Memento Mori

I once heard a story about a man who had been skiing in the French Alps. With no warning, a blinding snowstorm enveloped the region, and he became separated from his friends. He wandered in fierce blizzard winds for many hours until he happened upon a remote Catholic monastery. It was quite late and dark, and he could see no sign of life. He banged loudly on the wooden entry doors until finally an elderly monk arrived to let him in. He was given a bowl of hot soup and shown to a cell with a single bed. Hanging above his head was an image of Jesus Christ. He had just fallen into a deep sleep when he heard a loud knock. He opened the door and faced a monk carrying a lantern. The monk said, “Memento mori.” Then he moved down the hall knocking on each cell door. “Remember death.” The exhausted skier looked at his watch. He determined that this was a midnight ritual and fell soundly back to sleep. An hour later the same knock arrived, and the same monk, and the same message: “Memento mori.” Every hour all night long. These monks were never allowed to forget.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
from In Love with the World; What a Monk Can Teach You about Living from Nearly Dying