Ash Wednesday and Vibhuti
Our beloved Swami walks through the crowds. All eyes gaze on Him and happiness lights the faces of thousands. Occasionally a hand reaches up, hoping to receive a blessed gift from the Lord of the Universe. He might stop and move his hand slowly in a circular motion. Then a powdery substance, a grey ash, falls softly into the hands beneath. Sometimes He takes the ash, vibhuti, and smears it on the forehead of a devotee.
This is apt to make a Christian think of Ash Wednesday and wonder if there is a connection. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent—a forty-day period of reflection and fasting that has been observed by both Protestants and Catholics for nearly 2000 years. Lent commemorates the time Jesus spent in the desert practicing austerities before His trial by the government that led to crucifixion on the cross. On the first day of the solemn time of preparation for Holy Week and Easter, worshipers go to church to receive ashes. Traditionally, the priest or minister places ashes on the forehead of each person, saying, “Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.” The words have been repeated for centuries to help us internalize the truth that our bodies are finite. Implicit is the recognition that we are not the body. We are more than the body.
Sathya Sai Baba has said, “The vibhuti that you smear on your forehead is intended to convey the basic spiritual lesson that everything will be reduced to ashes, including the brow that wears it.” He also has said, “The vibhuti is the most precious object in the truly spiritual sense. You know that Siva burned the God of desire, or Kama—called Manmatha, for he agitates the mind, confounding the already-existing confusion into a heap of ashes. Siva adorned himself with ash, shining in His glory as the conqueror of desire. When Kama was destroyed, prema (love) reigned supreme. When desire is not present to warp the mind, love can be true and full.”
“Ash is the ultimate condition of things; it cannot undergo any further change. Ash does not fade as flowers do in a day or two. It does not dry up and disappear or become soiled and undrinkable, as water does. It does not lose its color in a few hours as leaves do, nor does it rot as fruit does within a few days. Ash is ash forever and ever. So, burn your vileness, your vices, your bad habits. Worship Siva, rendering yourselves pure in thought, word and deed.”
Swami sometimes gives individuals ashes for use in healing physical or psychic ills. In the Christian Church, relics of saints were once used for the same purpose. Reflection on ash leads to the contemplation of the finite and the infinite, now and tomorrow. Who are we? Where are we headed? Can we keep any desires, or must all be destroyed and returned to ash?
~Sheila Brown
Manhattan, New York, USA
