COVID-19 & Meditation: an Unlikely Pair
Note: this piece was written initially for Geshe Thupten Dorjee’s students in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but has been revised so that anyone interested in pursuing meditation during these difficult times might find some help here.
As we navigate our way through the process of self-quarantining, we might pause and wonder how we can make the most of these difficult times. Looking at the global pandemic map, it’s obvious that people are suffering from this virus in widespread and unexpected ways, and now that certain areas of the United States are experiencing a spike in infections, and now that all fifty states have confirmed cases, we naturally feel a more immediate fear and uncertainty, both for ourselves and for our loved ones.
What can we do? First, we can see this outbreak as an opportunity to strengthen our meditation practice if we already have one, and to begin one if we don’t. It’s relatively easy to meditate when everything is going our way, of course, but to sit down and find peace of mind in turbulent times is more difficult. Like resistance training, however, meditating through hard times develops mental muscles that we didn’t know we had. In the Tibetan tradition, in fact, difficulties are often viewed as rare opportunities for spiritual progress. Many of us have more time now for meditation, and it can, then, be helpful to view the coming weeks as a retreat, a period of time when our obligations outside of the home have been reduced, and when we might give more of our time to a contemplative practice.
But everybody’s situation is different. With children at home, and depending on their ages, finding quiet time becomes more difficult. Part of establishing a successful practice, however, is learning how to adapt the practice to the particular challenges of our own lives. Creating this kind of adaptability is an essential aspect of every meditation instruction that I have ever encountered. So, be we must be creative and not fall victim to the rigid structures of our own expectations.
So how to begin? What follows are several meditation practices that will show you how more effectively to face whatever hardships arrive in the coming days. They will also deepen your compassion for all those currently suffering from the virus, and ultimately, of course, extend that compassion to all living beings.
First, it is important to establish and maintain a basic mindfulness practice. This will provide you with a functioning radar of your own emotional reality; at any given moment you will be able to assess accurately how you’re feeling, how well you’re maintaining yourselves, where your internal systems of thought and feeling need work, and where they are strong. If you have been attending Geshe la’s Sunday sessions, then you have received instruction from Ngawang, and his teachings will ensure that your mindfulness rests on a firm foundation.
But don’t neglect the basics. Developing simple self-awareness through brief but frequent sessions will allow you to identify the destructive emotions before they have the opportunity to develop and do real harm to your natural composure. And destructive emotions are all around us now. If you haven’t been able to attend Geshe la’s Sunday sessions, then there are many reliable guides available that will help you to maintain or begin a mindfulness practice on your own. It isn’t difficult to do. The New York Times, several years ago, published a very simple guide to getting started in meditation, and you can find it here: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-meditate. As far as books go, two of the best introductions, available on Amazon, are Bhante Gunaratana’s Mindfulness in Plain English and Matthieu Ricard’s Why Meditate? Each or both of these books provide enough fodder for a lifetime of developing a mindfulness practice. But whatever you choose to do, remember that short, frequent meditation sessions are better than long, exhausting ones.
Geshe la has also taught the practice of lo-jong, a Tibetan phrase which means simply “mind-training.” Lo-jong is based on considering a series of slogans over a long period of time in the hopes that the essential truths of those slogans will permeate and correct our mistaken perceptions of the world—how it is put together, and how it functions. Using this practice, in conjunction with a mindfulness practice, we can gradually transform ourselves from being victims of our emotions to becoming responsible individuals who are increasingly comfortable (and peaceful) with the truth of any situation, however challenging it might seem at the moment. Lo-jong is a long-term operation, but its gains are undeniable and, if regularly maintained, irreversible. Pema Chödrön has been of the most effective Western interpreters of this tradition, and a general introduction to the subject can be found in this article that she wrote in 2017: https://www.lionsroar.com/dont-give-up/. Pay special attention to the practice of tonglen, which she briefly discusses in the article under the heading, “Sending and Taking Should Be Practiced Alternately.” If you want to know more about tonglen, follow up this brief essay with Chödrön’s very helpful piece on this practice, which you can find here: https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-tonglen/. Both of these meditations, lo-jong and tonglen, can strengthen our responses to the problems that are growing around us every day.
Finally, in January, His Holiness recommended to a group of Chinese Buddhists visiting in Dharamsala that they (and all of us) should begin a regular Green Tara practice, invoking Tara’s healing energies in response to the corona virus. We can find many short Green Tara sadhanas, or liturgies, online simply by Googling the phrase, “Green Tara sadhana.” Green Tara is very popular among the Tibetans, and she is often referred to simply as Jetsun Dolma, or Dolma. Google an image of her as well so that your visualization might be more accurate. Here’s a simple one:
Notice that she is not sitting, as most sacred figures are, in the classic lotus position. Tara sits with her right foot coming off the cushion — a gesture signaling that she is already on the way to help us! And if you would like to hear His Holiness himself chanting Green Tara’s mantra, visit this site on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/e-dalai/7rqinxvyftcp. The green Tara practice, if done regularly, is powerful and will begin a healing process that not only deepens our own spiritual capacity, but also makes us more available to others in this time of need. It is truly a restorative practice.
Finally, a word about intention, the most important aspect to keep in mind as we undertake these various and varied practices. Whatever chant we do, or prayers we make, or mindfulness meditations we undertake, remember that our first purpose in doing these things is to create within ourselves joy, stability, equanimity, and strength; and then, our second purpose, to use these qualities to provide assistance, as best we can, to those around us and to all living creatures, wherever they are and however they are suffering. All meditation practices are ultimately designed to make us more productive members of the earth’s community of living beings.
If we keep this two-fold motivation in mind before we begin our practice, and while we are practicing, and if we dedicate whatever benefit our practice has generated to the welfare of all living beings, then we can be certain that we have done all that we could in this difficult situation.
From this certainty, peace will arise. And that’s something we could all use now.
Many blessings to you, your loved ones, and the entire human community.
Sidney Burris
