Impermanence

Momento Mori

Daily Reflection

Don't look down on death, but welcome it. It too is one of the things required by nature. Like youth and old age. Like growth and maturity. Like a new set of teeth, a beard, the first gray hair. ¹

—Marcus Aurelius

Today, we begin a week studying the concept of impermanence.

Many philosophers and traditions over the years have commented on the fleeting nature of life. Some have used it to drive new meaning, while others have embraced the absurdity of it all with passion and joy.

Regardless of response, impermanence is a fact of life. I recently heard a wise teacher quip, “the only permanent thing in life is impermanence.”

We begin today with the Stoics—a branch of philosophy we’ve studied often here at TPP.

A wonderful mantra this school of philosophy has left behind for us is the phrase:

Momento Mori.

This roughly translates into: “Remember, you die.”

For many of the great Stoics, death was not an enemy to be feared, but a friend whose constant presence motivated a meani…