Daily Life Dharma
by the lazy Buddhist

At the start of 2020, who could have imagined what this year would hold? It has been an extraordinary time. Within my small circle of contacts, some people lost either their lives or family members to Covid-19. Some were sick for two weeks and recovered fully and a few others were ill (or not so ill at the time) and months later are still experiencing a variety of quite serious health after-effects.

I’ve had friends stuck in other countries unable to get home and other friends who were ready to emigrate, house sold, furniture shipped… who were left homeless for months, unable to leave the country. Some friend’s businesses have adapted to the new reality and are hanging in, a few lucky ones have thrived but many others have lost their income in the economic fallout we are enduring.

No matter what our individual circumstances are, pretty much everyone has faced challenges. Those of us with a connection to TRC can imagine the devastating effect the last few months have had on our precious retreat centre. At times, it has been hard to see any positives.

However, staying home has brought an unexpected gift to the personal challenges I have navigated during the last few months. The ‘unfixableness’ of the pandemic has filtered down into my personal experience. At the edge of all the chaos, instead of trying harder to be better, or striving to fix my helpless, frightened, overwhelmed self, I am relating to it gently with loving-kindness. Wishing myself well is slowly softening the hard edges. There is less to be done.

When we are present with pain, when we meet suffering with kindness, we change the way we relate to it. There is something about being kind that makes you feel good, even when things are hard. Science tells us that at the edge of chaos, evolution happens. When we allow ourselves to feel what we are feeling without judgement or shame, we grow. Openness expands us and simply being present changes our relationship with our circumstances and our experiences.

So, to all beings in all the realms, and especially to anyone facing difficulties right now, may you be free from danger, may you be happy, may you be healthy, and may you live with ease.

Till next time,

Tania Potter

Oct 2020