"He who controls his hands, controls his foot, controls his speech, and has complete control of himself ; who finds delight in insight development practice and is calm ; who stays alone and is content, they call him a monk."
Why do the above lines sound so familiar? Because these are the similar guidelines we hear for defeating coronavirus 24/7 on news channels and social media.
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Coronavirus quarantine guidelines
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Buddhist Monk guidelines
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Stay at home & maintain social distance
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Sacrifice personal & worldly engagement
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Wash hands religiously
Avoid touching face,
Guard yourself while coughing/sneezing
& Build immunity.
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Practice self-awareness
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Chances of getting infected through meat & seafood.
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Adopt vegetarianism.
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Isolate yourself.
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Engage in self-growth activities.
(For example: Meditation, Zen art, Observing nature, etc.)
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IMPORTANCE OF MONK LIFESTYLE
Practicing Buddhist monks make five promises – not to lie, not to steal, not to engage in sexual misconduct, not to harm any living creature and not to take intoxicating substances which lead to carelessness.
Monks always live in the present and refuse to think about the past or future. According to them, the past or future is something you cannot change, so why think about it. When asked about dealing with adversities, their philosophy is, "You feel it, accept it and learn to process that feeling and put it behind you. We are taught to learn from the difficulties then overcome them." A fellow Buddhist monk also added, "We live with 200 people in peace and happiness and we learn to lose the word “I” and we say “We”; for instance you may say “it’s my house” but we say “it’s our temple."
Buddhist monk community laws are not authoritarian in nature unlike government or non-government organisations. The lifestyle is strictly followed for oneself and not for someone else. Once you strive to know & be present within thyself, you naturally become sensitive to the feelings of everyone and everything around you. It is a process of enlightenment which is not only restricted to monks but also something every human being must experience in their life. Self-knowledge and Meditation must be part of our lives from an early age. Only then we can imagine a world devoid of human cruelty.
If only the lay community learns & adapts the importance of Monk lifestyle in their life, not only will humankind be able to defeat Covid-19 but also any epidemic/pandemic from the face of the earth.
COVID-19 IS NOT A TIME TO PANIC; BUT TO PREPARE & LEARN.
The reason behind much havoc & panic about COVID-19 in the minds of people around the world is because most of us are conditioned to live in our past/ future. The grief about lost lives (past) & the worry about spreading of the virus (future). As much as it is natural for human beings to feel, it is equally natural for them to learn from that feeling. With any epidemic, we must accept the hard & painful truth that some will die & some will survive. In uncertain times like this, it is necessary for every human being to stay mentally & physically strong.
The biggest lesson from Coronavirus is our insensitivity to animals. It is speculated to have started from bats, afterall. At Least now, we all should stop treating animals like food. If we cannot mourn the death of animals & nature, we do not deserve to mourn over our own adversities. We humans shouldn't be entitled to disturb the environment until it is the question of survival.
Coronavirus has arrived to bring normalcy in the insane and imbalanced modern lifestyle we were all living. To teach us our lost connection with oneself & nature. As much as it is a time to grieve about many unfortunate deaths, express gratitude & support for the efforts of civil & scientific workers & pray for the creation of Covid-19 vaccination as soon as possible, it is the biggest opportunity all humankind has come forth to learn and grow from at this time of adversity.
On nature sending a message to the world with coronavirus, United Nations environment chief Andersen said,
"Humanity was placing too many pressures on the natural world with damaging consequences, and warned that failing to take care of the planet meant not taking care of ourselves. Our continued erosion of wild spaces has brought us uncomfortably close to animals and plants that harbour diseases that can jump to humans. We’ve had Sars, Mers, Covid-19, HIV. We need to see what nature is trying to tell us here. We need to recognise that we’re playing with fire."
NATURE IS BREATHING AGAIN !
As lockdown, social distancing and personal hygiene are the only solutions to control the Covid-19 virus, it seems that Nature is claiming its freedom in a world dominated by humans at times like this. Since the coronavirus quarantine started, EDI, i.e Environmental development index is prospering. The global carbon emissions have fallen. Air and water in Italy and China are strikingly clear. Wildlife animals are strolling & taking breath of fresh air without human anxiety.
As the United Nations’ secretary general recently noted, the threat from coronavirus is temporary whereas the threat from heat waves, floods and extreme storms resulting in the loss of human life will remain with us for years.
Even though these positive environmental effects may seem temporary, hopefully humankind remembers how beautiful nature can be if we take care of it and follow few of these changes in environmental policy making in the coming future.
Take a look at the video below to witness the positive change in the environment amidst the panicking crisis -
HOW MANY EPIDEMICS DOES IT TAKE FOR HUMANITY TO CHANGE ?
यथा ह्यल्पेन यत्नेन च्छिद्यते तरुणस्तरुः। Just as a tender plant is easy to cut down,
स एवाऽतिप्रवृध्दस्तु च्छिद्यतेऽतिप्रयत्नतः॥ the same requires much more effort when fully grown
एवमेव विकारोऽपि तरुणः साध्यते सुखम्। Likewise, any disease is manageable in the early stage;
विवृध्दः साध्यते कृछ्रादसाध्यो वाऽपि जायते॥ it becomes almost incurable when it grows.
In ancient times, people depended on god's magical blessings to curb a disease. Which is why, the Black Death pandemic in the 14th century reduced the world population from an estimated 475 million to 350–375 million. Now, with the advancement of science & technology, it has become much easier to fight epidemic/pandemic. Vaccinations, antibiotics, improved hygiene, and a much better medical infrastructure have allowed humanity to gain the upper hand over its invisible predators.
The 21st century witnessed its first pandemic with the H1N1 virus, reporting a number of deaths between 1 and 4 lakh. “For the first time, a vaccine was developed, produced and deployed in multiple countries during the first year of the pandemic,” said WHO.
Hence, history showcases that real aid comes with sharing of reliable scientific information and, from global efforts and transformation. To defeat an epidemic, people need to trust scientific experts, citizens need to trust public authorities, and countries need to trust each other.
