What does the saying Dust thou art and unto art shalt thou return mean Thanks.?

Answer 1

It means we all begin as dust and will end as dust. It is a never ending cycle. The quote comes from Genesis 3:19 and is part of God's explanation to Adam of the results of his sin. A better understanding of the phrase is not a never-ending cycle, but the inevitability of death, which according to the ethos was part of the punishment of the fall from grace. As presented in the text it is the final description of the list of things that are inflicted upon humankind which begins with sorrow, moves onto toiling for survival and culminates in the inevitable death of the physical form, whereupon the flesh returns to the earth. According to Genesis God created Adam from the earth and eventually the flesh decays and returns to it. This is not a never-ending cycle, for no more creatures are created from dust, but rather biologically continued via reproduction. However, the meaning is what would be called Memento Mori, in Latin, which is a warning that you are mortal and will one day die, a concept we are supposed to believe was unknown to Adam prior to this passage of Genesis. When used as part of a funeral, the phrase is meant to signify, among other things, that the physical flesh to which we cling is nothing more than dust and we must look to the spiritual life for our eternal existence. It is a complex metaphor.