As many of us are seeing more clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing home the truth of change, stress, and interconnectedness (Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta). Wise/Right View sees that this truth is, and has always been, the case.
The degree to which we have cultivated Wise View is the degree to which we don’t suffer unnecessarily during this time. Yes, our lives are drastically changed. Yes, all bets are off for future plans. Yet, with the wisdom of Wise View we can avoid thinking/feeling that this should not be happening. Basically, we don’t resist it (or, at least not as much) and therefore don’t pile unnecessary suffering on top of an already difficult situation. We see that this pandemic is simply following the natural laws that govern our universe. We can tune into the truth that nothing is wrong. Yes, the situation is difficult, horrible, and so painful in the gross inequalities in our society that are being revealed, but not wrong. This is the role wisdom can play at a time like this.
Speaking of those gross societal inequalities, it can be so painful to hear and witness the stories of communities and people of color being disproportionally affected. Of the rich getting richer. Of the people running this government completely lost in greed for money and power, orchestrating the whole catastrophe. It can be so easy to respond with rage, or perhaps it’s opposite, numbness and collapse.
Underneath those two coping mechanisms is a deep well of grief, sadness and loss. It’s so painful to see greed, hatred and delusion running rife through humanity, chewing it up and spiting it out. To actually feel this is heart wrenching, and, it’s the beginning of compassion. Compassion for all of the 99% who are simply pawns in the power game of the 1%. Compassion for dead hearts and wasted lives of the 1%. The incredible unfairness of it all and the truth that we’re not alone in it.
So many are suffering far more than those of us in a relatively privileged life. To the degree that we can open to this catastrophe, and/or to the multi-faceted and innumerable lives and circumstances that make it up, is to the degree that our hearts open, soften, and quiver. No need to withdraw into collapse, or lash out in anger. We can just be with it as it is. Knowing also that being with things just as they are doesn’t exclude taking action. It simply means the heart is open and connected. This is the role compassion can play at a time like this.
As you go about your sheltering-in-place days, you can notice when the qualities of rage and/or collapse are present in the mind, and when they are not (they tend to arise together to some degree). If you find yourself railing against the pandemic and wanting to “get your life back,” you might notice a lack of wisdom in that moment. If you find yourself lashing out at the myriad of injustices that the pandemic highlights, you might notice a lack of compassion in that moment. It’s the moments when there is a lack of wisdom and compassion that tend to get our attention, because they involve much suffering.
Sometimes we need to be a bit more attentive to notice the moments when wisdom is present. Pay attention to when we see that the difficulty of the pandemic simply is what it is, without any overlay of something being wrong. We can feel into and connect with the contentment that is present at that moment. Or, we might need to be a bit more attentive to notice the moments when the heart does open, and a flicker of the deep, deep sadness that is really the only sane response to the suffering that this world holds, is felt.
May our hearts and minds slowly, naturally and lawfully, due to cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path, open to wisdom and compassion. May it be for the benefit of living beings everywhere.