The Memento Mori

Perhaps the spiritual exercise that has fallen furthest from popularity and common usage is the memento mori, the remembrance of death. This is surprising, and revealing of our own culture, because before the mid-20th century, it was actually one of the most popular and widely-used spiritual techniques.

The memento mori is a meditative exercise to remind the spiritual adept that the things of the world — the body, fashion, career…