built all sorts of supports to our harmful behaviors that have mortared our habits in place. Just do it. Let go. It's only temporary. Pick up the bad habits in 40 days.

Many often wish others a similar blessing: "May God bless your Lenten sacrifice" [39]. In many places, Christians historically abstained from all food for a whole day until the evening, and at sunset, Western Christians traditionally broke the Lenten fast, which is often known as the Black Fast [40, 41].

In the Ethiopian Church, one of the oldest in all of Christianity, eating vegetarian/vegan food was considered fasting, so one is at no risk of starving. A plant-based diet is a cruelty-free, compassionate, and smart choice to survive and thrive spiritually and physically. Just look at yogis.

• No meat, but what about alcohol? Taylor Swift praised by footballer boyfriend Travis Kelce for chugging drink during the Super Bowl: 'She's a pro' (prostitute?)
• Vegan made easy: A healthy plant-based lifestyle (vegan.com)