Erin: I feel that we are being deeply challenged and that the outcome may well be positive and creative, but in the meantime so many of my friends in business will go down as will many small businesses. However, I have learned about Isvara, so we are where we are.
And since meeting you both and listening carefully to what has been said, I am strangely not anxious at the moment but more wondrous at the way life works.
Sundari: We are observing the unfolding play in wonder. It seems that Isvara is taking petty humanity by the scruff of its neck and giving it a good shake. There is nothing like the fear of death to wake people up. Even as it calls for social distancing, it offers great opportunities for pulling together and understanding how important are our social connections, the part we all play in the field of life. There will be many upsides to this situation, not the least of which will be to show us how much we impact nature with our rampant consumerism, though it will hurt many too, especially financially. I feel most for the masses who are dependent on the system working to make a living, as it is they who will suffer most. The rich always find a way to survive, even if it will hurt them too. To see the threat to life in perspective from the big-picture view, there is nothing essentially new here; there have always been and always will be many things that kill humans. It seems that this virus has taken on almost mythical proportions psychologically. And if you are identified with the body, that’s a problem for you. Yet the chances of contracting the virus are minimal, especially if you take care.
It’s the global idea of imminent death that the virus poses, even though it is pretty low if you compare it to other threats, that has infected everyone. It’s a good thing in many ways and a great metaphor for knowledge and ignorance. Isvara’s messages are loud and clear for all to hear. Well, most anyway. As Vedantins, we know that the Self is unborn and undying, so death has a different meaning for us. That does not mean we are immune to Isvara or should not take precautions to protect the body and others too, obviously. While we must all play by the new rules of conduct, the threat to mental health and peace of mind is greater than to the body. It certainly creates a huge opportunity to practice Self-knowledge, especially karma yoga.
This is what a friend of ours wrote about the virus leela, and it is spot on: “Isvara’s leela goes on. But really, it’s all just consciousness, isn’t it, taking the form of a virus and the dolphins, swans and fish returning to Venice (thanks to the clean water, peace and quiet) as well, all at once! We’ve got an apparent virus trying to multiply and other apparent creatures trying to do the same. It’s amazing how there’s teaching everywhere, ripe for contemplation. The upsides are already in play; there is no end nor beginning to them in the first place.” End quote.
Here is a poem another friend sent me:
Lockdown
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
In Venice swans and fish are back in the once filthy canals,
The waters now crystal clear, dolphins dance.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading flyers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today churches, synagogues, mosques and temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary.
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting,
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way,
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are,
To how little control we really have,
To what really matters,
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul.
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic.
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM
March 13, 2020
~ Much love, Sundari
