The blessings behind the pandemic

How long have you been staying at home? Some might have been staying for two months and some even for three months now. The questions of what, why and how have become less. The worries and fear have become less. I think most of us have become adjusted to the situation. This coronavirus is not in our control. And ultimately we have to accept what we can not control. We have accepted the situation and started focusing more on what we can do.

Some bloggers shared how they spent their days in their quarantine. They shared their tips in quarantine. It was really good. I enjoyed reading it. I reflected on myself and started counting blessings I have been receiving. Here is the list of my blessings behind this pandemic.

1. Less spending and save more money
Basically only for groceries. Veggie and fruits. My credit card bill was the least for the last ten years. So it was good that I save money.

2. Start cooking for my meal
I only eat what I cook. I don’t trust any food from outside. I eat more veggie and fruits. I think I become healthier.

3. Weight Loss
It was really surprising that I lost 10 kgs in only two months. It never happened before. Losing weight has become a never ending struggle for me.

4. Develop cooking skill
I started experimenting on making vegan cakes. And I have become very good at cooking vegan carrot cake and vegan nuts cake. I shared it to friends and colleagues, and they are happy.

5. Learn hosting a webinar
I never thought that workshop through webinar would be effective. I found out that it worked.

6. Serve more people
I have conducted off-line workshops before the pandemic. Many people could not join due to different reasons. When the workshop is online, it becomes more flexible for everyone. Those who are living far away can even make it.

7. Develop my presentation skill
I am pushed to become more creative in making presentation and preparing the topic for webinar.

8. More blessings
If you are doing good to people, helping them, you will definitely receive blessings from their hearts in the form of good feelings. You are happy by helping others.

What about you? How do you enjoy your quarantine? What blessings do you receive?

Faith in life

Recently I started hearing from people around me asking “When will this situation end?” They probably asked me out of frustration. This is something new. It never happened before, not in our parents’ time nor our grand parents’. No one knows when this pandemic will end. The scientists do not know. The leaders of countries do not know and I do not know either. I said to them “Only God knows.”

Everything that happens in the world and off the world is accurate. Small things or big things. Individually or collectively. Locally or globally. Everything that happens is what is meant to happen. To understand this is the first step to develop faith in life.

If this world is a huge stage of a drama and everyone of us is an actor upon it, each one of us plays our part perfectly. Each one of us has our own script to play. Everyone’s part is accurate and it is in the grand scenario of this unlimited drama. The pandemic is one of the scenes in this unlimited drama. It will end. Another scene will come. God is the director. He holds the secret of time. He has the whole script. He knows the next scene.

I then said to them “It is better to ask God, not me.”

Believe

Life might have brought chaos to many of us. a mental chaos. Do not become chaotic. You need to remain calm and stable during the chaos. How to create inner stability? We need to develop faith in ourself. Develop the three faiths – faith in the self, faith in God and faith in life. Revisit those faiths again and again. To develop faith is like sowing a seed, it grows into a small plant. You need to water it regularly. It needs to receive enough sun light also. If not, it will wilt and die. It is similar with our faith.

To believe in God is not enough. You need to experience God practically in your life. Do not take it for granted. God is the most loving Being in the universe. He loves everyone so dearly. His love is unlimited. Experience this love with your heart. Accept God’s love with your heart, not with your head. To accept with the head is very easy, but it remains as a theory. Love needs to be experienced. A belief only doesn’t give any impact on you. It doesn’t change you. It is your experience that will change you and give an impact on you.

A few days ago someone invited me to join her program, live on Instagram. I had to share on how to deal with the uncertainties. I offered an idea to spend sometimes during the lockdown to reflect and to develop faith.

I was happy that someone wrote to me this after the program : “I was struck by your reminder for not taking God into granted. I just realized that it is what I have been doing.”

A plant-based diet

A few days ago a friend shared to me that she had been working from home for more than a month. She said that it made her so bored. She only went out for her grocery shopping. She said that the virus had been frightening her so much. It is invisible yet so frightening. The virus is so tiny that we can not see it, yet it creates terror to the entire planet. The number of death keeps increasing day by day. Everyone experiences this like a terror.

This made me reflect and think. Are we not creating the same terror for other living beings in this planet? For animals, for example. We might have done some cruelty to animals too. How many lives have been taken for just the stomachs of human beings? What we have been doing might be much more cruel than what the virus is doing to us now. A constant terror! Are those animals not suffering from terror created by human beings? I remember very long time ago I saw an innocent cow was being slaughtered for a sacrifice. I still remember the expression on her face, the two eyes were in tears. The innocent cow was facing her death just right in front of her eyes. I could see the fear on her face. It was so tragic. The innocent cow died on the hands of a man. Since then I can not bear seeing animal being slaughtered.

Last week I read a post by a blogger. One of my favorite bloggers. This coronavirus has led him to a plant-based diet. He has made a resolution to become ’more’ vegetarian because of this coronavirus. Along with the post he wrote a very long description behind the idea of plant-based diet that has been adopted by many people accross the globe.

Mindfulness

My friend who is from Suriname only moved to this city last year. She said to me that she only heard the noise of the traffic from her apartment where she lives in. She never heard birds chirping. Many birds might have moved away from the city. In fact, we do not live really far from each other. I said to her that every morning I still could enjoy birds chirping from the roof top. She might just not be aware of it. The next morning she texted to me excitedly that she heard rooster making a morning wake up call. She was so amazed and asked herself if it was always doing it everyday, but she just didn’t hear it. Because the awareness was not there, so the rooster didn’t seem to exist to her.

She wrote this: “I am just having a break from my work and sitting on my sofa and I hear birds chirping. So sweet.”

This covid-19 has brought new awarness in many of us. Being more aware of what is around us including what is in the nature. Everything might be the same, but because there is no awarness, they do not seem to exist to us. They are too small compared to our focus in our day-to-day life. We miss to enjoy and appreciate their existence. To be mindful is to be aware. Being aware is being in the now.

Thank you for sharing, Kawita.

The next chapter

Everyone has these questions, “When will this coronavirus end? When does life become normal again?” Noone knows. Life has changed. Life ahead might never be the same again. Situation has become tough. We have to be ready for this. There is no other choice. We have to adapt ourselves to the changes. Stop complaining and start accepting. The faster you can accept the change, the easier you can adapt yourself. You might need to develop the power to tolerate within you. This is the power that will help you to go through this tough situation.

We are now living in the world of uncertainty. If life is like a book, then we are in a chapter of uncertainty, very chaotic. We need to develop hope in ourself that the next chapter will be a good one, a peaceful and harmonious life. Hope will work as the light for the soul.

You can trust the next chapter if you know the Author.

The teacher is called Coronavirus

What do you learn from this coronavirus outbreak? If you are infected by this virus, I am sure that you learn a lot while you are going through your medication and treatment. Whether we are infected or not, we have to deal with our fear and worries caused by this virus. The virus is very tiny and invisible yet it scares everyone. It has creates worries and fear in everyone.

It definitely teaches us something. We might have to make a shift in our life, in physical level, mental level or spiritual level. We might realise some truth. Coronavirus might have become our teacher, the hardest one. We are all students. This might be one of the hardest lessons these days. Noone can escape from this lesson. You need to pay a full attention to the teacher. Listen to the teacher very well. Undertsand what the teacher is trying to teach. Don’t be afraid while taking the lesson. Be alert but don’t be afraid. Stay calm.

It is time to pause

Someone shared to me a really good piece below. We do not know who has written it.

We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another.
Suddenly Disney is out of magic,
Paris is no longer romantic,
New York doesn’t stand up anymore,
the Chinese wall is longer a fortress,
and Mecca is empty.

Hugs & kisses suddenly become weapons,
and not visiting parents & friends becomes an act of love.

Suddenly you realize that power, beauty & money are worthless,
and can’t get you oxygen you’re fighting for.

The world continues its life and it is beautiful.
It only puts humans in cages.
I think it’s sending us a message: “You are not necessary.
The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine.
When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my masters.”

A Japanese friend sent me a picture of Sakura blossom he took from his place last week. Another friend sent me a picture of the blue sky she took from the backyard of her house. The other evening I enjoyed the moon shining in the clear sky from a roof top. Very high. Very quiet. This morning I still could hear the birds singing. Nothing changes in the universe. Everything remains the same. What we might need to do is to pause for a moment, see around and listen. We might have become too busy and forgoten to stop and reflect what the universe tries to show us. We might forget to realize that we are here for a temporary period, that we will go back. It might be not very long from now.

#StayAtHome

This social distancing has made us to distant ourselves from anybody else, for some people including the other member of their families. To be distanced means to be separated. It is to be alone. How do you feel of being alone?

It reminds us of who we really are. We are in fact a spiritual being living in this huge physical bodies. We are spirits. This body is the vehicle of the spirit. The spirit or the soul is hidden in this huge body. This body belongs to the physical world of the five elements and the spirit belongs to the soul world, the element of light. The spirit came down here to the physical world alone. We came here alone and naked. We did not carry anything with us. Empty-handed. This physical world is not our permanent home. It is more like our office. There will be time for going back to our permanent home. Again, empty-handed. You will not carry anything with you. Nor your body. You will go back all alone. Are you afraid of going back home? No. It is our sweet silent home, our permanent home. The home of souls is the place of rest and comfort. Nothing is to be afraid of.

This social distancing might become a practice to let go of the things that do not belong to the spirit, of the things that are not permanent.  It is the practice to prepare the self for going home. To realize this is to enlighten the soul. Make yourself busy in this realization, and you will not find to stay at home to be boring.