Mark: You said: Conspiracy theorists see themselves as the ‘keepers of truth’, rebels who will not be told what to do or think. They pride themselves on going against the flow, ‘thinking outside the box’.
In some sense, I might as well put myself in that category simply because I do not trust collective movements easily. But I do not pride myself at all, and many don’t. In part because of the war stories of my grandmother, a long, very telling matter about how the psyche works. But it goes two ways – as usual – so, what you say above, is very true, just the same.
The point is that it is all Isvara, no matter how we see or think about Covid itself and the response to it. The prediction that many people will die, to many, let’s say, did not come to pass, however, which is not the positive result of lockdowns. But this is often the argument. A seeming rational, but really an odd argument.
I’ve seen the models of the prediction – they are heavily flawed, or fear-based if you will. There is no evidence that lockdowns prevent or avoid mass death – in so far this too has been looked at, also long before Covid happened.
A successful virus isn’t a killer virus; it couldn’t be as the fail-safe mechanism of nature seems to organize our health systems, by pinching it once in a while, yearly. There is good data that suggests that children, basically unaffected by such viruses, give an update to everyone else. So to naturally boost and check our immunity as a whole (and thus per person).
The cost/ benefit of mass vaccination is still very much a question, precisely because of this factor, given the adverse responses of those who get in trouble by the vax and those who do suffer from the virus. So, even if the vax works, which it may as well do; and I hope it does, it is the idea of mass vaccination that is the issue.
The problem is: I see good thinkers trying to ask justified questions, but they don’t get through and are put aside as ‘conspiracy thinkers’ – or are in other ways put aside. Plenty of people working within the scientific fields fear for their job to speak about this. Many – who did critique the actions and interpretation of data, actually lost their jobs. And there are good sources that suggest that the more psychological side of rolling out vax-program, is fear-based – so to ‘convince’ the people, per incentive.
The second problem is; the governments may try to do the right thing, but is it the right thing to force us by not letting you ‘into’ society unvaxxed? Isn’t it enough to make sure it is available for everyone; tell everyone this is the best we have and leave it at that? Do we really need to be ‘force-fed’? And why is all the ‘personal’ data swallowed up along with getting the tax, distributed to, yes; big Tech as well?
Such questions are important, and they are not being discussed in a fair and open manner, all the while people lose their jobs. Worldwide, logistics are a mess and so poverty rises, which is far from healthy. Last year and living in Germany I got through fairly ok, but I did have to work – outside, and it took a lot of effort just to get paint on time. Would that not have worked out; no money, no backup. No paying the bills. This goes for me, this goes for many in much harder positions in life. The stresses were tough – is that good for health, trust, etc.?
Those who have a job somewhere in government and places a-like, can easily get through and get paid anyway. But those who can’t make a living in a lockdown see their income gone, because they must move around. The middle class gets hit heavily and, well, we will see whether all this is worth it… No middle class is not a good idea for many reasons.
I cannot say that everyone who finds all this suspicious, or questionable, is a conspiracy thinker; that’s the point. It is, I felt too – like Colleen, a bit difficult, as we, apparently, do want to life dharma – and perhaps have to see the unexpected difference between Dharma and svadharma.
So, meanwhile – and way more important for self- inquiring people, time to realize it is all Isvara’s work fundamentally. This not only saves the day, every day but also challenges the karma-yoga attitude. It is altogether a testing phase on many levels, or so it seems to me. That is, anyway, how I take the sum-total of life – experiencing Dharma, which (simply..) must be, once Time kicks in, let’s say.
And, that is why, if I have it right, why you and Ramji keep to that, and only that – vax or no vax.
Sundari: Thanks for your email, all good points you make. As far as the vaccine goes, nothing is clear-cut in mithya. There is always a flaw in the ointment, perhaps many flaws. Mithya is messy by nature, how can it not be, when it is always changing and in a state of flux? Who knows ultimately what the ‘truth’ is, as in as anything can be true or false? What you consider true (or false) all depends on your conditioning, biases, beliefs, and opinions. Even evidence-based facts are subject to interpretation, as we well know. For us, though all truth or object-knowledge is relative in mithya, we take the position of the Self in all things and base our decisions on the good of the Total.
Yes, it’s true that many people suffered greatly through the lockdowns, both psychologically and in terms of their security, which is all the more reason to stop this pandemic in any way possible to prevent more of that. I agree that people who are anti-vaxxers are not necessarily conspiracy theorists, though most are rebels in that they are knee-jerk non-conformists because they are suspicious of everything and everyone’s motives, often with good reason. Maya is a bitch, and it bites because it is all one big dream. Much of the research these people base their decisions on originates from conspiracy sources.
Like I said in the satsang posted on this issue yesterday, conspiracy theories are not necessarily wrong or untrue. It’s just the way truth is presented. Other anti-vaxxers simply feel that though the vaccine may be safe, they would rather wait and see, either because they do not feel threatened by the virus enough, or it’s someone with health problems or who wants to fall pregnant and is not taking any chances on unforeseen long-term side-effects, for instance. But generally, these are responsible people who take all the other necessary precautions not to spread the virus.
From a Vedantic perspective, the main issue is about discrimination and dharma as it relates to the needs of the Total, as stated above. Whether one chooses to believe it or not, there is a pandemic going on and the vaccines may or may not be perfect, but they do work to prevent death and the spread of the virus, bottom line. If one accepts that and sees oneself as part of the field, not separate from it, then it is a no-brainer to trust Isvara on this issue, take the karma yoga attitude, and get the vaccine for the good of the whole, not just yourself.
As Isvara is both dharma and adharma anyone can argue this point either way. As Vedantins, most of us are rebels in that we have not conformed to reality the way it is perceived by the masses, and very often, also by the group or set of people we come from. But that does not mean that we cannot make the decision to conform to the needs of the Total (despite our suspicions and reservations about Big Tech Big Pharma Big Politics, Big Whatever….) when our discrimination makes it clear that this is the appropriate response to the field. What matters here is dharma with a big D, that is what informs our svadharma.
Much love
Sundari
