{"id":2272,"date":"2020-03-23T10:32:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T00:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dying-and-death-reflections.com\/?page_id=2272"},"modified":"2020-03-23T13:20:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T03:20:38","slug":"turning-to-dharma","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dying-and-death-reflections.com\/index.php\/turning-to-dharma\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning to Dharma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dharma in the Time of Coronavirus <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Turning now to the global crisis we are all facing, which\nbrings troubling news every day, it is precisely in times such as this \u2013 as\nunprecedented as they may seem \u2013 that Dharma is our sole refuge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the great 19th<\/sup>-century Dzogchen master, Jikm\u00e9\nTenp\u00e9 Nyima, the Third Dodrupchen Rinpoch\u00e9 wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you cannot practice Dharma when you are\ndepressed, due to what this does to your mind, and if you cannot practice\nDharma when you are elated, because you become attached to that, then there\nwill be no time at all when you can practice Dharma.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find myself filled with gratitude for all the guidance\nI\u2019ve received from so many wise and compassionate teachers over the past fifty\nyears, and it has been my privilege to share this guidance with you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I attend to those who are suffering directly from the\nvirus and the many millions more who are suffering financially from this\npandemic, my heart goes out to them all: May we all be free of suffering and\nits underlying causes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How fortunate are we who have found an authentic spiritual\npath that nurtures and sustains us through these uncertain times. The reality\nof our own mortality and the impermanence of all conditioned phenomena rises up\nto meet us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The precarious nature of the pursuit of hedonia<\/em> and\nthe abiding nature of the cultivation of eudaimonia<\/em> becomes clearer than\never. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pray that you are all heeding the counsel of health\nexperts, minimizing your outer, social activities and focusing on your inner\npractice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This virus has forced society to slow down and draw inwards.\nMay we transform this adversity into the path by doing a reality-check: What\nare the true sources of suffering and genuine well-being? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern society is pathologically focused on the outer world\nas the place to find happiness, but this has led to a global consumer-driven\ncivilization that is destroying our ecosphere, while giving rise to endless\nconflict amongst ourselves and with the other living creatures with whom we\nshare this planet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Blaise Pascal wrote: \u201cWhen I have occasionally set myself\nto consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which\nthey expose themselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels,\npassions, bold and often bad ventures, etc., I have discovered that all the\nunhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly\nin their own chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time for us all to learn how to stay quietly in our\nown chamber, protecting ourselves and others from contracting the virus, and making\nthis occasion for necessary retreat as meaningful and transformative as\npossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of you know well one of my favourite quotes from\nWilliam James: A person \u201cwho has daily inured himself to habits of concentrated\nattention, energetic volition, and self-denial in unnecessary things \u2026 will\nstand like a tower when everything rocks around him, and his softer\nfellow-mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us become towers of refuge for others who feel that\neverything rocks around them and they are helplessly blown about by\ncircumstances beyond their control. May we provide them with calm assurance and\ncompassionate care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: \u201cDharma in the Time of Coronavirus: Message from\nAlan Wallace\u201d\n\nhttps:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#search\/Alan+\/FMfcgxwHMPmTkxHCPZhPMTxCvfWnxlzq\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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