Finding Presence and Peace in the Face of a Pandemic

Spiritual Blessings of the Covid-19 Crisis

It is possible to feel calm and peaceful in the face of a pandemic. Instead of losing ourselves in fear, protectionism, and panic, we can learn valuable positive lessons from our painful new teacher. 

The current Covid-19 crisis is a global wake-up call with a message that is going viral: We cannot ignore that many of our beliefs and behaviors are no longer sustainable on a personal and collective level. 

Things we take for granted are disappearing or being radically altered. This unsettling free fall is not only in the financial markets. It will involve all aspects of life, forever transforming the world as we now know it.

We can either choose to cling to the rubble of the past or embrace and grow with lessons revealed. Gifts hidden in the ruins of this free fall are already coming into focus. 

The effects of our unexamined fears surpass the virulence of this pathogen. Most will not contract the virus, but virtually all of us are facing our own fear. Before this pandemic, this anxiety was an underground steady current in our lives and the source of many of our self-defeating behaviors. The current crisis has parted the veils of our personal and collective illusion and unmasked things that have been present all along. The recent uncertainty, loss of control, and fear are magnifying this anxiety, calling us to direct our attention inward. With courage and compassion, we can face ourselves with fresh eyes and open minds. 

What you fear
will not go away: it will take you into
yourself and bless you and keep you.
That’s the world, and we all live there.      

William Stafford, “For My Young Friends Who Are Afraid”

Below are six blessings or spiritual teachings embedded in many of the world’s great religions: 

1. Deeper Awareness of Our Interconnection

The Illusion: I am a separate, fragile human who must be constantly vigilant to protect myself and all that I love.

The Reality: We are not separate nor have we ever been separated from the world around us. 

The current pandemic illustrates that if someone coughs in China the ripples are felt around the world. We imagine that countries and their borders are solid and real. In fact, they are lines that are shifting in the historical sand beneath our feet. An oil spill or nuclear disaster on one side of the world affects everyone. Radioactivity from Fukushima has entered the world’s water and food chain. Our physical bodies are composed of water, earth, and carbon molecules which are on loan from our host, Mother Earth.  

At the moment, we are in the grip of an era of protectionism. The core assumption is that countries and individuals can serve our own needs above our collective interests. If every one of us viewed ourselves this way we would have a world of 7.6 billion fragile individuals desperately fighting each other for our lives. Like climate change, the current pandemic transcends borders and requires global governance and cooperation.

Before this pandemic occurred, we were struggling to come to grips with the new reality of globalization. Most of us have no idea what a healthy global immune system looks like. A healthy immune system has intelligent boundaries that are not overly rigid or hyperpermeable. As a species, many breakthroughs come from learning from the infinite intelligence of the natural world.

What does stewardship of the health of our global body look like? We are ourselves dependent on the earth, our host. With our protectionist blinders, we deny the reality of the earth as one undivided system. 

The Blessing: Throughout history, we have observed that an outside enemy brings us together. Today we face an enemy like no other. The virus has no gender, nationality, or religion. A global pandemic forces us to take care of ourselves without pretending that our actions don’t impact one another. This requires us to become mindful of the ripple effects of every action we take. If we extend our view beyond the illusory barriers we try to hide behind, we will discover intelligent solutions to maintaining a healthy personal and global body.

2. Opportunity To Cultivate Mindfulness and Presence

The Illusion: Most of us are aware of our bodies, emotions, and behaviors in the present moment. 

The Reality: This crisis has called us to a whole new level of Presence.

As we scurry through our busy lives, our thoughts are largely occupied by our future goals or past regrets. To minimize the spread of the virus, we are being asked to develop more interpersonal mindfulness of the present moment. Some examples include: a heightened awareness of how far apart our bodies are in space, maintaining vigilance to cover our face to protect others from airborne droplets, and the willingness to remain home to help contain the spread of the virus.

Personal awareness is a key factor in reducing our risk of becoming ill or an unwitting carrier of the disease. Researchers tell us that we unconsciously touch our faces 90-100 times a day. Neurologically, mindfulness quiets the area of the brain involved with selfhood and self-reflective mental chatter (which is almost all of it). 

The Blessing: Actions performed on autopilot such as shaking hands and opening doors can become mindfulness bells, calling us back from being lost in thought. This is like any meditative practice which calls us into the present moment.

Residing in the present brings with it a sense of peace and calm. We are not occupied with fears for the future or regrets of the past. We notice things around us which enhances the pleasure of being alive. The world is full of enough beauty and grandeur to occupy our fretful minds for lifetimes, if only we slowed down to take notice. Things that we previously rushed by, like the taste of a strawberry, the exquisite clouds in the sky, or the joyful laughter of a child are more vivid and alive. Being home in a slowed-down world gives us more time to notice the miracles in our lives we usually rush by.

3. Acceptance of How Little Control We Have Over Life

The Illusion: We have personal control over the course of events and the actions of others. 

The Reality: Similar to our heartbeat and all other bodily processes, most of life occurs without our awareness or control. 

In recent days many have expressed a feeling of powerlessness and vulnerability. Although this familiar feeling has recently surfaced, it has been a background presence for a long time. This is because we live under the illusion that we actually are in control of what is happening to us when in fact we were never in control of external circumstances. 

Quotes like “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans” humorously point the common illusion of control. Neuroscientists describe an interesting phenomenon which scientifically illustrates this lack of control. A surgeon stimulates an awake patient’s brain which makes his hand go up. A full 7 seconds after the hand goes up involuntarily, the patient reports, “I was the one who decided to raise my hand.”

Try it yourself. If someone tells you “don’t think of a pink elephant” what happens? 

If we were actually in control of our thoughts and actions, would losing weight or stopping smoking be so difficult? We’ve never been in control of circumstances. This makes the rational mind extremely uncomfortable.

The Blessing: We cannot control life but we can choose how we orient to our circumstances. The Covid-19 pandemic has understandably increased the discomfort associated with not knowing and not being in control. 

We have a choice in how we relate to this increased anxiety within ourselves. If we choose to welcome it, we eventually become comfortable in free fall. It can even become a source of excitement and childlike joy. Not knowing what is next is like discovering something new for the first time. We also may notice an increased ability to let go and surrender to situations that previously caused us to become agitated and afraid.

4. Increased Awareness of Our Fear of Death 

The Illusion: I can ultimately protect myself and loved ones from illness and death.

The Reality: Death is unavoidable. We cannot control the timing or circumstances of our own death or the death of our loved ones.

Our fear of death is largely unconscious. Most of us recognize that we walk around with a low-level background anxiety. We are afraid to feel our fear of death which is at its core. 

The sense of lack or that something is missing is a more conscious everyday version of our underlying fear of death. Advertising and media encourage this in order to keep the economic gears moving. No matter how much we have, someone else always has more. Anxiety from the feeling of  “never enough” is universally present. We cover this anxiety up with controlling and obsessive behaviors that harm ourselves and others. Addictions, incessant distractions, and aggression towards others are some behaviors that help us avoid our own insecurity.

The current crisis has illustrated how this anxiety gives rise to behaviors such as hoarding of toilet paper and overstocking of supplies that are needed by our more vulnerable neighbors. Yet the effects we are witnessing go way beyond material overconsumption.

On a deeper level, a pandemic such as this is bringing most of us face to face with our own mortality.

The Blessing: Coronavirus illustrates a multitude of ways in which we are not in control and life is uncertain, but we can build a relationship with this awareness. Letting go of our tight grasp on life and surrendering to its impermanence brings the preciousness of every moment to the fore. We could choose to stop taking things for granted and treat each moment as if it might be our last. It is an amazing practice that will reap vast rewards. It is also the truth. 

5. The Gifts of Silence and Stillness in Isolation

The Illusion: Being still and quiet is either too boring or too uncomfortable. 

The Reality: We are always alone with our minds. Silence and stillness allow us to turn from outward focus to an inward focus.

The new requirements for social isolation and self-quarantine represent a significant challenge for most of us. When I first retired from my career as a busy surgeon I could not sit on the couch without entertaining myself for 14 minutes, let alone 14 days. Disneyland, sports arenas, theaters, concerts, and other collective forms of entertainment have shuttered their doors, leaving us alone with ourselves. 

We now have the opportunity to face the stark reality of our own anxious overstimulated minds. It is a harsh reckoning indeed.

This new reality holds the potential to break the trance of our frenetic information age. Is every news article and Google search essential? Does it improve our quality of life? Would a walk in the woods leaving the phone at home be a wiser solution?

The Blessing:  The time off from our busy, productive lives could be a blessing or a curse. If we fill our retreat from business as usual with mind-numbing activities such as binge-watching Netflix, we may miss a rare opportunity. We can retreat even more intensely into our screens or choose to notice what keeps us from the sense of peace and inner connection we so deeply crave. Choosing to move into silence and stillness can help us to quiet our nervous systems, and give our over-stressed immune systems a much-needed boost. 

6. Practice Compassion for Self and Others

The Illusion: It’s a dog-eat-dog world. We need to control everything in ourselves and others which does not meet our beliefs and standards.

The Reality: Kindness to ourselves for our perceived shortcomings leads to compassion for others and less judgment and cruelty. 

It is common for stress and fear to bring out the worst in those of us who believe our survival is threatened. Even more toxic than the many recent examples of price gouging is the stockpiling of guns and ammunition. To date, there are thousands of first-time buyers in the states hardest hit by the virus: New York, California, and Washington. 

Depending upon our chosen media bubble, all we hear is, “The other guy is the problem. If only I could control them we would not have to be anxious and uncomfortable. If everyone agreed with my view, all would be right with the world.”

There is an environment of human toxicity that has been building to a fever pitch before the advent of this pandemic. It is easier to blame our problems on others than it is to examine ourselves as the source of our experience. If we are willing and courageous, we will see that when we judge others we are blaming them for aspects of ourselves we reject or push down into our subconscious mind.

With the grinding halt of airplanes, automobiles, and factory production, one country after another is observing that the earth’s environment suddenly released from the burden of some of humanity’s toxic behavior. As the crisis continues, it will bring out the best and worst in us. As Abraham Lincoln said: 

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

The Blessing: This is an opportunity to notice that much of the physical and emotional toxicity which we contribute to the global body has its origins in our inner life. Psychologists, neuroscientists, and mystics alike recognize that “as man is, so he sees.” Being creatures of the earth, we are all uniquely and beautifully imperfect. Comparison with and judgment of others is at an all-time high due to the effects of social media. For many young people, these unbearable standards are crippling.

The entire billion-dollar self-help and beauty industries are based upon fixing our flaws so we can find love and acceptance. We could just as well skip all the products, books, and workshops and love ourselves as we already are.

The poet sage Leonard Cohen wrote:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in. 

None of us can predict or control what will be revealed in the coming weeks and months. Regardless of evolving circumstances, our experience will be a product of our inner orientation to it.

Mankind has a remarkable capacity for resiliency, no matter how harsh the conditions. Even in a concentration camp or on death row we have examples of human awakening, peace, and freedom. The key to our liberation is through accepting and learning to love the imperfect mess of the present moment.

There are many ways we can learn to turn inward and dive deeply into our personal experience. At Presence, we are developing a unique and powerful tool for exploring our private inner landscape and discovering why we behave the way we do. Unlike talk therapy and mindfulness meditation, it is an experiential and embodied way to explore your inner world. Virtual reality used this way is like a waking lucid dream which is under your control. See this article on transformational healing through virtual reality and virtual embodiment.