The year of 2020 will go down in history as the start of the global Coronavirus pandemic. While the health of humanity and the planet has been an issue for a very long while now, it took on a special urgency at this critical time. Covid caused such enormous upheaval and global transformation that it became much more than a pandemic; it put all of humanity’s woes in the spotlight, like the eye of Sauran casting its gaze on the great troubles of the world.
The concept of ‘paradoxical unity’ in the Tao Te Ching provides a useful big picture perspective in the face of the fears and anxieties elicited by Covid. To the Taoists, everything is on a ‘yin-yang’ continuum - light and dark, good and bad, right and wrong, and so on. Because we can only understand how something can be light if we have the dark to compare it to, the two poles define each other; there is a paradoxical unity because they are really just two sides of the same coin. The goal of life to the Taoists is to get to a place where we transcend dualistic judgements and see the unity. This idea of duality-in-unity is also present in Vedic thought as Purusha-Prakriti (spirit-matter) and Shiva-Shakti (divine masculine-feminine).
The yin-yang symbol is genius for so many reasons. Firstly, the dividing line is flowing, to symbolise the fact that opposites are continually waxing and waning, merging and morphing into one another in the natural harmony and rhythm of life. This is why rigidly attempting to adhere to one or other of the poles doesn’t work; the Tao is about finding the balance between the two. Secondly, the seed of the yin is contained within the yang, and vice versa. This is how they transform each other, because in the darkness just a flash of light will be illuminating, and similarly a mere shadow of darkness is enough to dim the light. This notion of paradoxical unity is very useful when confronting the challenging dualities of life, as we need just look for the poles and think about how to find the balance between the two. For instance, in something ugly where can we find the beauty? Ugliness can be beautiful, if it enables us to see beyond appearances. Similarly, beauty can be ugly if it brings out the perfectionist in us. In the case of right and wrong, being right all the time can make us righteous, while being wrong helps us learn from our mistakes. When we make a mistake and learn from it, then it is no longer a mistake – we have transcended the duality. In the case of suffering and happiness, the seed of happiness is in the suffering; because happiness comes when we have learned something worthwhile from the challenge. Similarly, the seed of suffering is in happiness, because we only have to think of losing our happiness to feel the suffering. Just the thought of the other is enough to invoke the transformation.
So how do we do this about the fear provoked by the crazy world we are living in right now? First, we must work out what the opposite of fear is. Fear is no more than resistance to a perceived danger, which is why it creates so much suffering. Fear = resistance = suffering. In the dictionary, the antonym of fear is calmness, confidence. In other words, it is the experience of safety that comes from feeling reassured that there is no danger, that we can trust the world. To me, this means that the opposite of fear is trust.
When fear comes up, it is always highlighting our lack of trust in the universe. We have been taught to be very distrustful because we perceive ourselves to be alone in a random and potentially hostile world where bad things can happen at any time. Particularly in the West, we no longer see ourselves as part of a unified, living cosmos that is essentially biofriendly - a nurturing and loving universe that always has our best interests at heart. This means that instead of accepting the present moment and whatever challenge that comes with it, we are highly resistant, because challenges provoke change, and change so often scares the heebee jeebies out of us. We tend to like the status quo, because it is familiar, even if it means ‘the better the devil you know’.
Yet ‘the random universe’ hypothesis is a highly debatable one. Interestingly, the word ‘cosmos’ means order. Enlightened masters from all spiritual traditions tell us that the universe is anything but random - underneath the illusion of chaos in the world is a higher order and purpose. Amidst the apparent noise and confusion there is a hidden harmony. The Zen saying, “Snow falls, each flake in its appropriate place,” highlights this perfectly. In yogic thought this sacred order is knowns as ‘dharma;’ universal truth or natural law. Harmony is also implied in the Costa Rican phrase ‘Pura Vida’ which literally translates as ‘pure life’, but really means life is good, all is well, everything is exactly as it should be. Sometimes ‘Pura Vida’ is hard to believe when the world seems so dark and foreboding, but the deeper interconnectedness of life means that our labels of good and bad, light and dark are ultimately illusory (or ‘maya’ in sanskrit), because all is one indivisible whole. If we transcend the duality, we find the unity, as the yin-yang symbol reminds us.
Many spiritual traditions teach us that we are living in a divine reality; that there is a sacred harmony that underpins all life. Taoists call it the Tao (or the Way), Hindus call it Brahman, others call it God, Cosmic Consciousness, Source and a hundred other names. Whatever you call it, this is the light of consciousness that emanates throughout all forms in the universe. Who we truly are is this light, the awareness behind thought, the one who knows we are thinking. Words can never define the essence of our being, because it is unmanifest and ineffable; as soon as we try, our definitions become a cage that limits our boundless spiritual nature. For this reason, in the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu says:
‘The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.’
The raison d’etre of Covid
The sacred harmony at the heart of the cosmos is why so many spiritual teachers say that everything happens for a reason – Coronavirus included. Some might say that Covid is a wakeup call from Mother Earth, who is getting impatient with her wayward children for dithering about and not making the systemic transformations required to heal themselves and the planet. Covid can be seen as a bit of tough love from Gaia to highlight our divisions as well as our inherent interconnectedness. We cannot isolate ourselves from Coronavirus - Australia and New Zealand tried this, and we all know how that’s worked out. The experiences of these countries, and indeed nations the world over, have been an enormous lesson in just how intrinsically connected we all are. Through our encounters with this pandemic, we have been reminded that the old adage ‘we are one’ is quite literally true.
While Covid has had tragic consequences for individuals and communities around the globe, it has also potentially done the world a huge favour. It has shown us what we need to heal, by highlighting the fault lines in our healthcare systems, our social, political and economic structures, class, race and gender inequalities, the dysfunctions in our news industry and social media, not to mention the hideous consequences of environmental destruction around the globe which has resulted in the unleashing of devastating zoonotic diseases (Covid being just the latest in a series of epidemics including SARS, MERS, Ebola, and HIV).
The staggering degradation of the environment, involving the clear-cutting of tropical rainforests and the invasion of pristine ecosystems in the name of economic development, has fragmented wildlife into ever smaller areas and fractured the web of life. One consequence of these immensely destructive practices is that viruses which have lived symbiotically with the surrounding ecology are now jumping from animals to humans, with deadly results. In China, Covid-19 jumped from bats1 to people and quickly spread to every corner of the globe in a matter of months. It immediately highlighted the injustices of our society by disproportionately affecting the poor and the marginalised, as the worst hit were those living in densely populated urban areas. Impoverished living conditions, lack of sanitation, inadequate health care and unprepared governments deepened the spread and increased mortality worldwide. The virus knew no boundaries; the stark truth that rich and poor are only socially, not biologically, separated was evident for all to see.
The health crisis quickly became an economic crisis, as lockdowns all over the world resulted in businesses closing, supply chains breaking down, stock markets crashing and unemployment soaring. Covid winners and losers soon emerged, as big firms like Pfizer, Amazon and Netflix reaped huge rewards from the pandemic while small ‘mom-and-pop’ shops suffered. Children had to be home-schooled, widening education gaps as digital divides meant that disadvantaged families without computers and internet access missed out. Mental health issues went through the roof, as people dealt with lockdown loneliness, joblessness, financial insecurity and childcare issues. Relationships were derailed, domestic abuse rose, while anxiety and depression skyrocketed. Alcohol and drug use escalated, as did unhealthy eating habits. Suicidal thoughts rose not just in those with diagnosed mental health conditions, but in young people, ethnic minorities, and lower income groups. Frontline workers and those in the caregiving industry faced enormous stress, suffering emotional as well as physical exhaustion.
The politics of Covid became extremely fraught as governments were under intense pressure to react quickly and decisively – the political costs of (mis)managing the crisis could not have been higher. Politicians scrambled to formulate policies to handle the crisis in a way that suited their local populations and particular national circumstances, juggling the competing need to curb the virus while protecting the economy from ruin. Policy responses varied significantly across nations, depending on their stance on ‘health verses the economy,’ and those that failed to contain the virus were summarily punished with plummeting approval ratings. The balance of power in the world shifted as governments were reshuffled based on their Covid credentials.
Coronavirus shook up the world, unmasking the imbalances, injustices and fragility of our socio-political and economic systems. And of course, Covid showed us in no uncertain terms that it's not just our world order that’s fragile, but our physical health. Humanity is a sick species. There seems to be almost as many people with underlying health conditions as not, and half the population in the developed world are either overweight or obese, with the developing word catching up fast. The statistics are horrifying. Heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes could well be considered pandemics in their own right; according to the World Health Organisation’s 2020 report, mortality from these diseases far exceed deaths from all infectious diseases in the world combined. Chronic disease is the elephant in the room of this pandemic. And of course, Covid has highlighted the futility of trying to solve any of the world’s health problems in isolation. Covid mortality goes hand in hand with underlying health issues, highlighting how infectious diseases are intimately connected with chronic ones. In the same vein, chronic diseases are linked with unhealthy, unsustainable modern lifestyles and the corresponding environmental degradation that creates pandemics in the first place. Viewed from this perspective, Covid might be seen as a blessing in disguise, by shining a light on what we need to change both inside and out.
The good within the bad
Covid showed us that because we are inseparable from one another, we all need to work as a team. Clearly, pandemics can only be overcome by the cooperative actions of the collective. The community-mindedness of everyone during the first few lockdowns was heart-warming; everyone rallied round to help, picking up groceries and prescriptions for each other, helping the elderly and vulnerable, contributing to charities and volunteering to bolster frontline workers. A bit like the spirit of the Blitz, there was a sense of comradery that brought us closer together, even though we were forced to be physically apart.
Lockdown also gave us a moment to slow down, become more mindful and have time to reflect. It gave us some breathing space to take stock of our lives, so that we became more aware of what needed to change. ‘Pushing the reset button’ became a common vernacular term. Families enjoyed quality time together, away from the hustle and bustle of normal everyday life. Some got a chance to work on passion projects shelved due to previously hectic lives, learn a language, or take that online course they’d been meaning to do forever. For others, working at a more ‘human pace’ allowed for better sleeps, more breaks and greater creativity to flow. Commuting hell was avoided, which lowered stress levels as well as ecological footprints. Virtual working arrangements connected people in new and innovative ways, changing office life and business travel forever.
Nature also had a chance to breathe and replenish, if only for a moment. Air pollution plummeted as roads were emptied, planes remained on the ground and crops were no longer sprayed with pesticides. Indians in the state of Punjab were overjoyed to see the Himalayan Mountain range from over a hundred miles away as the mist of pollutants dissipated, and blue skies abounded. In the first part of 2020, global carbon emissions dropped by an estimated 7% for the first time ever, showing Coronavirus to be more effective at slowing climate change than any of the world’s policy initiatives combined - at least temporarily. Wildlife crept back into ecosystems undisturbed by humans. Dolphins frolicked in calm waters normally choppy with cargo ships, and all manner of wildlife was seen foraging for food in deserted streets. Bird and animal populations swelled in previously busy nature reserves and wildlife parks. As the world enjoyed cleaner air and bluer skies, we started to appreciate just how intimately connected we are to the health of the planet.
Another positive was the incredible speed at which the world responded to the crisis. This showed us that we really do have the potential to transform quickly if there is enough political will. This is excellent news, considering that we are facing a climate crisis of epic proportions, dwarfing the impact of Coronavirus if left unchecked. Climate change threatens the extinction not only of the human species, but all life on the planet. In a 2020 article1, the Austrian physicist and environmentalist Fritjof Capra asked some extremely pertinent questions:
“With the Covid crisis, Gaia has presented us with valuable, lifesaving lessons; the question is will we have the wisdom and political will to heed these lessons? Will we shift from undifferentiated, extractive economic growth to regenerative, qualitative growth? Will we replace fossil fuels with renewable forms of energy?...Will we replace industrial agriculture with organic, community-oriented and regenerative farming? We have the knowledge and technologies to embark on all these initiatives. Will we have the political will?”
Vaccine wars
When the lockdowns eased and vaccines finally appeared on the scene, more fault lines became visible. The lopsided competition for a finite vaccine supply highlighted the stark disparities between developed and developing nations, and the steep challenge of ensuring social justice for the Global South. Big Pharma charged extortionate rates for Covid vaccines; its hard-line of ‘profits over people’ ensured low immunisation rates in low and middle-income countries, increasing the risk of new variants emerging to prolong the pandemic. Where vaccines were made available, nations with underfunded healthcare systems struggled to roll out effective vaccine programmes, particularly in impoverished areas where people live in daily danger of dying from far more deadly diseases than Coronavirus. A war of information also began, as pro and anti-vaxxers laid out their wares on Facebook and other social media sites. Conspiracy theories became rifer than Covid, and the alarming speed at which disinformation spread on the internet, as well as the deeply polarising effect that social media can have on society became ever more apparent.
Depending on cultural predilections and political style, governments tried different tactics to ‘protect the herd’. Some did this in a way that did not infringe on civil liberties by making vaccines voluntary, others took a more rigid stance with mandatory immunisation programmes, eroding hard-won freedoms that previous generations fought and died for. Once again, Covid put a spotlight on life’s yin-yang balancing act, highlighting humanity’s struggle to find the harmony between the polarities of choice and dictate, freedom and force, the individual and the collective. And in every nation the world over, people judged the health decisions made by their neighbours, leading to further division and acrimony.
We must be very careful when we say we are ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ something, because we immediately create polarity with such labels. As Mother Theresa aptly put it;
“I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me.”
This could equally read “I will never attend an anti-vax rally; if you have a health rally, invite me.” The danger with being pro or anti-anything is that it stokes division, not unity. We are defending one pole against the other and thus creating more resistance in the other side, which only feeds the war. Rather than being ‘pro’ or ‘anti vax’, another position is quietly gaining ground, where instead of putting all our faith in magic bullet solutions, we unpick the root causes of our fragile immune systems and myriad of underlying health conditions. This of course means addressing the poor diets, sedentary living, high stress and environmental degradation characteristic of modern life. This is where the real transformations need to be made - this is what Mother Earth has been trying to tell us with this pandemic. But for now, we remain blind; governments fear being voted out of office for being a ‘nanny state’ if they fund public health campaigns that explain why people need to lose weight, eat organic vegetables, do more exercise, get enough sleep, and find better ways to manage their stress than hitting the pub. The well-respected physician and podcaster Dr. Zach Bush believes that pro and anti-vax positions will one day be outdated. He claims that as we transcend to a more holistic understanding of health, the immunity programmes of the future may not so much induce an antibody response as put us back into balance with our biology and our ecology, so that pandemics become a thing of the past.
Existential fear
Ultimately what all the hoo-ha around Covid is bringing out in people is their fear of death. As Eckhart Tolle says, “fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of being hurt…ultimately all fear is the ego’s fear of death.” Why do we fear death, when it is such an intrinsic part of life? Because we have forgotten that we are an aspect of the universal intelligence of the cosmos. So many of us believe we are isolated beings, separate from nature, separate from God and the universe. This is in fact the original wound; the illusion of duality in all of us. So, by unleashing Covid, perhaps what Mother Earth is really asking us to heal is the spiritual disconnection at the heart of our current systemic malaise. She is reminding us that we are not just deeply interconnected, we are literally one body, one mind, one spirit. To quote Eckhart Tolle again;
“We are the universe experiencing itself as a human for a little while.”
Viewed from this perspective, the pandemic is playing an important role in the evolution of humanity by challenging us to reflect on the spiritual aspect of our existence - the unity within diversity, which is where the word ‘universe’ comes from. When we truly internalise this unity, then all fear disappears. Suddenly we are less resistant to what happens, because we know that there is a higher order at play. Harmony is hidden within chaos; sacredness lies within all the destruction. Order comes from disorder, like a forest fire burning away the debris so that new life can flourish. Our little self may not fully understand the purpose of what is playing out, but our higher Self does. As so many spiritual masters teach us, everything that happens is ultimately for our highest good - even the bad stuff. In fact, it is the bad stuff that usually catalyses the biggest learnings, catapulting us to new heights as we evolve and grow. Suffering has a noble purpose; the raising of human consciousness. This is why sages and seers the world over say that light always prevails in the end.
Of course, we are afraid of suffering the darkness to get to the light, which only creates more resistance - and therefore more suffering. It's a vicious circle. Fear is far more contagious than any disease that ever plagued the Earth. The way to step out of fear is to find the seed of its opposite, trust. Plant that seed and water it, so the yin is found in the yang. This is what creates harmony. Sit in stillness to find the eye of the hurricane - the calm within all the commotion. When we still our minds, we create space for our intuitive wisdom to shine through. When we feel the fear, we need to step out of it immediately. Don’t feed it with more fearful thoughts. Jump out of that thought stream - it has an extremely strong current because the collective anxiety is so strong, and it can whip us into a frenzy if we don’t release ourselves from it the instant we realise we’re in it. So, take a deep breath and trust that the universe is benign, not some random and slightly hostile place we are so often led to believe. To quote Eckhart Tolle once more:
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your soul. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because it's the one you are having right now.”
Surrender
When we start to really trust, we can then surrender to whatever happens in the moment. Whether easy or difficult, beautiful or ugly, it's all good. It all leads us back to the light in the end. The yogi Krishnamurti famously said that the secret to his enlightenment was that he didn’t mind what happens. Not minding may sound passive and meek, but it is in fact one of the most powerful things we can ever do. It is the secret of non-attachment. In Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita, he says;
"Live not for the fruits of action, nor attach yourself to inaction.”
Non-attachment means surrendering and going with the flow of life. Really it means being one with life. This is what creates lasting happiness, because it dissolves egoic fear and allows our true spirit to shine through. When we go with the flow, knowing that there is a higher order at play, we can act more intuitively. We respond with insight to the need of the moment, which makes our actions so much more powerful and effective. When we are resistant to life, we react with fear and anger at the changes we are confronted with, and thus constantly create enemies out of people and situations. We swing from one pole to the other, from aversion to attraction, creating judgement and attachment to outcome. As the spiritual teacher Adyashanti says;
“Enlightenment is the complete absence of resistance to what is. End of story.”
So, with Covid, as with everything else in life, surrender and win is the order of the day. We need to make friends with the present moment and stop wanting to be there when we are here. The grass is never greener; that is just resistance to what is, which creates more suffering. When we find the rhythm of our breath and sink into the calm space inside us, we are present. Then, as the noise of our busy minds die down, we can hear what our heart has to say about all our perceived troubles. If it is intuitively whispering to make some changes or take a certain route, then trust that this is what’s best. On the other hand, if there is a loud voice arguing the case for this or that, or being pro or anti something, then we might want to re-evaluate. The loud voice is always the intellect voicing the ego’s fear of death in a thousand different guises. In that moment of awareness, we can dis-identify from negative thought streams and let our ‘buddha nature’ shine through. This one act changes everything. At first, we must practice this over and over again, but every time we become aware of our negative thoughts, we weaken the ego a little more. With enough practice it becomes natural to live intuitively in the moment, trusting life, and not minding what happens.
“To be in alignment with what is means to be in a relationship of inner non-resistance with what happens. It means not to label it mentally as good or bad, but to let it be. Does this mean you can no longer take action to bring about change in your life? On the contrary. When the basis for your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of Life itself” - Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth
See abbreviated version in The Times of India Speaking Tree
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