Dharma in the Time of COVID-19
Exactly as planned a week earlier, I wrote this article on the afternoon of Sunday, March 15, not because the deadline was then, but because I was sure I would have some fresh material to write about. At that moment, I was supposed to have just boarded a plane after finishing a three-day speaking engagement in Hilo. Soon, I would be landing at Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International and waiting for my flight to LAX, during which I would dutifully compose this article. But life does not go according to plan, so there I was, sitting at the kitchen table in West LA, never even having left California—but with no less new material to write about. As we all know by now, nobody has to stray far from home to have their lives turned upside down by the rapidly changing events relating to the corona virus pandemic.
I heard on the radio while driving home from our temple that day that Governor Newsom urged, among other directives, that the elderly isolate themselves to be better protected from contagion—the elderly being those over the age of 65. What?! Now this was a dose of reality. Not only does life not go according to plan, but we human beings are also unable to see things as they truly are. It’s pleasant when people tell me that I’m too young to retire, but unpleasant when I’m considered older than I feel just because of some arbitrary number. Mind you, if my advanced age landed me at the head of the line for a ventilator should I need one, would I be happy? Our views are colored by what is convenient and agreeable to us in any given moment. They have little to do with the way things really are
We spend our lives pursuing the pleasant and attempting to avoid the unpleasant, deluding ourselves into thinking that perfecting this dance will make us happy. No matter how many times our experience tells us that this is a fantasy, we cling to individual ideas of the way things are supposed to be, oblivious to the truth of our interdependence with all life. We are now in a burning house. In the classic Buddhist parable, the children in danger are coaxed outside by the promise of wonderful toys. Are we being jolted into reality by the inconceivable?
A couple of months ago, news of the virus seemed to come from very far away, in a Chinese city unknown to most of us. A month ago, some of us blithely flew to Seattle. Unbeknownst to us, the virus was about to explode nearby. A couple of weeks ago, it was still on my agenda to risk going to Hilo. A week ago, the virus had spread all over the world due to the ease of travel that people enjoy. Even this article keeps changing. As this goes to print, notonly the elderly, but all of us have been ordered to stay at home.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” sang John Lennon. How can we forget the collective actions of seven billion other people, not to mention the existence of all sentient beings on this planet? It’s not all about me. It’s about all of us together. Infinite and immeasurable life alone is true and real.
Shinran observed, “… with a foolish being full of blind passions, in this fleeting world—this burning house—all matters without exception are empty and false, totally without truth and sincerity. The nembutsu alone is true and real.” [Tannisho Postscript, CWS 679]
So, since we can’t attend service, go to school or work, play bingo, watch sports, or go on a cruise, perhaps we could use this time to reflect on the Buddha-dharma and our Nembutsu teaching. Life is suffering—when things don’t go as we wish or expect, we are thrown off kilter or worse. I don’t exist as a self-contained entity—my life depends on all life, and I am a part of all life for better or for worse. SARS, bubonic plague, cholera, coronavirus—all things are of a nature to change.
Why do we cling to our idea of the way things should be? Let’s look at the way things really are and realize that we already have so much, even when the store shelves are empty for the day. We each have the potential to wake up and find equanimity even in times of difficulty. When gratitude and joy are awakened, let’s live a meaningful life with open minds that encompass all beings and all possibilities. Be safe, be well, and be kind. Namo Amida Butsu.
Gassho,
Rev. Patricia Usuki