Spirituality in times of pandemics

We must in this time of uncertainty, death, economic loss and calamity, work on our minds and our hearts through our individual or combined routes of spirituality to make it a unifying force

Daily we hear now of death; preventable needless deaths but happening because of the blindness to our nation’s medical heritage science. In this background there is also very little focus on the concept of spirituality and how this could assist us in these difficult times. 

Ancient sages who came up with cures based on nature did so after dedicating many years to meditation in the jungles and uniting their mind with the universal mind. Today we do not use terms such as ‘universal mind’ or ‘the combined power of the universe’ but rather we segment to different cultures and we say God or Brahma or Allah or Ello (Aramic synonymous with ‘father’ as used by Jesus on the cross) or Yaweh or Wakunda (Native American) and many such terms around the world. 

After we are born, we become so busy very soon in our young years cramming our heads with often meaningless school-based rhetoric that helps neither human nor nation or planet earth that we do not stop to think. We do not stop to think why we are fighting with each other based on religion. We do not stop to think of our ignorance that prevents us from the true understanding of what spirituality should be. Instead, we get addicted to dogmas without understanding its core meaning. So, we have sets of people killing fellow humans to go to heaven or in the name of their understanding of their ‘God.’ 

Sages such as Lord Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mahavira, Prophet Mohammed and the countless of Hindu sages were seekers of the highest truth and Lord Buddha found the path for enlightenment and true knowledge through the mind because he saw the wrong extreme Hinduism was going at that time with oppression through the caste system operated justifying as a ‘Brahma’s decree’ where some people were thought to be borne out of Brahma’s head and therefore superior. Thus, Lord Buddha who himself was from a Hindu background, refined the spiritual base of his times. 

Hence blaming one religion or people of that religion or taking conclusions using hyped prejudice, any analysis of any religion or prophet, is something we do not need at this moment when we need spiritual unity and harmony in our minds.

Having said the above we know that with each passing day the Buddhist heritage of Afghanistan is threatened and we know the ignorance of extremists who do not know their own religion.

Hence as Sri Lankans we must in this time of uncertainty, death, economic loss and calamity, work on our minds and our hearts through our individual or combined routes of spirituality to make it a unifying force.

All the sages who searched for truth did so not in concrete prisons but in nature’s abodes; in deserts, caves, mountains and jungles. We are today trying to understand through textbooks the highest truths they spoke without spending adequate time to delve deep into their teachings. 

Hence, we need to create a change in each of us; a change that is borne out of tranquillity, understanding, mindfulness, kindness and empathy. With such a state comes confidence that affects our minds and our bodies and ultimately influences our physical health. I know from actual experience amidst Sri Lanka’s spirituality-seeking individuals and groups of all spiritual cultures and secular meditation-based backgrounds, that this pandemic affects them lightly because they do not give in to fear. Many of them while following health regulations are doing much social work throughout the country at a time when people are almost starving, helpless, depressed, sick and dying. 

Let us therefore, whatever our spiritual orientation is, prepare ourselves for a strong mind and benefit from nature’s bounty in this thrice blessed land. Let us while maintaining our bodies well through non-industrialised indigenous food of our soil, also maintain our minds as fearless engines of stability that embrace all of humanity and which is secure in the belief that we are protected by our karma, by the universal power and the strength of our mind. 

(SV)