In the time of Corona
By: Divya Prabha
The universe has given us an important message to #stayhome which we see governments across the world putting in place through lockdowns. We have overnight retreated into our homes and/or family spaces depending on our situation and have access only to basic facilities such as food, water, medicines, electricity, and telecommunications. We call these basic necessities, however in ancient times, of course, the first two would have been the essentials and food/herbs being the medicine source as a normal way of life wherever you were in the world.
We have two options in this situation, to rebel or to accept. Rebelling means that we are not looking deeply at what is going on and our ego is not accepting the will of the infinite power of supreme consciousness which is far greater than us as human beings. This very clearly is a divine instruction, a universal message for all of us to once again stabilize within ourselves.We have become disconnected as a collective from ourselves, from our communities and from Nature. With factory shutdowns and traffic volumes collapsing we have visible short term benefits such as: less air pollution, lack of noise and clearer water. Of course, there are extreme difficulties for many people but you see communities pulling together too.
Ancient wisdom from whatever tradition you choose to look at tells us that whatever we do in Nature can never be without consequence. We are experiencing the consequences and they have a worldwide effect which means that mankind as a whole is involved in this. There are many words for this and in Sanatana Dharma we call it karma.
We are compelled to stay within fixed spaces which means that we have no option but to recollect our energy from the outside, whether in the form of desires or responsibility even, and stabilize it, gather it within ourselves. Just by remaining in our dwelling places the energy starts accumulating there again, supporting us. It gives us the opportunity to reintegrate ourselves with ourselves. To get to know ourselves not just on an individual level but on a Universal level by searching within.In fact, this is the message that the ancients have given us since the beginning of time. The Gita, for example, describes a yogi as one who has stable intellect or you can say stable wisdom. This stable wisdom also manifests the ability to be balanced in both auspicious and inauspicious circumstances, to be beyond the pairs of opposites. To achieve stable wisdom one requires optimal use of discrimination as well as control over the senses, concentration, and meditation leading you to the knowledge of your real self and ultimately supreme consciousness, where you realize unity in diversity. It’s as if the Universe has given us the conditions compelling us to find that state of stability like a yogi.
In almost every ancient tradition you will find that there is a tradition of solitude for a certain number of days. The Universe is compelling us to take stock and be in a relative solitude, which actually means that our energy starts coming back instead of being scattered outside and being connected to external things like restaurants and cinemas. We are being taken back to our roots. Our attachment to all these things has resulted in them being snatched away in the blink of an eye for the time being. There is another Shloka in the Bhagavad Gita which describes that one with stable wisdom (a yogi) is like a tortoise who can withdraw its limbs at will and again bring them out at will in the same way a yogi can withdraw from the senses at will so that with discrimination the sense can be used. So in this situation those things that had become such core parts of many people's lives have simply been removed, forcing us to get to communicate with ourselves not just on an individual level but on a Universal level by searching within.
Ancient wisdom always talks about balance and whenever that balance is disturbed there will be an effect such as we are experiencing now. If we can use these coming days to work on uplifting ourselves, for the betterment of ourselves and society as a whole, using knowledge of the ancients, then surely something positive will come out. It will lead to healing that is so desperately needed for all people and for the planet as a whole, at a time where there is so much loss of life and change in circumstances. So let us all come together and share our wisdom and bring understanding into our communities, moving forward together for a better world.
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