Corona ki Karuna

The new Corona virus (COVID -19) has virtually thrown life out of gear in over 150 countries. And counting. Having originated in China due to reasons ranging from a lab experiment gone wrong to animal to human transmission and mutation, it has taken several thousand lives and disturbed millions others. Economies have been disrupted, businesses have been busted, cultural and sporting events of all kinds have been derailed, tourism knocked out cold and the list goes on. It has yet to peak in several nations and therefore the fear and anxiety it has generated is palpable and something like never seen since decades.

However, die hard optimists see a golden lining in every pessimism and adversity. And so have i. Lets try and look at it this way.

• Cities under lockdown have brought people together. Not physically for sure, but psychologically, mentally and with a sense of urgency in discipline, hitherto not seen at such scale.
• 'Work from Home’ diktat has brought family time within the four walls, especially working parents being able to give massive swathes of quality and un-distracted time to their kids, near and dear ones and probably neighbours.
• Family time also translates into pursuing indoor hobbies such as gardening, board games, family cooking, reading, clearing up house clutter, re-arranging wardrobes, video chatting with friends and family across the globe, common screen time, increased conversation and communication time, listening to music, yoga, meditation and prayers etc
• Countries and groups of nations have come together temporarily putting aside their politico-economic differences in offering help to each other.
• Multi-national companies employing from multi-ethnic backgrounds have suggested to their employees to get back to their country of origin immediately. What this translates into is welcome family time for jet-setting business managers, something this tribe forever seems to be in short supply of!
• Enhanced hygiene among people across the globe in washing their hands, keeping surroundings clean, reduced spitting, sanitization of vehicles and neighbourhoods etc.
• Preparing nations for disaster management; especially nations which hitherto were sen to be laggards in such situations.
• Uniting political parties in fighting one common enemy: the virus.

This is merely an illustrative list. Each of us can add to this list in making it an exhaustive one. Well, what is the take away for us from it?

In every adversity there is opportunity. An opportunity to change and transform. Opportunity to reflect and reform. Opportunity to reconstruct and rejuvenate our priorities. Opportunity to slow down and smell the roses! Opportunity to not merely make a living but in general to live life, to love life. It is natural to see every adversity as suffering. But suffering itself, in Buddhist teachings, is to be seen as manure. At the gross level it may well be foul smelling, obnoxious looking and unsavoury. But at the subtle level it is this very manure that is considered the very best for new seeds of crop to grow into a bountiful harvest! As HH The XIV Dalai Lama says “...for it is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.”

Let’s us change our perspective towards this unseen, unforgiving and dangerous adversity we currently face. Let our response be calm, optimistic and compassionate. Let’s try and use this windfall opportunity given to us into one for ushering in a new phase in our lives, irrespective of what age and stage of life we may be in. It’s not about how old we are, but about how we are old, said once a wise man.

Girish Deshpande

(The author is an ordained Ngakpa and follows the Palyul school of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. www.speakingtree.in)