“When the crowded Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person on the boat remained calm and centred, it was enough. It showed the way for everyone to survive.” —Thich Nhat Hanh
As Insight co-founder Jack Kornfield said in a recent talk at Spirit Rock, “This is our time to be that person on the boat.”
We are experiencing in a situation that most of us have not seen before. There is a pervasive anxiety in the air. Many of us are wondering how this global pandemic is going to affect us and our loved ones. And for how long will our lives be disrupted and our regular routines interrupted?
There has already been much global pain and suffering caused by this pandemic. In Canada we are at the very beginning and we don’t how this is all going to unfold. It is all very uncertain and it is understandable if we are frightened.
At the same time, for those of us who follow a spiritual path, a contemplative way of life, who follow the Dharma, this situation holds great potential for us.
We have all been placed in a very unique position to act and think and speak in ways that bring out the best in us.
For instance, we are being asked to practice “social distancing” — to stay home, to put our lives on hold. This is actually a compelling opportunity to recognize that in addition to minimizing the likelihood of exposure ourselves, social distancing is also an act of generosity and compassion toward others by eliminating our interactions as a possible vector for viral transmission.
Let that sink in – the primary motivation for social distancing is to benefit others.
When we work from home, do video-conferencing instead of in-person meetings, we can take a moment to view this as a compassionate act. When we cancel plans to meet others in restaurants and coffee shops, when we forgo our travel plans, when we stay home — we can remember that we are doing so for the sake of others’ well being as well as our own.
The pandemic is also a reminder of our interdependence and how connected we are to one another. The spread of the virus does not honour national boundaries or racial differences. We can clearly see how events on the opposite side of the world can directly impact our lives in our home communities.
In addition, the events unfolding right now are a poignant reminder of impermanence. We may be in the habit of thinking that our everyday lives will always continue unchanged. This has reminded us of how everything can change in an instant…
We can also take this as an opportunity to appreciate the contributions of those around us for all they are doing to help in this crisis; the people on the front lines on the medical and research teams, the volunteers who are delivering food and supplies to those most in need, the decision makers and everyone who is practicing social distancing while making sure their neighbours are ok.
We see that our local grocery stores have stepped up by opening early especially so that seniors and the immune compromised can be first in line to shop for their essential needs. We see social networks forming in our community to help the vulnerable. We see people everywhere stepping up in wonderful ways.
When we train our lens of awareness on these acts of kindness, we can’t help but be moved by the basic goodness that lies at the core of our actions.
We can be grateful for the many opportunities to recognize basic goodness in others and in ourselves. It’s a reminder to us — as spiritual teachers have said — that goodness is who we are.
It can seem as if much of the time this core of goodness is obscured by mental reactivity rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion.
And certainly we have seen how some — a small minority I believe — have responded unskilfully, out of primal fear (the foundation of ignorance and craving) by hoarding food and other essential goods. Others seem to be in denial and ignore calls for social distancing. This behaviour suggests a lack of understanding.
We all feel primal fear at some level. And we all have a choice about how to respond to it.
Times of emergency can also be times of emergence, times when our true nature of generosity, kindness, and clarity reveals itself.
We always have a choice.
We can either follow fear, which leads us to contract into a false self of greed, ill-will, and delusion…or we can choose to follow love, which allows us to let go, to be free to act out of generosity, kindness, and wisdom.
As Jack Kornfield said in his March 2 talk at Spirit Rock: “The need for the dharma is stronger than ever. We can choose to live in our fears, confusion, and worries, or to stay in the essence of our practice, centre ourselves, and be the ones on this beautiful boat of the earth that demonstrate patience, compassion, mindfulness, and mutual care.
“If you want to live a life of balance, try this: Turn off the news for a while, meditate, turn on Mozart, walk through the forest… and begin to make yourself a zone of peace.”
Make yourself a zone of peace.
You may recognize in this phrase the echo of the beautiful prayer of St. Francis, known to many Christians.
Lord make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
And where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The Prayer of St. Francis was composed in the early 13th century. It’s interesting that the great Indian Buddhist teacher Shantideva, whose teachings were embraced in Tibet, wrote a similar prayer about five hundred years earlier. It’s from The Bodhisattva Way of Life. It’s a prayer the Dalai Lama recites every morning.
It goes like this:
May I be a guard for those who need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from sorrow
And all are awakened.
Yet another version of this sentiment was offered more recently by a man named Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne. He is known as the the Gandhi of Sri Lanka but he is not so well-known in the West. Dr. Ariyaratne is 88-years-old and he established a movement that calls for non-violent spiritual revolution to replace structural violence as the basis of the social order.
He reportedly spoke to a gathering of government leaders and CEOs and he told them that there is a way beyond greed, hatred, delusion. This way is contained in the ancient Theravada Buddhist texts:
Others will be harsh. I will respond with compassion.
Others will be greedy. I will be generous.
Others will speak falsehoods. I will speak the truth.
Others will be arrogant. I will practice humility.
Others lack understanding. I will develop wisdom.
We would do well to take this to heart in these times.
—Nelle Oosterom
Some of the materials in this post were taken from a March 2 talk by Jack Kornfield as well as from a letter distributed by an American participant in Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program.