“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” Thich Nhat Hahn
I have always been drawn to Eastern thought, philosophy, and particularly, Buddhism. I have always believed that in this world, we are all interconnected, and the Buddhist principle of equanimity (we are all equals) represents this belief. There isn’t an action that we take today that does not have a repercussion in the world somehow. They call this karma, which is more than what it represents in the colloquial sense of the world. Karma is cause and effect.
We, especially in the Western World, tend to erect these big walls, hide behind them, and call them “me.” We are individualistic, and to a degree, act to protect this “me” that we believe is separate from everyone and everything else. Enter the new coronavirus, Covid-19, a microscopic organism that does not need anyone’s permission to enter a region, a country, a body, to remind us of how interconnected we are. We typically don’t think about how the cup of coffee we drink in the morning connects us to the rest of the world, for example. Before we even place that little cup in the machine, it was packaged, bought, collected, grown, planted. We may not think of the farmer in Colombia who planted the seed or collected the coffee beans, but we are connected to them when we drink that morning coffee.
Covid-19, the new coronavirus, has made us think about ourselves, our surroundings, and everyone else in ways that we haven’t before. Our tendency is to tend to protect the “me” inside of us and push away. But with this epidemic, I have seen many people tell me that they are willing to sacrifice things they love for the sake of others. Many people are choosing the wise path. An action that we take today can affect someone else tomorrow, and when someone is affected tomorrow, in turn will affect ourselves. This is a difficult choice, but many people are willing to do this so others are not affected. What a wise, loving choice!
I propose that we choose LOVE and KINDNESS instead of fear. I propose that we think of the world in terms of US and not in terms of US vs THEM. I propose that we all write stories so that we can tell the future generations what it was like to live through these times.
Let me know how you are coping, what you are thinking, and what you see. If you want to appear on this section please send your story to ourspecialvillage@gmail.com
#Lovingkindness is the answer!
