re: #89 Daniel Ballard

You and I are people of very real personal faith. I see a godly hand in the small creatures around us. They too teach us about life and living. The Buddhist in me understands impermanence. Part of that understanding is the intelligence to regret the temporary nature of life, albeit a selfish regret.

One of life’s greatest things is little girls & boys with kittens & puppies to play and grow up with. Now there is a combination that secular explanations fail to convey rightly IMO.

It’s like the seasons—spring, summer, fall, winter. Death always reminds me of the Persian Nowruz (New Year) traditions, which has it’s roots in Zoroastrianism (but is observed by all Iranians, regardless of religion) and which I’ve participated in more than once.

There are a bunch of rituals, but the one that always sticks in my mind is the sofreh haft sin, or table of seven “S”s—a table decorated with seven items that begin with the letter “S”. One of the items is sabzeh (sprouts) which you have to begin growing a few weeks before Nowruz in order for them to be the right size at the right time, so every day you watch the process: life beginning, changing, growing…it’s amazing how a dry little seed becomes a fresh, green living thing. You’d be surprised how oddly attached you can get to those little sprouts. ;)

A couple of days prior to the actual New Year (spring equinox) the sofreh haft sin is laid out. It can be very simple or extremely elaborate. Aside from the sprouts, the other living things are typically hyacinths, apples, and a goldfish in a bowl of water. All the items stay on the table for at least 12 days, which is the duration of the festival. then The 13th day is Sizdah Bedar, where everyone leaves the house and goes out for a picnic.

Of course, by this time the sprouts are overgrown and not looking so good as they’re running out of space; the apples have begun to shrivel & rot, the hyacinths have long since faded & withered, and probably more than one goldfish has died.

But that’s the thing, you see? It’s like watching a macrocosm of life, but at super-fast speed: birth, youth, and the healthy rigor of “adulthood”, followed by old age, decline and impending death. The whole process is quite poignant and triggers a lot of thoughts & emotions in a short period of time.

Anyway, back to the picnic. So everyone goes out and has a great time. Any goldfish that have survived are released into the nearest creek, and the now wilted sabzeh is tossed into the running water as well. Out with the old to make room for the new.

And the wheel that is the cycle of life keeps turning…